Georgia Aquarium, eat your heart out!
The Monterey Bay Aquarium currently has a female great white shark in captivity. It was captured near Malibu on August 12, 2009 and introduced to the Outer Bay display on August 26. It has successfully fed on various types of food and appears to be in good health. The release date for the shark is unknown, but the aquarium does promise to release it at some point. Until that day though, aquarium biologists will continue to study the shark and its behavior as part of their ongoing great white research project in which they capture, tag and release, and track great white sharks in order to learn more about their elusive lifestyle.
We will continue to report on the shark’s health, as well as other projects that the Monterey Bay Aquarium undertakes in their efforts to study ocean life and promote conservation efforts.
For more information on this success story, visit “Our Newest Great White Shark!”
A brief history of great whites in Monterey Bay Captivity…
In 1984, the Monterey Bay Aquarium took in its first great white shark. The excitement of the new arrival quickly wore off when the shark drastically decreased in health, eventually dying only 10 days after being added to the aquarium.
Twenty years later, the aquarium acquired another great white. This time, the shark actually fed in captivity (first time in history). After more than a year in captivity, the great white became the first to be on long-term exhibit. In 2005, the great white shark was successfully released back into the wild, the goal of the Monterey Bay Aquarium from the beginning since it was originally caught in a fishing net.
Since the 2004 acquisition of the great white, the aquarium has brought in four more sharks, of which only one is still in captivity (the others were released back into the wild).
