Gulf State Park’s Shark Week has a new home.

The Lake Shelby Visitor Center will transform into Shark Central July 8-12 with daily events and programming to align with Shark Week, an annual week of TV programming on the Discovery Channel.

Researchers from the Mississippi State University Marine Fisheries Ecology Program will share their expertise with shark fans young and old. Learn how to identify sharks and rays in the Gulf of Mexico using preserved specimens and artifacts from the MSU collections. The researchers will also perform shark and ray dissections every day.

Alena Anderson, a researcher with the Mississippi State University Marine Fisheries Ecology, removes organs from a blacknose shark specimen during a …

The shark dissections are always fascinating, but the sting ray touch tank provided by Marine Resources is always popular with everyone. While touching, visitors can ask the staff questions and learn more about the sting rays we have in our local waters.

The Marine Resources Division of the Alabama DCNR provided a touch tank with an Atlantic stingray and a blunt nose stingray.

Not into touching live creatures? No problem. Have a seat and enjoy making themed crafts, take photos at the selfie station and visit different organizations.

Shark Week has been held on the Gulf State Park Pier for many years but this year, the event will be held at the Lake Shelby Visitor Center. Shark Week visitors will enjoy plenty of free parking and can enjoy beautiful Lake Shelby and the playground. Pack a lunch a make a day of it or enjoy one of the food trucks on-site.

Two young girls have their picture taken shark specimens at the Gulf State Pier as a part of the park’s annual Shark Week.

This year’s Shark Week schedule is:

• Monday, July 8 – Shark Week Kickoff - Presentations at 3 p.m. and 4 p.m., dissection of a tiger shark at 5 p.m.
• Tuesday, July 9 – Shark and Ray Diversity – Presentations at 10 a.m. and noon, Atlantic stingray dissection at 11 a.m., build a shark at 1 p.m.
• Wednesday, July 10 – Shark and Ray Biology and Feeding – Presentations at 10 a.m. and 11 a.m., blacknose shark dissection at noon, how a shark hunts at 1 p.m.
• Thursday, July 11 – Shark Research – Presentations at 10 a.m. and noon, smooth butterfly ray dissection at 11 a.m.
• Friday, July 12 – Sharks & Humans – Learn the complicated history between sharks and humans. Presentations at 10 a.m. and 11 a.m., Atlantic sharpnose shark dissection at noon

Gulf State Park’s Shark Week 2024 is July 8 from 3-7 p.m. and July 9-12 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Lake Shelby Visitor Center, 20110 AL- 135, Gulf Shores. Daily wristbands at $3 per person. To register for your wristband in advance, visit www.alpark.com/parks/gulf-state-park. There will be a separate entrance line for those who reserve wristbands in advance.