10 Sharks Killed At Pittsburgh Zoo & Aquarium

[Lev F.]

http://www.wpxi.com/news/6806947/detail.html

 

[fish lad]

how do you accidently add cyanide to a tank

ozone is easy to overdose but one of them should have noticed

 

[pnsnowboard]

that should get new management or shut down
thats terrible

 

[Lev F.]

They had a lot of shark deaths even before this:

http://www.wpxi.com/news/4808114/detail.html
http://www.wpxi.com/entertainment/2291227/detail.html

I guess they don't really care about the fishes health, just the tourism, because in the second link it refers to Finding Nemo and the Shark popularity among young children.

Guests = $

 

[10" Red Devil]

Now, now! Everyone makes mistakes. These guys are under an insane amount of pressure, probably much more then you all. It just so happens when they make a mistake it is a bigger deal, but damn give em a brake!

 

[Scuba_Dave]

23 sharks in less then 6 years
That seems like a bit much, but how many people here have killed that many fish in 6 years?

 

[sean48183]

I think they are probably not hiring the right people. Instead of paying a professional marine biologist they are probably paying some college kid $8 and hour. It's sad that it has to be that way and 23 sharks in 6 years is unacceptable. Somebody needs to report that to Green peace or something. Blacktips are endangered animals on the reef and these people are treating them like toys.

 

[delv]

Sharks are susceptible to ozone...might have been a bromine conversion which is sorta like cyanide. It's probably a O3 controller or concentration problem.

d.

 

[integlikewhoa]

To many problems if you ask me.

 

[Rcarruth]

Greenpeace or Peta are the last places to report these people, as both of those organizations are pretty much against the aquarium trade anyway. They don't think anyone should have animals in captivity.
I agree with Sean; they are probably not hiring the right people, in an effort to keep overhead low. I think this is having the opposite effect; as they have obviously had to replace numerous animals over the last 6 years. It's really sad.

 

[Lev F.]

I also agree with Sean. I agree many people make mistakes, but these guys are an Aquarium. They're supposed to be pros. And 26 dead sharks in an aquarium is quite a few mistakes more than I would feel comfortable with.

 

[stillcity]

People make mistakes. Don't cry for the sharks they're animals that died a quick death. The people who take care of them didn't want them to die, so don't cry cruelty. Get a life you animal rights nutcases.

If you want to cry about something there are a lot of children dying a slow death from things like cancer and in some of the poorer places in the world they literally are starving to death. Get a life.

 

[Lev F.]

Let's make one thing clear. This isn't the Red Cross, or The Salvation Army or UNICEF or Anything. This is a reefing website. It's not like I'm a heartless freak that doesn't care about children or anything, it's just that If i wanted to go on a rant about something like that, I'd go to a child Aid website instead of Reef Central. We are hear to talk about fish, not children. if you want to complain about it, take it somewhere else.

 

[stillcity]

My point is people get too bent out of shape for animals. I'm not here to rant about children the point is people make a too big of a deal over a mistake. Remember a Zoo must make enough money to keep the place open, I would not be suprised if they are understaffed and not so experienced since those type of jobs pay very little. The Pittsburgh Zoo is a good Zoo and they take good care of most of their animals. I've always enjoyed going there while growing up.

I like fish and hence my interest in the hobby and why I am here. But in the grand scheme of things 10 sharks dying isn't all that important. Whining like this is what makes me angry about folks in groups like Peta. If they intentionally kill the animals thats different story all together.

 

[worldwidereef]

I belong to Peta= peolpe eating tasty animals
Sorry I just had to say it.

 

[chrismunn]

fight, fight, fight!!!!!!!

 

[tkeracer619]

Sucks the sharks died.

stillcity it sucks you belong to this messageboard if thats all you have to offer.

 

[Lev F.]

I'm sure the Pittsburgh Zoo is a great zoo. I'm not saying it has to close down and get attacked by freaks like PETA. All I am stating is that they should keep away from animals such as sharks for a while until their staff become more experienced in dealing with these kinds of animals.

 

[asphaltpilot]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6727683#post6727683 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by stillcity
My point is people get too bent out of shape for animals.

It's not out of shape when it's for a species that is close to being endangered.

What happened at the aquarium is a real pity.

 

[TANGBOY5000]

I know some of the people that work there. They are not underpaid, fresh out of college aquarists. The number of shark deaths is highly irregular, and I'm sure they will be investigated by the AZA. Their membership in the AZA will most likely be pulled. The ozone deaths are very odd, and my guess is that their engineering department is going to be fired. In public aquariums with huge tanks, they don't really do water changes, as it is much too expensive. Water is pulled from the display tank and placed in holding vats, there it is treated with ozone, UV and other sterilization methods before being returned to the tank. It sounds like there were some severe communication issues between the engineers and the husbandry staff as to what stage the water was at.