The pups are back

June Casagrande

Just when you thought it was safe to go back in Newport Harbor, here

comes Chompy, or perhaps Twinkie or even Jawronimo.

It’s shark pup season in the bay and the Back Bay Science Center

has found a fun way to celebrate that helps school kids learn the

value of the fragile local habitat: a shark-naming contest.

Students in Orange County schools have been submitting their

suggestions for a couple of weeks. On Saturday, contestants can get

some inspiration from the little fish themselves. From 9 to 11 a.m.,

the public can come to the Back Bay Science Center to view five to 10

shark “pups,” as the babies are called, before casting their votes

for names.

“These sharks are all either gray smoothhound sharks or leopard

sharks born right here in the bay,” explained John Scholl, biologist

for the Back Bay Science Center. “They’re caught in the bay and then

they’ll be returned to the bay after the contest.”

The two species of sharks that call the Back Bay their home are

small sharks not a threat to humans, Scholl said. Another interesting

fact is that, even though the sharks are fish, they’re born live like

mammals. That’s because the eggs hatch inside the mother.

Competition to name the baby sharks is sure to be stiff. In the

first two weeks of the contest, 150 children had already submitted

some pretty creative names: Bloomy, Bruca, Twinkie, Jawronimo, Grady,

Larvin, Chompy and Spike are a few of the monikers that could soon

grace one of the sharks swimming in local waters.

The sharks won’t be tagged, so the winners will never know which

sharks out there bear their names. They’ll just know that out there,

somewhere, little sharks swim in their honor.