Celebrate Sharks & Rays 2021

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 2, 2021

TACOMA, Wash.—Sharks, sharks, sharks! It’s time to celebrate the critical role sharks and rays play in our marine food webs and ocean health. Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium is closing out Shark Week 2021 with its annual Shark & Rays event July 17-18, full of activities for the whole family to enjoy.

Point Defiance Zoo is home to hammerhead sharks, leopard sharks and eagle rays in the Pacific Seas Aquarium and sandbar, nurse, blacktip reef, zebra, sand tiger, and epaulette sharks and three species of rays in the South Pacific Aquarium. Zoo guests can even touch some of the rays at Stingray Cove!

Other activities include:

• Tag a Shark: Become a shark researcher and find out how we learn where sharks go in the ocean. Children can “catch” and “tag” a stuffed animal shark.
• All About Teeth: Identify sharks based on the shape of their teeth. See real shark teeth, picked up by divers from the bottom of our aquariums! Sharks naturally lose teeth, about one a week! Once you think you know it all, play the Shark Tooth Guessing Game

online!

• Sizing up to Rays: Compare your wingspan to that of various ray species!
• Shark Personality Quiz: Do you like adrenaline or relaxing? Snowy or tropical weather? Take the quiz to see which shark you’re most like!

“Our understanding of sharks and rays is ever-evolving, with new species being discovered all the time,” said Education Curator Wendy Spaulding. “We hope this weekend of fun and educational events encourages guests to take positive conservation actions to protect the ocean and its animals.”

Admission for Point Defiance Zoo’s Sharks & Rays event is free with admission or membership. You can learn more about the event and what you can do to help sharks at pdza.org.