In 1981, a great white was caught by a fisherman and given to SeaWorld in San Diego. They put the 5-foot, 100 pound shark in a 400,000 gallon shark exhibit. The shark never ate on its own in captivity and toward the end of its stay at SeaWorld, the shark experienced convulsions and had difficulty swimming.
Employees tried to save the shark’s life by force-feeding mackerel to it and injecting it with nutrients. They also administered oxygen to the shark and assisted it with swimming. Their attempts, however, were unsuccessful and the shark passed away 16 days later. Biologists and researchers said they were able to learn a lot about shark behaviour and medicine through this experience. It surpassed the previous record of another great weight that only survived 96 hours. The Monterey Bay Aquarium acquired a great white shark in 1984 - one of its numerous tries at exhibiting the apex predator. The shark died 11 days later because, like many others, it refused to eat. The first time aquarium staff managed to get a great white to feed in captivity was in 2004 at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. They were able to keep her in a tank for 198 days, however, the shark was released into the wild because it became aggressive and killed two of its tank mates. Not sure if you are supposed to keep a great white in a tank with other sharks, it’s not like they enjoy the company... In Japan in early 2016, an 11-and-a-half foot great white male that was accidentally caught in a net was placed at an aquarium. The aquarium proudly announced the world’s first display of an adult great white shark. However, he died just three days later. He was put into in a tank with other sharks and initially appeared to be doing well, but refused to eat and sank to the bottom of the tank shortly thereafter. The inevitable stress caused by confinement results in great whites becoming injured and suffering from starvation - symptoms that ultimately lead to death. 5. They Injure Themselves A common behavior among great whites in captivity is to ram their heads into the walls of their tanks. There are several theories for why this happens. Some scientists believe that being in a tank disrupts the great white’s keen sense of electroreception, which allows them to sense the electrical charges in the water around them, making it difficult for sharks to detect the tank walls. They are used to an entire open ocean so a small glass enclosure causes stress and makes it hard for them to use their senses. As I’m sure you can imagine, forcefully swimming into tank glass causes injuries and puts the shark’s health at risk. Most, if not all great white sharks that have died in captivity exhibited this behavior. For example, the great white that died in Japan had been swimming and bumping into the walls of its tank. 4. It’s Expensive From the very first steps of capturing and transporting a great white shark to keeping one in captivity, exhaustive resources are required. When the Monterey Bay Aquarium was tasked with transporting a 4-foot-long great white from Malibu to northern California in 2004, a custom mobile tank had to be built. To keep the shark alive for the nine hour drive, it essentially had to be put on life support and pumped with IV fluids. That’s a lot of money to spend on obtaining a creature that has historically failed to thrive in captivity. Great whites are killers by nature.
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Joyleen MkakaStudent and a blogger. I write about all things fresh and natural. Regular contributor to www.dobremylo.com ArchivesCategories |