Great White Shark Doing Well At Aquarium

January 22, 2005

Release from: Brian Seals
Santa Cruz Sentinel

MONTEREY — As Manny Ezcurra gently dipped a long stick with a mackerel attached to the end of it, the great white shark swam smoothly on its back up to the surface and gobbled the fish with only the slightest splash.

No frenzies. No "Jaws" music. Just the rattle and hum of aquarium machinery.

That’s the calm, uneventful way of life for the great white shark housed at Monterey Bay Aquarium.

That serene nature is good news for the animal’s health, as well as aquarium visitors, officials said.

The fact that the nameless shark, which has called the aquarium home since mid-September, continues to flourish is a major accomplishment. No other white sharks are known to be on display in the world, and the longest any have been held previously was 16 days.

"I think it’s beyond everybody’s expectations," said Randy Kochevar, the aquarium’s science communications director.

The aquarium’s aim is not just to sell tickets — though the shark’s presence certainly has accomplished that — but also to foster appreciation of a species much maligned in pop culture.

The approach seems to be working. Stand in front of the exhibit, and it won’t be long before a chorus of visitors will say in unison, "There she is!"

Indeed, the shark has been a major factor in the aquarium’s attendance surge: About 1.9 million people visited the aquarium in 2004, up from 1.6 million in 2003.

In the gift shops there is no shortage of shark-related items — mugs, DVDs, T-shirts, caps, mugs — just to name a few.

"One thing we know about sharks is that people are fascinated with them," Kochevar said. "Shark merchandise has always been one of the things we know we can move."

School kids, young couples and retirees were gawking at the shark one day this week.

"We’ve been here before, but my wife said we should come see her before she gets too big," said Stig Davidson of San Mateo. "This is so nice."

The gawking won’t last forever, because aquarium scientists are pondering an exit plan when the shark grows too big for its current tank. Eventually, the shark will be returned to the wild. The aquarium wants to ensure the animal doesn’t grow too big to be lifted and taken to sea.

Just when that will happen, and how it will be done, is a work in progress. No aquarium has had to deal with that challenge before.

"We’re learning ourselves," Kochevar said.

On Wednesday, as the shark swam amid its tankmates — soupfins, hammerheads and tuna — its tailfin barely moved as it glided through the aquarium’s Outer Bay exhibit.

"That is a very relaxed swim pattern," said Ezcurra, senior aquarist. "When we see that glide pattern it means she is really relaxed."

The swim pattern and the fact that she is eating have been positive signs during the shark’s stay.

She appears to be growing at a healthy rate as well. When brought to the aquarium, the 4-foot-long shark weighed 62 pounds.

Ezcurra estimates her weight now at about 80 to 90 pounds.

Each day around 11 a.m., aquarium staff prepares a special meal for the shark. A salmon filet along with two mackerels with a multivitamin stuffed into them are readied in a small lab one floor above the shark tank.

Ezcurra attaches one piece of food at a time to a stick, then walks out on a catwalk above the water’s surface.

A mix of fish blood and salmon oil from the meal is dumped into the water first, to gauge the shark’s appetite. Just one mackerel was filling enough Wednesday. After taking it, the shark swam by the salmon offering several times without so much as a nibble.

"I’m not concerned about her not eating all of this," Ezcurra said. "We just want to have enough in case she is hungry."

After the meal, Ezcurra logs how much the shark ate in a notebook documenting daily eating habits.

That data is part of the aquarium’s scientific study of great whites.

"We’re continuing to learn about growth, feeding and food conversion," Kochevar said. "That’s the kind of study you can’t do in the wild."

Aquarium scientists, however, have not abandoned researching in the wild. Data is expected within the next few weeks from great white sharks tagged with tracking devices in 2002 and 2003. And researchers plan to return to the sea this summer for more study.

"We’re continuing to do field research," Kochevar said.