Sharks that should be banned from public sale

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
Well - since you've asked.

Personally I generally don't care for hybrids that much. It really is something that comes more from my parrot breeder days. Man, I seen Ruby Macaws(the Scarlet & Green-wing Hybrid) sold a Green Wings, or "Giant" Scarlets.

But I also persently have a mixed breed of dog(Rottie/German Shepard mix).

So if that's your only option - then go for it.

But if you could find some more Arabians - you could breed them. Captive-bred Arabians Bamboos would help to make them more plentiful.
 
Redtail_Watcher;487851; said:
ever heard of a bull shark stories entering fresh water?? I hear at least Three of them. I hear one is in south america Amozon basin and another in maine, another in austrail and two of them for sertain i can proably find on national geographic.
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there is a freshwater population of bullsharks in venezuela
 
krj-1168;488885; said:
Actually - Elasmofreak - it was the Monterey Bay Aquarium that successfully kept the juvenile Great White for about 6 months.

But I agree with your point. :D

Someday - some public Aquarium with a tank the size of the Atlanta Aquariums' 6 million gallon tank - will like succeed in keeping an adult Great White.
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MBA was anything but successful with their white program. This hs been talked about many times. the condition that shark was realised in ranks just above death. They have kept quiet the fact that they've killed four more since that huge media frenzy.

Also it's not pool size that is the issue with whites. Atlanta's Open Ocean wouldn't house a white any better than MBA's Outter Bay. Why? They both have edges. This is the #1 screw up when attempting to house them. Give it two years, and I'm guessing you'll see one (or more) kept very well in planned out exhibit which duplicated a natural environment in a part of the US that nobody would ever think of when talking about shark husbandry.

And I'll confirm that there are isolated populations of bulls living in freshwater their entire lives.
 
Good thing I didn't take that personally huh matt! LOL just kidding, but in all honesty - he's right. Aside from the first few weeks in captivity, nothing went according to plan. We elicited the help of specialist after specialist, research engineers, seasoned aquarists, Marine Biologist, etc. you name it, they were brought in. With the media - well frankly, I didn't agree with 95% of what was portrayed. Most of it was nothing more than political manipulations, and elaborate "cover-ups" to give the appearance that everything was running smoothly, and efficiently. That however was not the case. There have actually been confidentiality contracts drawn limiting anyone who was involved in whole or in part, on what they can disclose on the matter. I can't get too into it, but what I can say is that zoodiver is right - it was a mess, and IMO a cruel experiment that was not in any way planned well enough. No doubt we'll try again - sadly that's not up to me, otherwise it wouldn't happen. All I can hope for in the next go-around is that someone take the time to use their brain, do their research, and spend the money necessary to achieve such a high goal. Without it, all that will come of it is more failure, and in my opinion, more cruelty to another shark!:irked:
 
rocsorcs;489267; said:
Dude, DO NOT fall into that thing while cleaning the glass. lol. :ROFL:
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LOL fall in?? He couldn't -- He would already be completly in it. Sorry but that's how it's done. Talk about requesting medical benefits huh! LOL
 
it was the Monterey Bay Aquarium that successfully kept the juvenile Great White for about 6 months.
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True, Zoodiver - the plan to keep a Great White successfully is so far a failure - except for the MBA only success.

And I call it a success - because during the 6 month period - the juvenile Great White grow more than a foot in length & put on nearly 100 lbs in weight. When they released her - they did so because she was actually killing other sharks & fish in the tank. Plus they had originally planned on releasing her back into the wild any way.

Still the crew at MBA was also able to gain quite a bit of knowledge & data about the behavior & growth rates of juvenile Great Whites, by keeping her.

So I have little doubt that some day - The MBA or another aquarium will break their record for keeping a Great White.

But keeping an adult - successfully is still a very long way off - and not just because of tank sizes or shapes. By far the biggest problem in keeping an adult Great White is their Diet. Great White adults feed mainly on sea mammals - like seals, sea lions, dolphins, and dead whales. An since all of these mammals are protected - it makes gathering enough food for an adult Great White - nearly impossible.

bonnet head can actually do well in a 500 gal according to an article in TFH magazine
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I assume your talking about the article by Jeffery Anderson entitled Shark Aquarium Ethics in the Oct. 2005 issue. Because he used the example of a 1700 gallon tank for a Bonnethead. Which is actually WAY too small, for that shark. Scott Michael's stated a minimum of 2,600 in his book Aquarium Sharks & Rays, which will work fine for a juvenile Bonnethead, but is still too small for an adult bonnethead. An Adult Bonnethead really requires a tank/pool that's over 3,000 gallons.
 
krj-1168;491445; said:
And I call it a success - because during the 6 month period - the juvenile Great White grow more than a foot in length & put on nearly 100 lbs in weight. When they released her - they did so because she was actually killing other sharks & fish in the tank. Plus they had originally planned on releasing her back into the wild any way.

Still the crew at MBA was also able to gain quite a bit of knowledge & data about the behavior & growth rates of juvenile Great Whites, by keeping her.

So I have little doubt that some day - The MBA or another aquarium will break their record for keeping a Great White.

But keeping an adult - successfully is still a very long way off - and not just because of tank sizes or shapes. By far the biggest problem in keeping an adult Great White is their Diet. Great White adults feed mainly on sea mammals - like seals, sea lions, dolphins, and dead whales. An since all of these mammals are protected - it makes gathering enough food for an adult Great White - nearly impossible.
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That's what they tell the public so nobody freaks out. Truth is the thing was on the edge of death most of the time. Anyone who saw the fish will tell you the same thing. It's not the fist white they've had. they had ket several in the holding pens that died prior to this one, and they have tried and killed several more since.

Exhibit design is the #1 problem right now. It's the edges. Something any palagic shark will never meet in the wild. The way around that is a design that doesn't have edges, but instead has a shore. Such a project is being developed by one of the best shark facilities in the nation right now. (No, it's not my place - so dont' start that rumor- haha).

Diet isn't an issue. I actually had a few long discussions with Chris about that while he was in town a few weeks back. Large marine mammals are part of what they eat, but a full captive diet can be managed off of fish and other prepared foods. However, he (along with myself) was totally against captivity for these guys. So much more can be learned from them in their natural environment. We need to focus on getting in the water with them and seeing / learning it first hand. Something I'm planning to do with in the next year.
 
Okay, Zoodiver. If the GW had been that close to death - as you claim. Then wouldn't the shark have been picked off by a larger predator - shortly after it's release?

They put a tracking device on it - and tracked for about a month - after releasing it. And the shark did just fine during that month.

Also every animal in captivity that I've heard in poor health doesn't gain weight or grow in size. Lack of growth(in juveniles) is one of the key signs that the animal is very stressed Also any animal in poor health for 5 months straight, will generally be dead long before then.

But as I've already pointed out the young female Great White -put on about 100 lbs & gained over a foot in length during her 6 month stay.
So yeah, right that sure sounds like a shark that close to death - NOT! It actually sounds like she was in pretty good health.

Also the reason most Great Whites don't survive long in captivity, is because they are already in fairly poor physical condition due to way they were captured(gillnets, fishnet, and the like).

What was different about that juvenile female Great White - is that the MBA, actually kept her in a giant offshore pen for 3 weeks - before they moved her to Outer Bay exhibit.
 
Ok, let's look at this. You have all the info they feed the public. Which, of course, is going to try and put a good spin on it. They barely got a month out of the tag....but the tag was set up for long term research.....so why did suddenly it fall off the face of the map? Also, that obsecure growth rate may not even be correct info....because we don't have growth rate info for wild animals that age. 100 lbs in six month seems low, but really that is an educated guess on my part. I base it on regular discussions with people who work with that particular species on a day to day basis.
Being that I do what I do, truth gets to me instead of public releases. Em even posted it was a mistake, and I'm pretty sure she'd have a better inside track on that.
Not that I think MBA is bad in anyway (b/c I think they do amazing work), but this one was just an Oops.
 
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