Monterey Bay Aquarium Monterey Bay Aquarium News

I don't really care about the elephant calf because I saw a youngster in Pittsburgh and have seen a handful at various zoos in the past. The manta ray and great white shark are definitely highlights that I'm saddened to have missed, and it will be interesting what other aquatic animals the Georgia Aquarium unveils as they have now promised to introduce a crowd-pleaser every 3-4 months. Bold move.
 
from Discovery News: Born Animal: See a Great White Shark Up Close Before It's Too Late
The young shark is a 4 ½ foot-long female that weighs 55 ½ pounds. She was caught in a seine net off the southern California coast on August 16. The shark was then held in a 4-million-gallon ocean pen off Malibu and, according to aquarium staff, "was observed swimming comfortably and feeding in the pen several times before she was brought to Monterey" in a 3,000-gallon mobile life support transport vehicle.

Four other young white sharks were captured in southern CA by aquarium collectors, but they didn't successfully adapt to the more closed environment and therefore missed out on their chance for a moment in the public spotlight.
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it doesn't say if those other four sharks actually survived or not. I was under the impression that the previous three great whites Monterey Bay had had were "rescued" (for want of a better word) after being accidentally netted, and were kept at the aquarium for a while before being released, but this one has obviously been caught specifically for display. Not sure how I feel about that with an endangered species like this.
 
all 3 previous sharks were released with a tag to track them for a few months. this tag also collected data on depth, speed, etc. thus giving valuable info to TOP (Tagging Oceanic Pelagics) an institution researching wild sharks and funded by MBA.

all sharks were caught in the same way. by a fisherman. then moved to an open ocean net pen where they can learn to swim in a limited space and are trained to take dead prey. when all goes well, they are moved to the aquarium (which is 4 times smaller than the net pen) there they stay until they a) cause trouble (like the first one who killed some tankmates) or b) get to large and are replaced in the wild.

MBA uses this technique with other shark species like sevengills, blues and oceanic whitetips. so the way I see it, it's not really a problem. the sharks have a chance to grow in a risk free environment and are returned later on.
 
forumbully said:
all sharks were caught in the same way. by a fisherman. then moved to an open ocean net pen where they can learn to swim in a limited space and are trained to take dead prey. when all goes well, they are moved to the aquarium (which is 4 times smaller than the net pen) there they stay until they a) cause trouble (like the first one who killed some tankmates) or b) get to large and are replaced in the wild.
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do they have to do this procedure in reverse before being released? so they have to be tought to take live food again or does instinct just kick in and they remember how?
 
torie said:
do they have to do this procedure in reverse before being released? so they have to be tought to take live food again or does instinct just kick in and they remember how?
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I'm going to quote jurassic park here:
"you can't surpress millions of years of good instinct"

the biggest risk is the animals getting used to people around them en not seeing them as a threat.

I remember one case of an oceanic whitetip (I'm not entirely sure it was this species) that was released again only to be harpooned a short while later.
on the other hand, oceanic whitetips, blues and great whites aren't generally impressed by humans. so was it really to trusting?
 
for a second there, I thought you were going to tell us he killed her.
It has happened a few years back with another large sharkspecies the aquarium put on exhibit, tagged and set free. I'm not sure wheither it was an oceanic whitetip (C. Longimanus) or a blue shark (P. Glauca)

but apparently the shark got "of the hook" again. bizarre twist of faith getting caught again, only a week after being released.

If it happens again, it's no coincidence, then she craves the attention
;)
 
Honestly, I find it appalling that this aquarium is putting an animal through the stress of capture and captivity just to exhibit it. Not for a breeding program, just to make money. It makes absolutely no sense for me. If they wanted to track sharks, they could do taht without putting them in their aquarium first.
 
Let's be honest, the main reason the aquarium does it is just to say it has the species and in order to "just" display it.

But if you ask me, it does so in the best way possible. They are able to collect a whole lot of data about the great white that would be impossible to get in the wild, and in the end the shark though perhaps a bit stressed, is not killed and will still be able to take part in breeding later on in it's life. I don't see too much wrong with it really, if you consider how many are butchered every year senselessly by fisherman. Taking one out of the wild and releasing it a bit a later on is one of the least intrusive ways to keep a species like this...
 
This is an animal that has been the source of SO much fear and misunderstanding. Providing people the opportunity to view one in real life goes a long way in promoting its conservation. I will agree that it is a huge draw, but the benefits of that go beyond the ticket booth. The more people who experience the aquarium, the better the chance they will be inspired by the beauty of the oceans and its inhabitants and subsequently be more inclined to make decisions to the benefit of the ocean.
 
Yassa said:
Honestly, I find it appalling that this aquarium is putting an animal through the stress of capture and captivity just to exhibit it. Not for a breeding program, just to make money. It makes absolutely no sense for me. If they wanted to track sharks, they could do taht without putting them in their aquarium first.
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you want them to catch several great whites, hope they do well all their lives in an aquarium AND breed? OMG! we're talking about an animal that was impossible to keep up till some 3 years ago. and even then the sharks of MBA have indirectly proven that housing an adult great white will virtually be impossible.

and by the way they captured and displayed 4 animals: they've tagged several dozen. MBA is one of the biggest contributers to TOP and investigations on big pelagic sharks, which brings me to Jwers remark

Let's be honest, the main reason the aquarium does it is just to say it has the species and in order to "just" display it.
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quite right and eacht time it is a massive boost in visitors, but as the aquarium donates a lot of money to research etc, I'm willing to "close an eye"

especially since they always try to keep the animals health and safety guaranteed.
 
I was wondering what would happen to all of the jellyfish, as Monterey Bay has announced plans for a large seahorse gallery as the latest revolving exhibit.
 
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