JAWS

***Warning!!! This post includes children, scalpels and dead fish.***

Big J has already mastered the art of dissecting a squid.

This year the kids in the ELP class were given a shark to dissect.

Big J has been waiting for this day forever!

By the time we showed up they had done most of the work, including removing any babies from the shark. Big J and his partner found 5 babies in their shark.

They were still small, but fully formed. Some of the other groups found much larger babies.

The job while we were there was to remove the jaw bone.

Here is Big J trying to pry open the mouth, while avoiding the sharp teeth.

They finally got it opened.

Mr. D came over to offer a little assistance while Big Daddy looked on.

It took some cutting,

and cutting,

but finally success and the jaw bone was removed.

Big J and the shark teeth came a little too close while he was trying to get the jaw bone out.

While the kids were working on their sharks the other classes were able to come out and watch.

It was the perfect day for watching young kids mutilate dissect dead sea creatures. We had blue skies and a slight breeze to blow the formaldehyde stink away. The only problem was when the wind blew the wrong way. Blech!

At this very minute in my house there is a dead baby shark, a shark jaw, a tail fin and a patch of shark skin.

And for the love of all things disgusting I better get extra Nice Mom points for letting them be here.