Second white shark exhibited at Monterey Bay Aquarium
The Monterey Bay Aquarium has a new guest. The visitor hails
from Malibu. He is made of the stuff of legends and Hollywood
films. And this newcomer knows how to draw a crowd.
The latest addition to the aquarium’s Outer Bay exhibit is none
other than a great white shark
– albeit still young and relatively tiny. After releasing the
shark into the exhibit Aug. 31, the aquarium had a packed house for
the Labor Day holiday.
Second white shark exhibited at Monterey Bay Aquarium
The Monterey Bay Aquarium has a new guest. The visitor hails from Malibu. He is made of the stuff of legends and Hollywood films. And this newcomer knows how to draw a crowd.
The latest addition to the aquarium’s Outer Bay exhibit is none other than a great white shark – albeit still young and relatively tiny. After releasing the shark into the exhibit Aug. 31, the aquarium had a packed house for the Labor Day holiday.
“Sunday [Sept. 3] was the single busiest day in our history,” said Ken Peterson, an aquarium spokesperson.
The shark has a gray body, a white belly and black-tipped fins. It weighs in at only 104 pounds, much smaller than many of its tank mates. The Giant Pacific bluefin tuna reach 6 feet and 500 pounds and the Ocean sunfish weigh between 400 and 700 pounds. Even the Black Sea turtles outweigh the white shark at 310 pounds, though full-grown sharks feed on the animals in the wild.
However, with its 5-foot 8-inch body and its sharp teeth, he swims around the tank and shows off the moves that brought his species to fame in Steven Spielberg’s 1975 film, “Jaws.”
Great white sharks have long gotten a bad wrap because they are one of a handful of shark species that are considered dangerous to humans. When full grown, they are a powerful force as long as 12 feet and weighing up to three tons. But shark attacks are few and on average only eight people are killed by sharks worldwide each year.
The new shark, with its small stature, is hardly recognizable as the monster of the sea portrayed in “Jaws.” It whips around the tank with a gracefulness not seen in the clunky mechanical version.
Though it is new to the tank, the shark swam circles around the display for crowds Sept. 3. The aquarium staff created a bubble curtain – bubbles floating from bottom to top across the exhibit glass – to protect the shark from ramming into it until he is acclimated to the exhibit.
The latest shark is the second juvenile white shark to be displayed at the aquarium. Monterey Bay is the only aquarium in the world that has been able to display a white shark for longer than 16 days. Though they are mighty predators in the wild, the animals are fragile when brought into captivity.
A young female caught by fisherman survived in the aquarium for 198 days in 2004-2005. Staff released the shark into the wild when she started hunting other sharks in the aquarium. Through tagging, staff tracked the shark after releasing her and believe she is thriving in the wild.
Aquarium husbandry collectors caught the latest shark with hook and line gear in Southern California.
“There are a lot of unknowns with sharks that are bycatch from a commercial fishery,” said Dr. Mike Murray, a staff veterinarian. “We never know how long they’ve been in the net, or to what degree their health is compromised.”
Staff housed the shark in a 4-million-gallon ocean pen off Malibu to make sure he would feed and swim in an enclosure.
“We have much more confidence that we have a healthy animal to begin with when our team does the collecting,” Murray added.
During the tenure of the last shark, more than 1 million people visited the aquarium. The resulting 30 percent increase in visitors prompted the trustees to give $500,000 to increase field studies of juvenile and adult white sharks. The money provided funding to electronically tag 29 adult white sharks last fall.
The tagging has helped researchers understand migration patterns of the predator. DNA samples will be used to analyze sharks in California and Mexico to see how varied the population is. Populations have been dropping as sharks are caught in fishing gear that targets other species or by those searching for a “trophy” catch. White sharks are protected in the waters of the United States, South Africa, Australia, Mexico and other nations.
Aquarium staff hope the latest star attraction will help raise awareness of issues facing the oceans and conservation.
