invincible569
New member
Mark said:
Excellent point!!
We have a Great White
- Thread starter wonrib00
- Start date
Excellent point!!
mmmmsushi She does not hav e aname, and will not have a name. There are other animals that do have names at the aquarium, but they are a lot easier to replace if something happens to them. My thought is, here at home all my fish do well until I give them a name, no matter how long I have had them. Once I give it a name, gone in a week. All GWS start out as White Sharks, people just add the "great" later in the sharks life.
yessongs I have heard the same thing, but I dont know if it is ture or not. I know that ours is the only one to ever feed on perpared foods for sure.
Mark And that is where the conservation message we are tying to send to our guests comes in.
I forgot to bring my camera this morning, I will hopefully get some shots Wednesday.
yessongs I have heard the same thing, but I dont know if it is ture or not. I know that ours is the only one to ever feed on perpared foods for sure.
Mark And that is where the conservation message we are tying to send to our guests comes in.
I forgot to bring my camera this morning, I will hopefully get some shots Wednesday.
yessongs
Premium Member
True or not im very happy the one in MBA is eating. I remember reading that story of the GW from the 60s a few years ago, this was the only info i could find earlier today.
"I am sure you already know the history of whites in captivity to date, so I won't go over old ground. Manly Marineland in Sydney probably had the best record of success even though it didn't set a record beyond 21 days (SeaWorld San Diego) [21 days not correct, should be 16 days, Mike Shaw personal communication April 2003 and Ian Gordon agrees]. In 1968 a fishing boat off Long Reef, Sydney caught a white shark by hook and line. It was a 2.3 mtr long male who fought the line hard and was eventually landed off long Reef Point in the early hours of the morning. The shark was dragged around to a sheltered beach called Brown Water where the fisherman contacted the aquarium manager. The shark was tethered to the boat while a truck was dispatched from the aquarium arriving about an hour later. The shark was dragged into the beach and shipped via road on the truck back to the aquarium in a open water tank with no filtration. This process took about 45 minutes, when arriving at the aquarium it was stretchered up two flights of stairs to the top of the aquarium, out of the water, and dumped into the top of the tank. The old (now demolished) Marineland tank was 2 stories high and 18 feet deep, holding approx, 1 million ltrs of water. It had a central artificial reef and multiple marine occupants ranging from turtles to Grey Nurse sharks.
With little diver help amazingly the shark started swimming around the aquarium with little problem avoiding the obstacles. The shark swam around happily in the tank for 7 days with no problem still avoiding the walls of the tank. This was amazing in itself as the construction of the tank was poor, with little distance between the aquarium walls and the steel reinforcing rods that supported the concrete structure. The window frames, 72 in all - 36 top and 36 bottom, posed an even greater electrical barrier, as they were glass internals bolted to the walls with an protected bronze frames.
After about 3 days the shark started feeding in captivity on live snapper that were plentiful in the aquarium. The divers started to be concerned with the apparent interest that the shark showed in them whilst in the water. After a reported close call by one of the divers , it was decided that the shark would have to go out of the aquarium. As no one was game to catch it, it was decided that the shark had to be power headed. It was advertised in the media ( remember this was the 60's ) that the killer shark was too dangerous and would have to be killed at a certain time on a particular day and sales went through the roof. On the fateful day 10 days into the shark's captivity a group of divers entered the water with power heads loaded. The shark took 7 shots before it died on the bottom of the aquarium. Although this sounds like a great pub yarn it actually happened and magazine articles ensued with the sharks death as headlines in 1968.
The shark was feeding and avoiding the walls of the aquarium which would have been leaching considerable electric interference. If it hadn't have been the bad old days of the 60's the shark may have survived for who knows how long in the aquarium".
"I am sure you already know the history of whites in captivity to date, so I won't go over old ground. Manly Marineland in Sydney probably had the best record of success even though it didn't set a record beyond 21 days (SeaWorld San Diego) [21 days not correct, should be 16 days, Mike Shaw personal communication April 2003 and Ian Gordon agrees]. In 1968 a fishing boat off Long Reef, Sydney caught a white shark by hook and line. It was a 2.3 mtr long male who fought the line hard and was eventually landed off long Reef Point in the early hours of the morning. The shark was dragged around to a sheltered beach called Brown Water where the fisherman contacted the aquarium manager. The shark was tethered to the boat while a truck was dispatched from the aquarium arriving about an hour later. The shark was dragged into the beach and shipped via road on the truck back to the aquarium in a open water tank with no filtration. This process took about 45 minutes, when arriving at the aquarium it was stretchered up two flights of stairs to the top of the aquarium, out of the water, and dumped into the top of the tank. The old (now demolished) Marineland tank was 2 stories high and 18 feet deep, holding approx, 1 million ltrs of water. It had a central artificial reef and multiple marine occupants ranging from turtles to Grey Nurse sharks.
With little diver help amazingly the shark started swimming around the aquarium with little problem avoiding the obstacles. The shark swam around happily in the tank for 7 days with no problem still avoiding the walls of the tank. This was amazing in itself as the construction of the tank was poor, with little distance between the aquarium walls and the steel reinforcing rods that supported the concrete structure. The window frames, 72 in all - 36 top and 36 bottom, posed an even greater electrical barrier, as they were glass internals bolted to the walls with an protected bronze frames.
After about 3 days the shark started feeding in captivity on live snapper that were plentiful in the aquarium. The divers started to be concerned with the apparent interest that the shark showed in them whilst in the water. After a reported close call by one of the divers , it was decided that the shark would have to go out of the aquarium. As no one was game to catch it, it was decided that the shark had to be power headed. It was advertised in the media ( remember this was the 60's ) that the killer shark was too dangerous and would have to be killed at a certain time on a particular day and sales went through the roof. On the fateful day 10 days into the shark's captivity a group of divers entered the water with power heads loaded. The shark took 7 shots before it died on the bottom of the aquarium. Although this sounds like a great pub yarn it actually happened and magazine articles ensued with the sharks death as headlines in 1968.
The shark was feeding and avoiding the walls of the aquarium which would have been leaching considerable electric interference. If it hadn't have been the bad old days of the 60's the shark may have survived for who knows how long in the aquarium".
invincible569
New member
How long has she been in captivity now?
yessongs Thanks for the story. It is very unfortunate that with all the positive movements in the 60's, GWS research was not one of them. That is a good size as well, about seven feet. It sounds like we used a lot of methods they did as far as transportaion goes.
keithr Those are some great pics of her (no floks her eyes dont really glow):lol: You must have been down in that crowded mangled mess of people for a long time for pictures that good.
invincible569 I think they started the official counting last Tuesday (the 14th) as she was put into the tank that day for exhibit on Wednesday. So we are on day seven, and she is still feeding.
niko5 That is our of our volunteer guides. Our guides do a great job and we put them through a 16 week course to make sure they know what they are taking bout before they get to work on the floor. No one has actually been inside the tank yet since the GWS has been in there.
I am not sure if I have gone over how we are going to clean the inside of the tank yet ( as I have repeated this about 100 times in the last week), if I have I appologize in advance. Back when we had our Oceanic White Tip (the only one that has ever been on exhibit anywhere in the world) in that tank our divers had to be very careful around him/her. There would be two divers facing the glass cleaning, and one diver watching the shark. All three were at no more than a arms length away from eachother, and the diver in the middle had a long prod that was electrafied. If the shark made any agressive move or action twards the divers, it would get the business end of the prod. We never had to use it on her, but the divers safety was the obvious goal. ANY time a diver going into that tank, they are filmed by cameras at the top (not the grainy ones you see on the website) so if anything happens at all, we will know how to maybe prevent it from happening again.
keithr Those are some great pics of her (no floks her eyes dont really glow):lol: You must have been down in that crowded mangled mess of people for a long time for pictures that good.
invincible569 I think they started the official counting last Tuesday (the 14th) as she was put into the tank that day for exhibit on Wednesday. So we are on day seven, and she is still feeding.
niko5 That is our of our volunteer guides. Our guides do a great job and we put them through a 16 week course to make sure they know what they are taking bout before they get to work on the floor. No one has actually been inside the tank yet since the GWS has been in there.
I am not sure if I have gone over how we are going to clean the inside of the tank yet ( as I have repeated this about 100 times in the last week), if I have I appologize in advance. Back when we had our Oceanic White Tip (the only one that has ever been on exhibit anywhere in the world) in that tank our divers had to be very careful around him/her. There would be two divers facing the glass cleaning, and one diver watching the shark. All three were at no more than a arms length away from eachother, and the diver in the middle had a long prod that was electrafied. If the shark made any agressive move or action twards the divers, it would get the business end of the prod. We never had to use it on her, but the divers safety was the obvious goal. ANY time a diver going into that tank, they are filmed by cameras at the top (not the grainy ones you see on the website) so if anything happens at all, we will know how to maybe prevent it from happening again.
niko5 We have bluefin tuna, yellowfin tuna, californain barracuda, two seaturtles, palagic rays, ocean sunfish, soupfin sharks, galapagos sharks, hammerhead sharks, a school of anchovies and sardins, and pacific bonito. As of this second she is not picking on anything, and nothing is picking on her, both really good signs obviousally. As time goes on will she eat other fish in there? More than likely. With my position at MBA, I get monthly enrichments with one of the curators and it was broken down like this. The pacific bonito are a major part of the GWS meals when it is smaller. Our pacific bonito are too big for her to eat right now. Could she bite the hell out of one right now, you bet. If she wasnt eating, they were planning to go down south and pick up bait fish (bonito) that were small enough to eat. The anchovies and sardins are more of a waste of her time to eat, but the tuna, hammerheads, and baracuda seem to like them in there a whole lot!! We are hopeing to keep her fed well enough so she wont eat anything else in there, but predation is part of her genetic makeup. About three months ago when we were having an enrichment, we started asking questions about the GWS. The curator said "honestly if it comes between a pacific bonito and the GWS, bye bye bonito". It will get real interesting when she reached the age when she goes from fish to marine mammals...
So, do you play the theme song from Jaws in the background? 
Awesome shark, wish I was out there.
I've been diving in New England & I've run across 3 sharks that have been finned & tossed back to die. It's a sad sight
Havne't seen a live shark underwater up here, but have in the caribbean. One diver just about jumped on a shark as he was going of the boat - he never saw it
They are beautiful creatures!
Awesome shark, wish I was out there.
I've been diving in New England & I've run across 3 sharks that have been finned & tossed back to die. It's a sad sight
Havne't seen a live shark underwater up here, but have in the caribbean. One diver just about jumped on a shark as he was going of the boat - he never saw it
They are beautiful creatures!
Scuba_Dave We do not play the Jaws music in the background. That is not really the message we want to get across with the addition of this animal. People for the most part are scared to death by this animal, and playing on thier fears is not a way for MBA to gian the acceptance of the GWS. We are still playing the same music that has been playing since we opened the exhibit back in 1996. Besides we have enough guests singing it for us anyway. 
Its a no win situation sometimes. Oh well, one step at a time.
Scuba Dog One of the other questions we want to answer as well. Truth is we are not sure. What makes them go from fish to mammals? When does this occur? We dont know really. The Outer Bay wing we added back in 1996 cost $56 million, and that is a two story facility with a million gallon tank. I seriously doubt that we would make an enclosure just for her for a few reasons. First being that we dont have marine mammals to feed her, nor would we want to feed her. Second, that would be too costly. Third, we do own the land on the back side of the Outer Bay Wing (OBW), but in Monterey there is a construction freeze on Cannerey Row (where MBA is located). Plus the flow of people going around the million gallon tank would be a nightmare. More than likely, she will end up back out in the bay, away from the otters.
Its a no win situation sometimes. Oh well, one step at a time.Scuba Dog One of the other questions we want to answer as well. Truth is we are not sure. What makes them go from fish to mammals? When does this occur? We dont know really. The Outer Bay wing we added back in 1996 cost $56 million, and that is a two story facility with a million gallon tank. I seriously doubt that we would make an enclosure just for her for a few reasons. First being that we dont have marine mammals to feed her, nor would we want to feed her. Second, that would be too costly. Third, we do own the land on the back side of the Outer Bay Wing (OBW), but in Monterey there is a construction freeze on Cannerey Row (where MBA is located). Plus the flow of people going around the million gallon tank would be a nightmare. More than likely, she will end up back out in the bay, away from the otters.
dwake She developed a bacterial infection and eventually died. The husbandry team did all they could with giving her injection every day, but in the end she just couldnt hold on. Everyone was crushed. We had that animal on display for three years. All this happened back in November, or there abouts. Releasing her was not really an option because of the fear of spreading the bacteria to other animals in the wild.
niko5
New member
wouldent it not be a good idea to get bate bonito to feed he that would just give her an idea to go for the big one 
either way if i was that shark ied have to be eyeing the tuna
Also wouldent it be bad to raise her there then put her back out in the ocean? could she still hunt and feed herself? would she come back home?
either way if i was that shark ied have to be eyeing the tuna Also wouldent it be bad to raise her there then put her back out in the ocean? could she still hunt and feed herself? would she come back home?
niko5 The only way we would encourage her to eat live food is if she stoped eating the salmon steaks. We hope to keep her well fed so she wont eat anything else in there. But that is not to say she wont be eating whatever she wants in that tank.
We have put a few animals back in the ocean. The most recent was the Ocean Sunfish, about a year ago now. On the side of the million gallon tank there is a pen that we can put any of the animals into. We put the Sunfish in that pen which is about 10 feet deep. Took a big net and a helicopter lifted the Sunfish out of the water and put it back in the ocean. Any animal we realease back into the ocean gets a tag so we can monitor where it swims and all sorts of other things. Animals that we release seem to adjust back to life in the ocean very easily.
We have put a few animals back in the ocean. The most recent was the Ocean Sunfish, about a year ago now. On the side of the million gallon tank there is a pen that we can put any of the animals into. We put the Sunfish in that pen which is about 10 feet deep. Took a big net and a helicopter lifted the Sunfish out of the water and put it back in the ocean. Any animal we realease back into the ocean gets a tag so we can monitor where it swims and all sorts of other things. Animals that we release seem to adjust back to life in the ocean very easily.
Just found out that for our 20th anaversery we are going to have Peter Benchley signing some books and talking to guest as well. If anyone is interested he will be there Saturday October 23. He is going to be giving a speech on sharks, twice, once at 11 am and once at 1 pm. Of course they will be talking about our new addition as well I am sure. I have some pics of the "tunabego", the transport that brought the GWS to the aquarium, I will post them when I get home.
