Georgia Aquarium Georgia Aquarium News

Ebirah766 said:
Okinawa Churaumi has kept theirs for 4 decades now.
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Not the same sharks that whole time though, they have kept them (IIRC) for between 2-15 years and maybe one that was 20? They source them relatively locally, so it is a different situation.

Devi said:
Is nearly 20 years a lack of success? It seems like that’s pretty damn good to me.
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I agree, while not as long as in the wild, it isn't bad for a species that is relatively new to captivity and has, in reality, only had a few dozen ever.

Georgia imported them in two rounds, 2005 and 2007. Three in 2005, two died in 2007 and the last in 2021. Two more were imported in 2007 of which Taroko was one and the last shark (Yushan) still surviving.
 
As I understand it, all of the whale sharks were juveniles when caught. They live for 70+ years in the wild. I’m not a hardcore animal rights activist, but I do have my sympathies and this is one of them. The whale sharks are living for a fraction of their wild lifespan and captive breeding seems vanishingly unlikely. At this point I think mantas and molas are as big as aquariums can responsibly go. And a manta ray is still pretty dang impressive.

My condolences to the keepers, obviously. They bare none of the blame and must be deeply affected.

(To clarify, I don’t think it was necessarily irresponsible for the aquarium to get whale sharks in the 00s. But I think we’ve just learned enough that it would be irresponsible now.)
 
TheGytrash said:
That is so sad. My husband is finally visiting the aquarium this fall (I visited back in 2018 when they still had 4 whale sharks) and I really hope he gets to see Yushan. But I don't know if it will be bad for the last whale shark to be on his own.
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Whale sharks are solitary animals, so there aren't any sensitive pod/herd dynamics that will be affected.

I agree with the other posters that whale shark husbandry has come a long way, especially for a pelagic species that's still poorly understood in the wild. Hopefully the remaining shark won't be the last in a North American aquarium, but everyone should make a pilgrimage to Okinawa Churaumi at some point to see their amazing collection.
 
Persephone said:
As I understand it, all of the whale sharks were juveniles when caught. They live for 70+ years in the wild. I’m not a hardcore animal rights activist, but I do have my sympathies and this is one of them. The whale sharks are living for a fraction of their wild lifespan and captive breeding seems vanishingly unlikely. At this point I think mantas and molas are as big as aquariums can responsibly go. And a manta ray is still pretty dang impressive.

My condolences to the keepers, obviously. They bare none of the blame and must be deeply affected.

(To clarify, I don’t think it was necessarily irresponsible for the aquarium to get whale sharks in the 00s. But I think we’ve just learned enough that it would be irresponsible now.)
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I totally see where you are going and it is honestly hard to disagree, you wrote it really well. Largely I agree, the one thing that keeps me on the "it's OK" side is when they are sourced from what would otherwise have been food as at least they get to survive. I don't personally have a problem fishing them for food, so it isn't that, it is more of the idea that the animal itself would otherwise have died and had an even shorter lifespan.
 
Persephone said:
As I understand it, all of the whale sharks were juveniles when caught. They live for 70+ years in the wild.
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They CAN live for 70 years in the wild, it’s not considered an average lifespan though. These are also bought from the meat trade so would have been eaten. I can’t find an up to date stat but in 2014 they were killing 600 a year for meat. A few taken for captivity isn’t really making a dent on that.
 
Ebirah766 said:
It absolutely is, considering we don't know how old Taroko was when he was acquired. Also take into consideration the stress of the fishery that caught him.
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All were still small enough to be captured and flown, so they couldn't have been old animals 20 years ago I would think.

A capture is a capture, whether for a fishery or not, so I think the stress would be equal regardless of final destination. The notion that these animals were rescued from a fishery is misleading. They were captured as part of the open fishery allowed by Taiwan, just so happened Georgia Aquarium purchased four of them (and later received two replacements).
 
NAIB Volunteer said:
All were still small enough to be captured and flown, so they couldn't have been old animals 20 years ago I would think.

A capture is a capture, whether for a fishery or not, so I think the stress would be equal regardless of final destination. The notion that these animals were rescued from a fishery is misleading. They were captured as part of the open fishery allowed by Taiwan, just so happened Georgia Aquarium purchased four of them (and later received two replacements).
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Kind of, Taiwan was operating under a quota of something like 60 whale sharks in 2005 and 30 in 2007, so likely the quota would have been filled by food fished sharks instead of capture for display.

Regardless, we can't source them from Taiwan anymore as they banned the export and fishing of them.
 
Another factor to keep in mind in the discussion about whale shark captivity is that ecotourism seems to pose a high number of risks to whale sharks and may even impact their survival as a species.

One argument I make for zoos/aquaria is that offering more than one option for people to see these species reduces these kinds of negative externalities that result from ecotourism (or overtourism, to be more specific), as more and more people crowding into these natural habitats would increase the likelihood they'll bring litter, pollution, injuries, noise, and other disturbances which can have much more severe long-term consequences for the animals and their ecosystems than going to see them in a zoo (megafauna such as tigers as well as many bird species can also have their behavioral patterns and reproductive cycles disturbed by ecotourism).

Of course, some of these consequences can and should be mitigated with increased protections and more sustainable management, and whale sharks in particular might still face unique challenges due to their size and poorly understood behavior, but I do think it's a much more complex topic than it seems. I'd be interested to know how many people have made a lengthy trip to Georgia Aquarium primarily or even solely to see their whale sharks.

Boat strikes in Maldives put pressure on whale sharks’ survival odds
Injuries from boat strikes could stunt a whale shark’s growth, and make it less likely that they would survive into the future, Harvey-Carroll said. But when whale sharks remain in developmental habitats like SAMPA, this also reduces their opportunities to breed, which could have ramifications for the entire species, the study suggests.

SAMPA isn’t the only part of the world where whale sharks are struck by boats. Another recent study found that 38.8% of surveyed whale sharks in Ningaloo Marine Park, Western Australia, had some form of scarring from boat strikes, although only 15.9% appeared to have major injuries.
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Misguided ecotourism may lead to changes in whale shark behavior
In contrast to previous studies done using underwater or boat filming, Gayford used drones to observe whale shark movements without disrupting their natural behavior. The images were then analyzed using algorithms and statistics. The findings indicate that the presence of humans increases the likelihood of behavioral changes in whale sharks, such as prolonged periods of disturbance, higher energy expenditure and reduced speed.

According to Gayford, a shark expert from Imperial College London, this change in behavior can affect the animals’ habitat preference, leading to significant impacts known as trophic cascades. “When a population of sharks changes its preferred location, it affects the abundance of the species it feeds on. This creates a cascade effect, causing changes in the abundance of many species throughout an entire ecosystem,” said Gayford. This species plays a critical role in transferring nutrients between ecosystems. Therefore, leaving an area or experiencing difficulties in finding food can have lasting effects on nutrient cycling. “The activities and changes in the landscape they bring can have disastrous effects on migration, reproduction and other forms of life,” he said.
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I have just recived a response from a comment I made on the post about his passing asking if they have plans to acquire another whale shark and they said they following, "We don't have immediate plans to acquire another whale shark. Our team is taking time to evaluate Yushan's well-being and response to having Ocean Voyager to himself, and what will best advance his care and whale shark conservation science. Any further decision will be guided by animal welfare and conservation impact. If our plans evolve, we'll share an update."
 
I remember hearing that they did not plan on ever acquiring more and shifting focus to the manta around 10 years ago. That plenty of time for them to have changed their mind but since then sourcing has only gotten more difficult and public opinion over getting more certainly has not improved.
 
My 2 cents on this: I think that it would potentially be good to look into a future whale shark or two in perhaps the next few years, but I agree with Georgia's aquarists' efforts to just examine how Yushan enjoys being solitary for a while. Whale sharks, as has been mentioned here, really are solitary migratory creatures unless they happen across another individual of their species or are in mating season. The tank is 6.3 million gallons, which is far too small in my view for four fully grown whale sharks; this issue likely would have come up later on either way had Alice, Trixie and Taroko not passed at some point. Allowing Yushan to have the space to himself might also allow him to grow to full size (as they grow very, very slowly, none of GA's sharks were ever particularly close to even the average adult size) and live a semi-normal life. I think that he will not do poorly out of loneliness, but at the same time, there are some believe Norton ultimately passed due in some small part to not having Ralph in the tank any longer (as they were very familiar and friendly with one another, or so I have been told by sources at the aquarium at the time). We will have to see exactly how it goes, but all I can really say further is that it's tragic that Taroko has passed and we can only hope Yushan continues to do well for many more years. He is an excellent ambassador for his species in America in every way, as the others have all been.
 
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