We have a Great White
- Thread starter wonrib00
- Start date
You all are very welcome. Thanks for coming along on a very exciting ride. I know I learned more about sharks in general these past six months with all the questions and all the info that was supplied by everyone here, very truely, thank you all. I actaully had school today, so I was not there when all this happened. From what I have heard, they took her out early in the morning with two boats, no media was invited in fear of them harrassing her. She was released in the southern end of the bay, kinda by the aquarium. When they put her in the water, she kinda swam along the boats little bit, then just swam off under the water and on her way. I havent talked to any of the aquarists yet, but I want to know is, what she was hunting? I am thinking the turtles. I am really gald that I dont have to work today with all those people that came there to see her, I am be calling in sick for a couple of weeks
marinelife I might as well be the one to tell you, they added an additional $500,000 to the white shark project, so we will down south again this summer. Does this mean that we will get another one? No, but they are going to try. But the stars have to align just like they did with the one we just released to bring another one up. The talk of threashers and makos are flying around as well.
As to what we learned, without talking to the aquarists that kept close record of her, I would say that the biggest thing is her weight and length. She grew almost a foot and a half and added over 100 pounds in just over six months. We put a tracking device on her that is scheduled to pop off in 30 days. Somethimes those devices get rubbed off early, something they dont reust off as fast and take a little bit longer. But hopefully in a month we will know where she has been going and what she has been doing. Although they are apex preditors and they should be given your utmost respect, we are hopeing that we got the massage across that GWS are not animals that go around eating everything that moves.
I will talk to some of the husbandy folks and see if I can get some dirt from those that were there.
hokiefish Ya never know what the future will bring. We will be donw in Southern California again this summer, looking for a lot of otehr things as well, and ya never know what they will bring back.
marinelife I might as well be the one to tell you, they added an additional $500,000 to the white shark project, so we will down south again this summer. Does this mean that we will get another one? No, but they are going to try. But the stars have to align just like they did with the one we just released to bring another one up. The talk of threashers and makos are flying around as well.
As to what we learned, without talking to the aquarists that kept close record of her, I would say that the biggest thing is her weight and length. She grew almost a foot and a half and added over 100 pounds in just over six months. We put a tracking device on her that is scheduled to pop off in 30 days. Somethimes those devices get rubbed off early, something they dont reust off as fast and take a little bit longer. But hopefully in a month we will know where she has been going and what she has been doing. Although they are apex preditors and they should be given your utmost respect, we are hopeing that we got the massage across that GWS are not animals that go around eating everything that moves.
I will talk to some of the husbandy folks and see if I can get some dirt from those that were there.
hokiefish Ya never know what the future will bring. We will be donw in Southern California again this summer, looking for a lot of otehr things as well, and ya never know what they will bring back.
Thanks wonrib00 for a very informative thread. This has got to be one of the RC all time best. Keep us posted when you get more exciting news. I envy you and your job as you are involved in some fun things it seems. Good luck in your future.
Thanks Wonrib00 for all the great information. Hopefully the stars align and another GWS can be brought in for more research in the near future. Last fall i made a trip to SF, and because of this thread, I specifically cruised down to MBA just to check her out. It was truly amazing to get to see her up close and see what a graceful and powerful predator a GWS is.
One question. Do they think it was her increase in size that led to her more aggressive behaviour?
Thanks again.
Matt
One question. Do they think it was her increase in size that led to her more aggressive behaviour?
Thanks again.
Matt
blown63chevy Ya, the job is ok, but you cant beat the view. What am I talking about, the job is great!!
msackett Glad you were able to see her. With out talking to someone from the husbarndry staff, I dont really know, but I would say yes, her size had something to do with her getting more agressive. There are about a 100 questions I have as well, I am goning to bombard some of the staff and see whats up.
Of course it was the leading story lst night on the local news, and they had video of her being released, it was cool. She stayed at the top of the water for a few seconds with the dorsal sticking out of the water, then just swam off with the dorsal going under. Attendance: 850,000 in the first three months of the year, during our slow time. That is a pace of about 4 million with summer to come. We didnt really have a slow time this year around, and we are short staffed (as usual), so it will be kinda nice to get things slowed down for a bit.
msackett Glad you were able to see her. With out talking to someone from the husbarndry staff, I dont really know, but I would say yes, her size had something to do with her getting more agressive. There are about a 100 questions I have as well, I am goning to bombard some of the staff and see whats up.
Of course it was the leading story lst night on the local news, and they had video of her being released, it was cool. She stayed at the top of the water for a few seconds with the dorsal sticking out of the water, then just swam off with the dorsal going under. Attendance: 850,000 in the first three months of the year, during our slow time. That is a pace of about 4 million with summer to come. We didnt really have a slow time this year around, and we are short staffed (as usual), so it will be kinda nice to get things slowed down for a bit.
thanks for all the time you put into giving us the information.
I never got to visit, but at least I got the behind the scenes story.
It sounds like the gws was just growing up and doing what their instincts tell them to
do, hunting and eating. I guess it would be expensive to devote the space needed to watch one grow to thier potential.
thanks again.
I never got to visit, but at least I got the behind the scenes story.
It sounds like the gws was just growing up and doing what their instincts tell them to
do, hunting and eating. I guess it would be expensive to devote the space needed to watch one grow to thier potential.
thanks again.
OK, after doing a little asking around, I found some cool stuff. I had stated earlier that she was 6' 4" and had grown over a foot and a half in the six plus months she was here. We were thinking about an inch per month, as that is about normal for most of the larger sharks (only about 10% of sharks in the world get over 4' 6"). She grew at a rate of over 3" per month, and put on over 15 pounds per month. The hunting behavior that she had begun displaying was not for the turtels, it was for the palagic stingrays. The Monday before she was released was the first day she displayed the hunting behaviors. Her feedings were quickly increased to three times in the morning, and once in the afternoon. So this also gives us a good idea on how much she eats at her size as well. But the hunting behavior in general is what they were worried about. But it is a good sign that she was displaying those behaviors, especially with her being released, no imprinting hopefully.
The reason we let her go off our local coast and not down in So Cal is becasue it has been an unusually warm spring, as far as water conditions go. In the Monterey Bay, we have a condition called upwelling. There is a trench that goes down about 2 and a half miles (more than twice the size of the Grand Canyon), winds increase the water flow a the surface and bring that cold, nutriant rich water up to the surface. Well since we are still at about 59-62 degrees, we let her go here. One of the otehr factors was size.
All the husbandry staff was guessing 100 lbs, we even got a couple people to say 120, max! I tried to get the pics from the intranet at MBA, but they wouldnt link to my home address. There is a pic of one of the project leaders (literally) with his mouth wide open as she was put on the scale. The staff was thinking that 150 pounds was about the most we would be able to keep her at.
When she was taken out, no one knew but the curators (ealry in the week) and the people on the white shark team (late Wednesday night), on other husbandry staff knew until she was gone. She had to be taken out when most of the husbandry staff was there, which is why it was done on a Thursday. They used a large dip net to get her out, and they actaully had her once, but she got out of the net. The second time was a success, and it took five gown guys to pull her out.
We have had some not-so-gruntled guests the past couple of days, but most understand. That is why we were saying day-to-day, becuase no one had ever had one this long. and we knew it could end abruptly, which it did. Prolly shouldnt tell this story, by oh well. One guy from Oregon wanted us to refund his flight, hotel, entrance, food, and everything else that he had spent to come see her. He thought someone was going to call him to let him know that she was no longer there.
Ya, I'll have what he is having.
The reason we let her go off our local coast and not down in So Cal is becasue it has been an unusually warm spring, as far as water conditions go. In the Monterey Bay, we have a condition called upwelling. There is a trench that goes down about 2 and a half miles (more than twice the size of the Grand Canyon), winds increase the water flow a the surface and bring that cold, nutriant rich water up to the surface. Well since we are still at about 59-62 degrees, we let her go here. One of the otehr factors was size.
All the husbandry staff was guessing 100 lbs, we even got a couple people to say 120, max! I tried to get the pics from the intranet at MBA, but they wouldnt link to my home address. There is a pic of one of the project leaders (literally) with his mouth wide open as she was put on the scale. The staff was thinking that 150 pounds was about the most we would be able to keep her at.
When she was taken out, no one knew but the curators (ealry in the week) and the people on the white shark team (late Wednesday night), on other husbandry staff knew until she was gone. She had to be taken out when most of the husbandry staff was there, which is why it was done on a Thursday. They used a large dip net to get her out, and they actaully had her once, but she got out of the net. The second time was a success, and it took five gown guys to pull her out.
We have had some not-so-gruntled guests the past couple of days, but most understand. That is why we were saying day-to-day, becuase no one had ever had one this long. and we knew it could end abruptly, which it did. Prolly shouldnt tell this story, by oh well. One guy from Oregon wanted us to refund his flight, hotel, entrance, food, and everything else that he had spent to come see her. He thought someone was going to call him to let him know that she was no longer there.
Ya, I'll have what he is having.
marinelife
Active member
Thanks for the update good stuff, The guy should have kept up with the website to know she was gone
ReefGrl2k5
In Memoriam
Putting a great white in a 4 million gallon tank is like keeping a tang in a 10 gallon.
boxer85 said:
From the aquarium website
Put on exhibit Sept. 14, 2004 62 pounds 5 feet
Released to the wild March 31, 2005 162 pounds 6 feet 4Ã"šÃ‚½ inches
Truly awesome. I am glad there was a great deal that was learned from the experience by scientists and researchers.
What is also cool is that people got to see a great white.
I have been to several aquariums (just went to the Baltimore aquarium Saturday), but could you imagine being 9 years old and the FIRST SHARK you EVER saw was a great white?
Incredible.
Kudos to your aquarium and the work they have done and will continue to do...makes me wish I had gone into marine biology out of high school.
hammerhead_77
New member
I got to see her the weekend before she was released....amazing. The MBA has really set the standard for challenging animals with the Oceanic White tip and now the GW. The shark display is appropriately conservation focused and they have a film with Peter Benchly discussing the evils of shark finning.
I hope they try this experiment again! I'm sure they learned volumes.
I hope they try this experiment again! I'm sure they learned volumes.
ReefGrl2k5 GIven her size when she went in at just under five feet is no different than what everyone on this forum is doing with all the fish in their tanks (minus aquaculture). I can asure you that she had plenty of room to swim. Her size was one of the deciding factors to release her as well.
