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Huddled over their shark specimen, juniors Wyatt Townsend and Reece Cheng open up the inside of the shark. The pair discovered shark eggs inside their pregnant specimen, attracting the attention of fellow club members.
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As Aarna Walte ’29 observes, Joey Chu ’29 cuts open a pig specimen using surgical scissors. Club members followed instructions on their Chromebooks.
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Scalpel nestled in tissue, Sanaa Murahari ’29 makes the final touches on dissecting her specimen. Armed with personal protective equipment such as gloves and goggles, club members thoroughly took apart their specimens.
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Observing, Samantha McLelland ’27 delicately holds a shark baby. McLelland and her dissection partner discovered shark eggs and babies in their specimen.
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Untying thread, Julia Gray ’28 unwraps her pig specimen. Prior to dissecting, members have to untie their specimen.
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Grasping the side of the dissection tray, Megan Luo ’27 listens to instructions on dissecting her specimen. Luo chose a pig, and diligently observed its innards using a scalpel.
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Excited, Ana Jovanovic ’27 holds shark eggs unearthed from her pregnant shark specimen as Samantha McLelland ’27 watches.
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Steadying his hands, Reece Cheng ’27 prepares to take a scalpel to his shark specimen. Upon discovering that his shark was pregnant, Cheng and his dissection partner called on their friends in the club to show off their work.
Feasted their eyes on a zoo of preserved sharks, squid, and pigs at the second Anatomy & Dissection Club meeting, students took to dissecting their chosen specimen before school on Friday, Dec. 13, in Sponsor Eric Schieber’s room.
Club members selected from a variety of preserved specimens from past dissections, allowing students to dissect creatures of varying difficulties.
“It was really exciting to be able to choose the animal that I dissected,” Ashka Rajbhandari ‘28 said. “It made me more excited and interested in learning something new.”
As students scavenged through their selected animals, they saw various organ and foods that the specimens consumed. Many followed slides that were posted in Schoology to guide them through their dissection procedures.
“I dissected a squid today,” Ella Smith ‘27 said. “I used scissors [to do so] because they were easier to use. I found the food it ate last time, the ink, the lungs, and the heart.”
The most popular of them all, the dogfish shark, had students rushing to find shark babies and eggs. Although some students weren’t successful, others hit jackpot, with one group finding developed shark babies and another finding eggs in their pregnant specimens.
“I wasn’t expecting to find babies,” Ruiz Chang ‘27 said. “We were cutting around for a couple minutes, and everyone else was finding eggs, and so we were searching but we didn’t expect to find anything like that.”
At this meeting, club officers provided students with aid and advice. The officers planned, coordinated, and organized the meeting. Furthermore, they created the slides showing students how to dissect their specimens.
“It’s really rewarding being president because I get to see all the different dissections we do across the year,” Anatomy & Dissection Club President Ava Fakkar ‘26 said. “This year, it’s been a little bit different because the whole delivery process was delayed. We’ve had to do specimens from previous years, but it’s still cool seeing all the specimens come back and finishing up.”
Due to shipping problems, many of the desired animals did not arrive in time. As a result, students were dissecting animals from previous years. Typically, the officers structure the meetings with the aim of increasing the difficulty of dissection as the year goes on; this process was hindered this year. Nonetheless, students enthusiastically engaged in the offered specimens.
“Considering our past two specimens haven’t arrived, we combined everything, and it all worked out perfectly,” Fakkar said. “Everyone had their own pick and could do whatever they wanted, whether it was as small as a cow eye or as big as a shark or a pig. It was actually a very successful [meeting].”
This meeting marked the end of the Anatomy & Dissection Club’s adventures for 2025. Students will return to dissecting in January, where they will continue exploring animal anatomy.
“I enjoyed today’s dissections but there were definitely some moments that made me gag,” Rajbhandari said. “It definitely helps build character.”
