Does SeaWorld Orlando no longer keep Blacktip?
Requiem Sharks in Captivity
- Thread starter RatioTile
- Start date
Does SeaWorld Orlando no longer keep Blacktip?
Last I heard, they don't anymore. I might be wrong on that.
Sicarius
Well-Known Member
All whitecheek sharks (Carcharhinus dussumieri) from the North Pacific were identified as Indonesian whaler sharks (Carcharhinus tjutjot). Tokyo Sea Life Park's specimens were locally captured and are therefore C. tjutjot like the others in Japan. Also confirmed by the director.
Ah thankyou!! I'll have to change it on my lifelist.
Local_Shark
Well-Known Member
Apologies to revive an old thread myself, but this is something I am seeking answers about. The ABQ BioPark Aquarium rather famously had blacktips for a decade or more, and even got them to breed in ~2009. I've seen video that purports to be from April of this year (2024) that shows at least one remaining blacktip with a severely curved and deformed pectoral fin, but nothing since. I can't get a straight answer about whether or not the shark or sharks are still there, and their website claims they have blacktips still. Do you happen to have any further info about this or any other US facility?
Also, just for the sake of answers to anyone else who's used this thread, as of May 2023 (and per my grandmother's visit in November of this year), SeaWorld Orlando does not have a blacktip. They did however have a spinner shark (Carcharhinus brevipinna) when I went, which I've brought up in some other threads. My grandma and grandpa didn't see that one on their trip...I really hope that she's still alive, as she's the only one on exhibit anywhere in the Western Hemisphere afaik. But I have no idea at present. Here's an image of her:
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Local_Shark
Well-Known Member
In a slight update to my previous post, I can confirm now that ABQ no longer exhibits common/Atlantic blacktips (C. limbatus), which means the species is completely gone in North American aquaria to my knowledge.
USZOOfan42
Well-Known Member
Adventure aquarium and the South Carolina aquarium should have them based off zootierliste.
Local_Shark
Well-Known Member
Adventure lost theirs in the last 3-4 years, they have been more or less replaced by (Pacific) blacktip reef sharks (C. melanopterus). South Carolina also hasn’t had theirs since at least my visit in 2021, as confirmed this past week by @SwampDonkey - I think ZTL is just a little behind on the times on this one.