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Eugenie Clark: 72
Shark Lady THE RED SEA Number of submersible
The Red Sea is between Africa and dives Eugenie Clark
the Arabian Peninsula. It is home made in her lifetime
to coral reefs and more than 1,000 • A submersible is a
rays weighing 2,200 pounds (998 vehicle that goes to
kg). Sharks were her favorite fish to species of fish. Oceanic whitetip the depths of a body of
study. sharks catch their prey close to water.
the water’s surface. Clark began • Without a submersible,
In 1958, Clark’s work showed that research there in the early 1950s. divers can only go to
sharks are intelligent. Before then, She made many discoveries. One around 200 feet (60 m)
sharks were viewed as mindless was the Moses sole. This fish deep using scuba gear.
eating machines. She discovered produces a natural shark repellant. • One of Clark’s deepest
sharks in Mexico that do not need to Clark helped make the Red Sea an dives was 12,000
swim to survive. She became known underwater sanctuary. feet (3,658 m). She
discovered whale sharks
as “Shark Lady.”
living at a depth of 3,200
Eugenie Clark was born in New Clark started a marine laboratory in feet (975 m).
York City in 1922. Her mother Florida in 1955. This would become
was Japanese and her father was the Mote Marine Laboratory. She
American. She was two when her made her last dive when she was
father died. When she was nine, she 92. Clark died a year later, in 2015.
started spending Saturdays at the
New York Aquarium. She wanted to
know all about the fish there.
Clark earned college degrees in
zoology. In 1950, she received her
PhD from New York University. She
learned to scuba dive so she could
study sea creatures up close.
She studied giant crabs,
6 poisonous fish, and manta 7
