MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. — Six-year-old Liam Heinrichs and 18-year-old Sophia Diaz are both animal lovers who know that people fear what they don’t understand.
Liam, a first-grade student, is interested in protecting snakes, and Sophia, an aspiring marine biologist, is interested in protecting sharks.
“I love snakes and every single day I read about them to learn more,” Liam said.
Liam and Sophia, who both live in South Florida, have learned about the vital role that each of the predators plays in maintaining the balance of ecosystems.
“I like that every animal has their own superpower to make the earth in balance,” Liam said.
Liam and Sophia believe there is power in raising awareness to help communities maintain that balance, so they are focusing their advocacy work on education.
“They’re really just misunderstood,” Sophia said about sharks. “They don’t deserve the bad rep that they get, and it just really made me fall in love even deeper.”
Liam and Sophia said it’s important to understand the dangers. Not all snakes are venomous. He recalled when a non-venomous snake recently bit him on the finger.
“They do not have teeth, they just squeeze really hard, and it didn’t even hurt at all,” Liam said. “It was just really funny!”
Liam and Sophia believe they are both confident around the animals because they both have training.
“I’m going to milk the snake, which means I’m going to extract the venom,” Liam said while showing a technique that has been used for both medical research and the production of antivenom.
Aside from interacting with the animals, Liam and Sophia also like to teach others what they have learned.
“Do you see this S shape that they are doing? That is their defense posture, ready to strike, and if you get too close, it will strike with lightning-fast speed,” Liam said. “Like we have taste buds on our tongues, they have taste sensors on the top of their mouth, so when they flick their tongue, they pick up a scent.”
Sophia, a lifeguard and trained scuba diver who was accepted to Florida International University, said she feels the urgency to educate instead of vilify.
“We kill 100 million sharks every year just for their fins,” Sophia said. “These guys, they’re not bad, they don’t want to hurt us.”
Sophia developed interactive “Shark-in-a-Box” kits tailored to different grade levels for hands-on lessons that she and her local Girl Scout service unit delivered to six elementary schools in Broward County. She used measuring tapes to demonstrate tagging techniques.
“They would clip it on and then release,” Sophia said about one of the interactive lessons.
Sophia knows from experience that exposure also minimizes fear.
“Being in the presence of those magnificent creatures, it is life changing,” Sophia said.
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