Have you ever wanted to name a shark? Or have you ever even thought about naming a shark? Well, now you are and now’s your chance to do just that.
The Institute for Marine Mammal Studies in Gulfport is asking for help in naming a trio of whitespotted bamboo sharks under its aquarist team’s care. An online poll will be open for the next month, allowing shark-lovers to pick from a list of preselected names or even throw in your own idea.
“Our Aquarist Team can tell our sharks apart by looking at the spots and freckles on their heads and backs, but these individuals need names,” a Facebook post by IMMS reads. “We want YOUR help to name our new White-spotted Bamboo Sharks!”
The preselected names people can choose from are Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Demeter, Apollo, Artemis, Ares, Athena, Hephaestus, Aphrodite, Hermes, Hestia, Dionysus, Persephone, Sharky McSharkFace, Baby Shark!, Magnolia, Finnley Weiggletooth, Jub Jub, Ron, Moby, Jimmy (Buffett), Kris (Kristofferson), Steve (Irwin), Fluffy, Cuddles, Puppy, Oleander, and Fish. There’s also an option to submit your own names for the shark pups.
The whitespotted bamboo shark is a mostly nocturnal species of carpet shark and grow up to a meter long. Harmless to humans and mostly found on coral reefs of the Pacific Ocean, they have an elongated body with patterns of white spots and dark bands with a rounded snout.