In shark tank, a great white survives

A white shark in captivity could offer new insights on the
mysterious and feared creature.

By Mark Sappenfield | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

MONTEREY, CALIF ? . - For a moment, Jill Udoutch stands face to face
with a childhood nightmare. Raised on "Jaws," she was scared to go
into the water. So when the pale snout of a great white shark
emerges in the deep blue veil of seawater just a few feet away from
her, she feels an almost unexplainable surge.
But with an acrylic window 13 inches thick separating Ms. Udoutch
from the most feared carnivore on the planet, the thrill is not of
terror but of awe. "It kind of takes the scare out of it," she
says. "You see the elegance."


What she is watching here at the Monterey Bay Aquarium may prove
nothing less than historic. Thirty-seven times during the past half
century, an aquarium has attempted to hold a white shark in
captivity. Each time it has failed. The sharks are so finely tuned
to their predatory life in the open sea - and at the same time so
fascinating to the general public - that they have become the Holy
Grail of aquariums worldwide.

The Monterey Bay Aquarium now appears to be the closest ever to
reaching it. If it is successful, it will help biologists lift the
shroud of mystery surrounding a creature that evokes far more fear
than understanding. Moreover, the reactions of those visitors here
who press their noses to the glass suggest that even the animal
kingdom's greatest villain can gain a measure of sympathy.

"The only way to change public perceptions [about the shark] is to
exhibit it to the public," says Christina Slager of the
aquarium. "It is an ambassador for the well-being of the entire
species."

At first glance, it seems a modest ambassador. The shark, a female
that biologists here have chosen not to name, glides by the
panoramic window of the Outer Bay exhibit with all the appearance of
a petite "Jaws," but little of the menace. At 4 feet, 4 inches long,
she is actually smaller than some of her tankmates - including a
flotilla of massive and considerably more ornery tuna.

But that is by design. No aquarium in the world could even consider
housing a fully grown, 15-foot white shark. Biologists here asked a
number of California fishermen to alert them if a small great white
became tangled in their nets. Last month, a crew of halibut fishers
near Huntington Beach called them with what they were looking for -
a shark probably less than a year old.

What has followed has been a lesson in the complexity of handling
animals so well adapted to their open sea environment that they
haven't substantially changed since the time of the dinosaurs. As
scientists had learned, white sharks could not simply be plopped
into an aquarium and expected to adapt.

The history of white shark captures is sketchy, compiled more in
memories and anecdotes than databases and statistics. But of the
previous 37 attempts, it appears that only one succeeded in getting
its white shark to eat. And even in that instance, the shark soon
showed the telltale signs that things were amiss, such as swimming
awkwardly or bumping into walls. No white shark has survived in
captivity for more than 16 days.

As of Tuesday, Monterey Bay's white shark had been in the Outer Bay
exhibit for seven days, and the staff reports a robust appetite for
salmon fillets and no signs of ill health.

The success is a result of careful planning. After she was captured,
the shark was kept in a holding pen off the coast of Malibu for 3-
1/2 weeks, allowing her to gradually become accustomed to a confined
space. When scientists deemed her ready to move to Monterey, she was
trucked north.

In all, the Monterey Bay Aquarium has earmarked $1.2 million for the
three-year project. "They deserve it," says John McCosker, director
of San Francisco's Steinhart Aquarium, which has also attempted to
display a great white. "They've tried harder than anyone else."

Like the biologists from Monterey Bay, he acknowledges that the
quest to exhibit a white shark is a paradoxical one - threatening
the lives of individual sharks in the hopes of being able to better
understand and protect the species. But because of its reputation,
the white shark needs more protecting than most - and the gaps in
scientists' understanding are immense.

Scientists do not know how many white sharks exist or how they live.
When a tracking device showed that one swam from California to
Hawaii, scientists were astounded. Having one in captivity will
allow biologists to watch what attracts it, how much it eats, how
fast it grows, and other basic information.

Yet it is the reactions of astonished visitors that offer scientists
the greatest hope: wider compassion. As he left, Peter Figgie took a
flier that included the names of seafood companies that did not kill
sharks. "Yes I am scared of sharks," he smiles. "But it's amazing to
see something so elusive up close. I don't have to be as fearful."

http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0923/p01s03-usgn.html


Only Great White Shark at Calif. Aquarium

Associated Press


MONTEREY, Calif. - The Monterey Bay Aquarium has an unusual visitor
that experts are hoping will be a permanent houseguest: a great
white shark.

Notorious for their inability to thrive in captivity, no great
whites are currently on display anywhere in the world and none has
ever been keep on exhibit for more than 16 days.

Hours after it arrived from Malibu, the young shark lunched on
salmon fillets - the first time a great white has accepted food in
an aquarium, according to aquarium workers.

Commercial halibut fishermen inadvertently snagged the young female
fish in their nets off the coast of Huntington Beach three weeks
ago. It had been kept in a 4 million-gallon pen off the Southern
California coast until Tuesday, when it headed north by truck - an
unmarked, 3,000-gallon shark tank on wheels - to its new home in
Monterey.

The aquarium hopes to keep the shark on long-term exhibit in its 1
million-gallon Outer Bay tank, which contains 75 other large fish
and turtles. The tank is a little larger than one Olympic-size
swimming pool.

The shark is 4 feet, 4 inches long and weighs 62 pounds. It could
grow to about 21 feet and weigh more than a ton.

Of the almost 40 great white sharks kept at aquariums over the
years, most were unintentionally caught in commercial fishing gear
and brought directly to aquariums. They either died or were freed
when they wouldn't eat.

Nobody knows why they don't thrive in captivity, although many
marine biologists speculate that the predators can't handle the
stress of being captured and contained.

The last time the aquarium exhibited a great white was in 1984, when
the young fish died after 10 days in captivity. But scientists
believe they have learned painful lessons.

This time, they tried to lower the animal's stress level by allowing
it to swim in a larger area for a few weeks before bringing it to
the aquarium.

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansas...9720779.htm?1c


Great white packs aquarium

By GEORGE B. SANCHEZ

Herald Staff Writer


Though it's not yet great in size, a recently captured white shark
on exhibit at the Monterey Bay Aquarium is nonetheless attracting
bigger crowds and opening possibilities to new scientific discovery.

"The whole process is a learning one," said marine biologist Randy
Kochevar. "Nobody has ever done this before."

The four-foot, four-inch long, 62 pound female white shark was
unveiled to the public last Wednesday and has since brought in
crowds of curious observers. Over the weekend, more than 17,000
visitors flocked to the 1 million-gallon Outer Bay exhibit, said
Karen Jeffries, aquarium spokeswoman. The difference is nearly 6,000
more visitors than this time last year, she said.

The aquarium hopes to raise awareness about ocean conservation with
the exhibit, Kochevar said, and study white shark growth.

"By measuring how much food we give her and record what she's
eating, we can construct a growth curve," he said. "These are basic
questions about the animal that are impossible to study on wild
animals."

Over the last few decades, he said, there have been about three
dozen attempts to capture and study a white shark. The record for
white shark captivity was in 1981 at Sea World in San Diego, he
said, when a white shark was held for 16 days before being released
from captivity.

The shark was regularly eating 1 to 2 pound salmon fillets daily
until Tuesday, Kochevar said, but one day of dieting is no cause for
major concern because sharks in the wild regularly go a couple of
days without eating, he said.

"Things are going extremely well," he said. "We'll certainly breathe
easier once we get past the 16-day mark and we hope and expect to
have an animal on display for months and years to come."


Shark watch: Day 8 The Herald is monitoring the progress of a great
white shark at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. No shark has ever been
held in captivity for more than 16 days. ? Days surviving: 8 ? Last
ate: Monday.

http://www.montereyherald.com/mld/mo...al/9729402.htm

Great white shark adapts to new home in aquarium

By Ken McLaughlin

Mercury News


A great white shark spent her first weekend in Monterey eating
salmon, strutting her stuff -- and taking vitamins like a good
little shark.

The staff of the Monterey Bay Aquarium says things couldn't be going
more swimmingly, giving scientists hope that the animal will become
the first great white to be put on long-term exhibit.

Scientists herald the fact that the female shark is eating regularly
and cruising in the tank with a transparent sense of calm,
indicating she likes -- or is at least tolerating -- her new home.

``I think that everyone here would agree that she has never really
looked really stressed,'' said Randy Kochevar, a marine biologist at
the aquarium.

Kochevar said that the young shark ate some salmon within 24 hours
after arriving at the aquarium last Tuesday night. It was the first
time a great white shark has accepted food in an aquarium.

No aquarium has exhibited a great white for more than 16 days. The
record was set by SeaWorld in San Diego in August 1981, Kochevar
said.

Interest in the great white in Monterey has dramatically boosted
attendance at the Cannery Row aquarium.

Sunday's attendance was 8,286, up from 5,823, compared with the
closest weekend day last year, said Rachel Gomez, an aquarium
spokeswoman. Saturday's attendance was 8,842, up from 5,468 the year
before.

Visitors crowded into the aquarium's Outer Bay exhibit, where the
shark cruises by every minute or so as she circles the million-
gallon Outer Bay tank, which contains 75 other large fish and sea
turtles.

The year-old shark was accidentally caught by commercial halibut
fishermen a month ago. She had been kept in an ocean pen off Malibu
until being trucked north on Interstate 5 in a shark tank on wheels.

Kochevar said the shark also is accepting a specially formulated
vitamin mixture that ``rounds out vitamin and mineral intake'' she
will miss from her rich ocean environment. The supplement is slipped
into the three pounds of salmon fillets she eats each day.

Kochevar said the shark is on 24-hour surveillance -- both on video
and by direct visual observation.

``Periodically they'll actually count the frequency of her tail
beats, per minute,'' he said.

The less the shark beats her tail, the more she glides. And
happiness is a cool glide.

And does the baby have a name yet?

No -- and she won't any time soon.

The aquarium has a policy of not naming its animals -- with the
exception of cute little otters -- because ``we want people to be
look in at these animals as animals -- not pets,'' Kochevar said.
``The aquarium is a window into the wild.''

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercu...ws/9719413.htm

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