Sharks are not always hungry. It’s one of the tidbits you can learn at the New York Aquarium's “Ocean Wonders: Sharks!” exhibit, which features 60-70 sharks and rays of more than a dozen species, plus thousands of schooling fish. 

Part of the experience visitors don't see is the top of the tanks where the sharks swim around. It’s where Senior Animal Keeper Andrea Reimold-Nee and staff give the residents lunch. 

The sharks are target trained, responding to a target on a pole in the water, knowing that if they head in that direction, a snack will come their way. 

"Each of our species of sharks and our stingrays and turtles have their own specific shape, color, and pattern that goes on their target,” said Reimold-Nee. 

In some cases, the animals are stretcher trained. A stretcher is dropped into the pool with a target, and ride up to the surface where they are fed. It also gives animal care staff an opportunity to get up close to the sharks and rays and check their health. 

For Reimold-Nee, working with sharks is something she knew she wanted to do since taking a marine biology class in high school. She has been at the aquarium in Coney Island for ten years. 

“I didn't know precisely what I wanted to do with them, but I know I needed to help them in some way because even back then we understood that these animals were in danger of becoming extinct,” said Reimold-Nee. 

Indeed, every year, 100 million sharks are killed by humans, many only for their fins used in the delicacy Shark Fin Soup. Sharks are often vilified in films and television and portrayed as aggressive, but Reimold-Nee said they are intelligent and calm animals.

"These animals are ambassador animals and they represent all of their wild counterparts,” said Reimold-Nee. 

When she is not at the aquarium, she can be found out on the water putting acoustic tags on sharks through the New York Seascape Program. The tags allow Wildlife Conservation Society Scientists to study where sharks are migrating, feeding and reproducing in order to better protect them and inform conservation efforts. The hope is that seeing these creatures at the aquarium will give folks a better understanding of them. 

“When people come here it's important that they form a connection with these animals and understand what they face in the wild and try and help them in any way that they can,” said Reimold-Nee.