Florida Tech Shark Biologist Toby Daly-Engel to Offer Webinar on ‘Secret Lives’ of Baby Sharks

By  //  October 16, 2020

Featured on Sharks4Kids at 1 p.m. Oct. 22

Toby Daly-Engel, assistant professor in the Department of Ocean Engineering and Marine Sciences, will offer a webinar on DNA and baby sharks at 1 p.m. on October 22.

BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA — Toby Daly-Engel, the shark biologist and director of Florida Tech’s Shark Conservation Lab, will present the webinar, “What DNA Can Reveal About the Secret Lives of Baby Sharks” at 1 p.m. Oct. 22 on Zoom.

The virtual program, suitable for viewers age 9 and up, is being presented by Sharks4Kids, a Fort Lauderdale-based nonprofit started by marine biologist Jillian Morris that uses science and media to create curriculum, activities and experiences for the next generation of shark advocates.

Daly-Engel’s hourlong webinar will explore how DNA and genetic techniques can help illuminate the secret lives of baby sharks.

It helps answer key questions such as where they are born and when, whether they remain together after they’re born, and if the same parents come back to the same place year after year to reproduce.

“These questions have important implications for shark population genetic diversity, which is an important factor in species’ conservation and recovery,” she said.

The free webinar, which will also include a question-and-answer segment, will be available at https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85877030679. It will be available on the Sharks4Kids YouTube channel after the live broadcast.

ABOVE VIDEO: Florida Tech shark biologist Toby Daly-Engel is spotlighted in a new episode of the Breakthrough documentary series now available on the streaming service Curiosity Stream. See the preview of “Shark Family Tree.”