MELBOURNE, Fla. — A professor at the Florida Insitute of Technology is bringing international attention to her research on sharks, happening right here on our coastline.
- Dr. Toby Daly-Engel studies sharks' effect on balancing ecosystem
- Daly-Engel will be featured on Discovery Channel's "Shark Week"
- Daly-Engel hopes to help the public better understand sharks
"If you enjoy going to the ocean and enjoy the ocean as much as I do, then the best thing to do is have sharks there." said Dr. Toby Daly-Engel, Assistant Professor at Florida Institute of Technology.
Daly-Engel is studying sharks throughout the area. She says they are crucial to balancing the ecosystem in our waterways along Florida's coastline.
"Sharks kill about one to two people per year globally," she explained. "On average, we as scientists believe humans kill more than 100 million sharks."
Brevard and Volusia County Ocean Rescue teams said already this year they have collectively seen a total of six confirmed shark bites. None were fatal.
"Attacks on humans are typically a result of mistaken identity," Daly-Engel said.
Although we aren't on their food chain, Daly-Engel says sharks become part of ours. For food, sport, or even by mistake, she says her research shows sharks are being killed faster than they can reproduce.
"Sharks, they actually grow and reproduce like people. It may take them 10-20 years just to reach maturity," she said.
This Friday at 10 p.m. she will be featured in an episode of Discovery Channel's "Shark Week," discussing her research on Great White Sharks.
She hopes the episode, and her continued research on Florida's coastline, will help people better understand sharks.
"Hopefully, people will see that sharks are something to be excited about and not terrified by." Daly-Engel said.