New White shark at Monterey Aq.

[FireDancer7905]

I just heard that the Monterey Bay Aquarium has a new White Shark! :cool:
It's 5.5 feet long, 100lbs. We didn't get a chance to get down to see the one they had last year, but we're hoping to go see this one. Very exciting!

:shark:

Has anyone seen it yet?

[debaric]

that is exciting, I never thought a white could be kept captive though. 5.5 feet thats a newborn. I doubt they will be able to grow one of those to its full size.

[iktomiwicasa]

It seems that g.w.'s are around 40-48" or so at birth, so this is a very young one. The previous shark that MBA kept grew quite rapidly, I believe doubling its weight in 8 months or so and feeding on its tankmates. I don't think they have any intention of keeping it to maturity.

[plah831]

there's absolutely no way they can keep an adult white shark in captivity. I mean, one of them has been tagged going from CA to AUstralia and back again. So they need miles and miles of habitat. I'm sure it's a valuable education to keep juveniles, though, and learn about growth rates and behavior and such. Plus it probably brings tons of $$$ in new visitors :)

It's definitely exciting, though. I'm probably going to go check out the little boy pretty soon. It's amazing, whenever the female white shark would come into view at the Open Ocean exhibit, a hush literally fell over the crowd. It was for, like, a split second until everybody started chattering excitedly. But it was like, an animal that majestic automatically gets respect. No matter who you are, or what you believe, it stops you in your tracks. Awesome.

[iktomiwicasa]

In my previous life, I was a commercial fisherman....ran my own boat for 15 years further up the coast from where I now live. I had the great good fortune to see live whites on two occasions. It was an incredible experience.....

[plah831]

that's cool, Rick! I haven't yet seen wild whites, but have swum with reef sharks. They were little, only about 5-6 feet long and weren't the least bit interested in me :) I've also caught tons of spiny dogfish in trawls (for fish population sampling and physiology studies) and leopard sharks by hook and line. All were returned to the ocean, by the way. Fishing is neat. You get to see so much fun stuff.

[blkwdw13]

I wish I lived closer to the coast to see one of these.

[iktomiwicasa]

They were interesting encounters. Both were in '89 or '90, about 2 weeks apart, both times early evening and a rising tide, and both times I was anchored up cleaning black cod (sablefish). I was alerted to the first encounter by some loud splashing right where I was tossing fish heads into the water. I looked over the side, and there in the floodlights was a white maybe 9-10 feet long, happily scarfing up the fish scraps. It hung around for 20 minutes or so, untill the free meal ran out, and silently swooped away.

The second encounter was a bit later in the evening...completely dark out. Again I was cleaning black cod, and I felt and heard a distinct thump. I immediately took a look over the side and saw the upper tail lobe of a very large shark. It was a good 3 feet out of the water.It came back around, and my first impression was that it was half as long as my 42 foot boat. In reality, it was probably 16-18 feet and definitely a female :bowing: . She didn't hang around long, less than 5 minutes I'd say. I don't think a few black cod heads were enough to keep her interested. It was one of the most awesome creatures I could ever imagine seeing.

[plah831]

I like those stories, Rick. Maybe they have a thing for sablefish :D

It's otherwordly how the mere glimpse of a live white shark can change your life. I bet it has for some people who get to see them at the Aquarium. At least made some folks realize that they're not stupid, bloodthirsty robots and are actually in need of our protection. So there's another benefit of having one in captivity.

[plah831]

I wish I lived closer to the coast to see one of these.
Maybe AC should have a field trip to the Monterey Bay Aquarium :D I wish I worked there already so I could give you all a tour. But my school/work schedule still doesn't permit it yet.

[iktomiwicasa]

I meant to say this occured off Usal, in extreme southern Humboldt County.

[iktomiwicasa]

[QUOTE=plah831]I like those stories, Rick. Maybe they have a thing for sablefish :D

Could be, especially the piscivorous smaller whites. Sablefish are extremely oily, and calorie dense.

[plah831]

Sablefish are extremely oily, and calorie dense.
Like many deep-sea fish :) Oilfish are absolutely disgusting. But getting those oily buggers at their depths must have been a real treat to the whites, eh?

[FireDancer7905]

We went to see the White Shark today. HE WAS GORGEOUS!!!! I am so glad that we are members to the aquarium and can go back before he has to go back to his home. He is such an amazing creature. We scooted our way up to the glass and he swam right in front of us! I never thought I would get to see one live...much less a few feet away. By-the-by, the shark is there as part of a project to help us learn more about them and there habits. They have been officially put on the Threatened Species list due to their low birth rates and the high rates of fishing. If you have the chance we highly recommend getting down there to see him, it totally worth the drive and the crowd!

[plah831]

Cool deal, Brandy! My boyfriend's mom is in town this weekend and we should have gone to see him, too, but I'm afraid of big crowds :( Slightly agoraphobic, I guess.

[FireDancer7905]

I hate crowds too, but D**! was it worth it. :)

[blkwdw13]

Do they allow pictures there, if they do some one needs to get some pics of him and post them here.