Thursday, March 10, 2005
2nd Soupfin Shark dies at Monterey aquarium
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Tuesday, March 08, 2005
Great White 2, Soupfins 0
For the second time in 12 days, the Monterrey Bay Aquarium's star attraction, a 4 1/2 foot female Great White shark, attacked a fellow display animal.
Here is the story as it appeared in my yahoo.com shark attack alert service:
"Great white closely monitored after attacking another shark.
Herald Staff Report
The Monterey Bay Aquarium's great white shark was involved in another altercation early Monday.
An aquarium spokeswoman said the large shark bit a soupfin shark around 7:30 a.m. while they were swimming in the Outer Bay Exhibit.
The incident is the second in 12 days for the great white, which has been in captivity for a little more than six months and faces a return to the open sea if it is deemed too aggressive.
Spokeswoman Karen Jeffries said the male soupfin shark had a 5-inch cut near its tail. It was removed from the Outer Bay and put in a separate tank, Jeffries said. It received stitches and is expected to recover, she said.
Jeffries said the great white shark is an agile female that seemingly was not attacking the other shark but bit when it was startled because the soupfin was in its path.
"The soupfin sharks are slower drifters," she said. "It didn't look like an attack. They were swimming alongside each other.... It was non-intentional."
There are no plans yet to move the great white, which has boosted attendance at the aquarium, but it will be closely monitored, Jeffries said.
The first incident last month also involved a soupfin shark that was killed by the great white.
Except for the fact that it resulted in a fatality, aquarium officials said the first incident was similar to the second in that the great white apparently attacked because the soupfin suddenly appeared in its path. In the first case, the soupfin's tail was severed.
The aquarium's white shark has been in captivity for about 180 days, longer than any other great white."
Neither attack was a feeding predation, as evidenced by the remains of the dead one, and the fact that the second one survived at all. There is no need to release her and lose the opportunity to study the animal highest on the food chain. Our understanding of Great White sharks is too important to be lost because of two Soupfin sharks.
The White is the Outer Bay exhibit's "house mouse" and commands a wide berth. Just because she's a bully doesn't mean she's too aggressive to be on display.
What are your thoughts? E-mail me, mike@turzman.com
or leave a phone message at (909) 881-3654.
m.
Here is the story as it appeared in my yahoo.com shark attack alert service:
"Great white closely monitored after attacking another shark.
Herald Staff Report
The Monterey Bay Aquarium's great white shark was involved in another altercation early Monday.
An aquarium spokeswoman said the large shark bit a soupfin shark around 7:30 a.m. while they were swimming in the Outer Bay Exhibit.
The incident is the second in 12 days for the great white, which has been in captivity for a little more than six months and faces a return to the open sea if it is deemed too aggressive.
Spokeswoman Karen Jeffries said the male soupfin shark had a 5-inch cut near its tail. It was removed from the Outer Bay and put in a separate tank, Jeffries said. It received stitches and is expected to recover, she said.
Jeffries said the great white shark is an agile female that seemingly was not attacking the other shark but bit when it was startled because the soupfin was in its path.
"The soupfin sharks are slower drifters," she said. "It didn't look like an attack. They were swimming alongside each other.... It was non-intentional."
There are no plans yet to move the great white, which has boosted attendance at the aquarium, but it will be closely monitored, Jeffries said.
The first incident last month also involved a soupfin shark that was killed by the great white.
Except for the fact that it resulted in a fatality, aquarium officials said the first incident was similar to the second in that the great white apparently attacked because the soupfin suddenly appeared in its path. In the first case, the soupfin's tail was severed.
The aquarium's white shark has been in captivity for about 180 days, longer than any other great white."
Neither attack was a feeding predation, as evidenced by the remains of the dead one, and the fact that the second one survived at all. There is no need to release her and lose the opportunity to study the animal highest on the food chain. Our understanding of Great White sharks is too important to be lost because of two Soupfin sharks.
The White is the Outer Bay exhibit's "house mouse" and commands a wide berth. Just because she's a bully doesn't mean she's too aggressive to be on display.
What are your thoughts? E-mail me, mike@turzman.com
or leave a phone message at (909) 881-3654.
m.
Sunday, March 06, 2005
Captive Great White kills fellow "inmate"
This summary is not available. Please
click here to view the post.
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