Researchers Hope To Learn Much From Aquarium Shark

September 21, 2006

Release from: KSBW.com

MONTEREY, Calif. - The only great white shark known to exist in captivity seems to be adjusting well to its new home at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

After a rough first week during which the shark wasn't eating, aquarium officials said the great white is now eating regularly and appears to be doing well.

Researchers now hope to learn more about the deep-sea predator, and said the shark could hold the key to unlocking the many mysteries surrounding the great white.

"So, we hope to learn really basic things like how quickly they grow, what they prefer to eat, how well they do in captivity and other interesting scientific information," Monterey Bay Aqurium Curator Christina Slager said.

Researchers also want to learn how these sea creatures resist disease. Answering these questions could provide clues as to why their numbers are dwindling.

The great white is a star attraction for aquarium visitors, but he's also the focus of intense scrutiny by researchers.

"On his behavior pattern, his respiration rate, how his body surface looks and of course, offer him food a number of times during the day -- basically as often as he wants. Food has to be prepared, weighed out. We have cameras recording his swim patterns and movements in exhibit," Monterey Bay Aqurium spokeswoman Karen Jeffries said.

The 5 1/2-foot great white arrived nearly a month ago.

Captured by researchers off Southern California, it's the second great white to make it's way to the aquarium. The first one stayed 6 1/2 months before she had to be released after she started snacking on her tank mates.

There's no telling what this great white will do.

For now he's doing fine, but that could change, so researchers have to work fast and gaining as much knowledge from him as they can before he's put back in the wild.