thaoctopus
New member
thx for the update
We have a Great White
- Thread starter wonrib00
- Start date
Well, I didn't take the time to read the whole thread, but got the gist of it. 75 days in captivity so far is incredible! Plus, the videos on the Web site are breathtaking to say the least! I wish the Miami Seaquarium could do something cool like that one day so I could go see it. Unfortunately, California is a little bit of a hike for me 
. Best of luck with her and I hope the researchers can learn more than ever before.
Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, as mentioned many times in this thread. However, IMO with so many sharks killed meaninglessly in the world today, I think keeping just one more in captivity won't hurt considering the vast amount of knowledge we'll be able to obtain. If young people have the opportunity to see wonderful creatures like this in aquariums now, in the future they'll grow into adults who release them back to the ocean after catching them.
Major kudos and best of luck to everyone involved with the GWS project.
. Best of luck with her and I hope the researchers can learn more than ever before.Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, as mentioned many times in this thread. However, IMO with so many sharks killed meaninglessly in the world today, I think keeping just one more in captivity won't hurt considering the vast amount of knowledge we'll be able to obtain. If young people have the opportunity to see wonderful creatures like this in aquariums now, in the future they'll grow into adults who release them back to the ocean after catching them.
Major kudos and best of luck to everyone involved with the GWS project.
I love the Austin Powers movies!
sjfishguy
Active member
The reason those jaws command such a high price is because it is currently illegal to catch gws in the US. I am sure the aquarium got very specific permission from the government for this exhibit. Just wanted to make it clear not anyone can just go out and catch a gws if they want
sjfishguy I tend to disagree to a point with you. I feel that the real reason is because the movie Jaws. The Dusky shark is just an endangered and they dont comand a large price for their jaws on the black-market, mostly because no one knows what the Dusky shark looks like or knows anything about them. I know that the GWS was listed under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), which is supported by the U.N. We obtained ours back in August and the GWS was listed October 13 by CITES. Can you believe that out of 166 countries that belong, 34 felt that the GWS didnt belong on the list? But one of the real reasons for shark populations declining is they are being cought as bycatch, just like how we got ours.
One of the aspects that I havent talked about yet which I have been meaning to discuss in the water that leaves the exhibit. We have had animals get sick before and the bacteria is obviously in the water. We have giants UV steralizers that denature any and all water that flows back into the ocean so we dont spread disease to the ocean. This part is imporant becuase if the GWS or any other animal gets sick to where they are spreading it to their tankmates, they wil not go back into the ocean. I think that is the only reason that we wont not release the GWS, if she were spreading a disease.
One of the aspects that I havent talked about yet which I have been meaning to discuss in the water that leaves the exhibit. We have had animals get sick before and the bacteria is obviously in the water. We have giants UV steralizers that denature any and all water that flows back into the ocean so we dont spread disease to the ocean. This part is imporant becuase if the GWS or any other animal gets sick to where they are spreading it to their tankmates, they wil not go back into the ocean. I think that is the only reason that we wont not release the GWS, if she were spreading a disease.
invincible569
New member
How long does it take for a GWS to reach full mature status in bodyweight/length? Are you guys going to start planning for this if you end up keeping her? Or will she be ok where she's at now?
what about adding a new GWS? Ive watched the GWS show on Discovery and they say that they think that GWS's work together to catch their prey.
what about adding a new GWS? Ive watched the GWS show on Discovery and they say that they think that GWS's work together to catch their prey.
sjfishguy
Active member
Duskies arent endangered. If they are, they must be plentiful around new jersey cause i have caught a few, but have never even seen a gws (although others i know have seen them off nj). Anyway, you are right, the movie Jaws is the reason people have this fascination with gws and definitely increases the value of the jaws. Have you ever seen dusky jaws, they dont compare to the huge triangle teeth of a great white. Duskies dont even get all that big.
invincible569 We dont know how long it take a GWS to reach full length, or sexual maturity. We know next to nothing about this animal. We have guesses that sexual maturity is at about 14-17 yesars old, we think, we think they may live as long as 30 years. But who knows, both those could be absolutely wrong. When she is taken out and measured, then we will know whole lot more. We will be keeping her long term, but that is more so years at the rate things are going now. I think that they want to put a cap of about 10 feet or so, if she ever grows that long, considering all the avraiables. The thing we are worried about is getting her out of the exhibit. The idea of adding a new GWs has come up when she goes back out, but since we dont know when this one is going back, we cant really anticipate getting a new one. Adding a second to the exhibit was an idea, but what can you learn from two gws that you cant learn from one? We are not real sure on their social behaviors. Some people are saying that they are social hunters but lead very solitary lives except for mating. Truth is we really dont know. The more GWS that we tag, the better we can understand them.
sjfishguy I did make is sound like they were endangered, didnt I? The Duskies are not endangered. For an animal to be considered endangered their numbers have to dip below 2,000 in the species. What was going on in my brain was that the GWS really has more that 2,000 in its species, but putting them on the endangered species list is more of a preventitive measure. There are only two other sharks currently listed as endangered. I was drawing comparisons in the fact that the Dusky has had its numbers decimated in recent years. Thanks for pointing that out. Since the GWS is the largest meat eating shark, I can see why Benchley used it in his book/movie.
sjfishguy I did make is sound like they were endangered, didnt I? The Duskies are not endangered. For an animal to be considered endangered their numbers have to dip below 2,000 in the species. What was going on in my brain was that the GWS really has more that 2,000 in its species, but putting them on the endangered species list is more of a preventitive measure. There are only two other sharks currently listed as endangered. I was drawing comparisons in the fact that the Dusky has had its numbers decimated in recent years. Thanks for pointing that out. Since the GWS is the largest meat eating shark, I can see why Benchley used it in his book/movie.
I was there last Friday night for a members dinner. She's "filled out" noticeably since I saw her last month. Here are some vids:
Dial-up beware.
vid 1
vid 2
vid 3
These are compressed for better download speed; the trade-off is a loss of quality. I'll probably post the higher quality versions later.
Also, I don't have unlimited bandwidth. Feel free to save them to your own disk, just don't link them anywhere.
Cheers
Dial-up beware.
vid 1
vid 2
vid 3
These are compressed for better download speed; the trade-off is a loss of quality. I'll probably post the higher quality versions later.
Also, I don't have unlimited bandwidth. Feel free to save them to your own disk, just don't link them anywhere.
Cheers
Here's an uncompressed version of the last vid, probably the clearest shot.
This is a 15mb file so don't attempt it unless you have a fast connection:
vid 3 uncompressed
This is a 15mb file so don't attempt it unless you have a fast connection:
vid 3 uncompressed
Very nice videos. There really isnt much new at all. One cool thing happening right now is the aquarium is hosting the 6th International Aquarium Council. This is a group that meets every four years, last time was in Monoco, in four years, it will be in China somewhere. There are about 600 people attending the confrence from Japan, France, Italy, some places that I didnt even know what languae they were speaking. The important thing is that there are all kinda of aquariums all over the world seeing what we are doing, not only with the white shark, but other projects as well. Dont be suprised that if in the next couple of years you start hearing all about GWS is aquariums for extended peroids of time. We are going to fall just short of 2 million visitors this year. Not many aquariums can make that claim.
ediaz Ya, it is something that has sparked A LOT of interest, not only in the public eye, but within the public aquarium community as well. We were very fortunate to get such a great animal and to have such great people looking after her.
tacocat I dont think they are including the OBW tank in the morning rounds tour. To get up there you have to know someone in the mix. That is the person that I am going to try to get a hold of tomorrow or Sat to see if we can get something hooked up. But like I said earlier, dont count on it sa they are still keeping that end under lock and key.
tacocat I dont think they are including the OBW tank in the morning rounds tour. To get up there you have to know someone in the mix. That is the person that I am going to try to get a hold of tomorrow or Sat to see if we can get something hooked up. But like I said earlier, dont count on it sa they are still keeping that end under lock and key.
Yesterday was day 100 and we had a lot of media there to celebrate with us. Not a whole lot to report other than the GWS still manurvers the tank well and continues to feed. There is a little news on her nose. She has developed a somewhat beat up nose. We are attributeing it to during the feedings. When we feed her, we are feeding along the wall and we are thinking that she is rubbing on either the wall or the feeding poll when feeding. We have moved the feeding from the wall to the catwalk that we have above the exhibit. There is still not much to see in terms of seeing her feed, but sometimes she will swim twards the window with food out of her mouth and chew a little. She does it so fast, people dont expect it and are not able to take a pic of it.
BTW when the great folks from CVR.org came for the morning rounds tour, we got to the top of the tank for the feeding and the GWS came by a couple of times, and it was kinda spooky to see her swim by, but really neat.
BTW when the great folks from CVR.org came for the morning rounds tour, we got to the top of the tank for the feeding and the GWS came by a couple of times, and it was kinda spooky to see her swim by, but really neat.
