Students in the Westhampton Beach School Districts got up close and personal with a baby great white shark during a unique lesson on Sept. 10.

During the lesson, science teacher Matthew Berkhout laid out the shark, which was recently found deceased on the shores of Fire Island, on a table for students to examine. Berkhout described the anatomy of the shark, answered questions and discussed the field research he conducts with his team as part of the South Fork Natural History Museum and Nature Center’s (SOFO) Shark Research and Education Program.

The shark will soon be shipped to NOAA Fisheries’ Narragansett Laboratory in Narragansett, Rhode Island for further analysis.