Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium Great white shark at Okinawa Churaumi

DesertRhino150

DesertRhino150

Well-Known Member
15+ year member
A 3.5 metre great white shark caught off the village of Yomitan in Okinawa on Monday has gone on display at the Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium. Since it arrived, the adult shark has not eaten. It also had to be guided around the tank on arrival to stop it from crashing into the walls, and needed prompting to start swimming after it stopped and sank to the bottom.

More information here:

Rare Exhibit of Adult Great White Shark Starts at Japan Aquarium - Japan Real Time - WSJ
 
Oh wow! Very ambitious. I hope they are successful in the long-term, but things don't sound too promising. Is it being held in the giant 'Kuroshio Seas' tank? I couldn't work out its location from the text.

EDIT: their website states that it is being held in the 'Sea of Dangerous Sharks' tank. It also warns that the shark may be taken off-display at any time "due to [its] condition".
 
The shark has now been taken off display due to "signs of weakness ". I really hope he doesn't die on site!

I came across a ridiculous number of outraged Facebook posts about this, many of which slip in that the whale sharks /cetaceans should also be released.
 
No Surprise, no adult White Shark has survived more than a few days under Human care, but it is unfortunate for this magificant animal-by the way an endagered species-what has lost his life for this preprogrammened failure of this attempt.

The tank was defenitely to small for a 3,5 m large White Shark-I've seen that tank in real. Fortuantely, the Monterey Bay Aquarium has stopped to keep White Sharks.
 
Bib Fortuna said:
No Surprise, no adult White Shark has survived more than a few days under Human care, but it is unfortunate for this magificant animal-by the way an endagered species-what has lost his life for this preprogrammened failure of this attempt.

The tank was defenitely to small for a 3,5 m large White Shark-I've seen that tank in real. Fortuantely, the Monterey Bay Aquarium has stopped to keep White Sharks.
Click to expand...

I agree completely. The pelagic sharks such as the blue, thresher, mako, oceanic white-tip, and the great white simply cannot be kept in captivity because they are not adapted to restrictions.
 
It's definitely a shame. I would think that if it were possible to keep great whites in captivity long-term, you'd need a pretty massive tank. Why did this place even try?
 
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