Comments on: Dear Mr. Shark, if we put you in an aquarium, please don't breach all up on me.

Dear Mr. Shark, if we put you in an aquarium, please don't breach all up on me.

The God Complex — Tue, 30 Sep 2003 21:31:30 -0800

everyone knows the Carcharodon carcharias--usually by its popularized name The Great White Shark--but not many people have ever seen one, due to the fact that one has never survived for any significant length of time in captivity. Until recently, it was thought that the shark's sensitivity to electrical fields was the culprit, but an aquarium in Monterey Bay is out to prove that theory wrong (additional stories on attempt:1, 2). A previous, accidental capture of a Great White in a tuna net off the coast of South Australia suggests that it could be possible if the stress level can be kept low enough.

By: The God Complex

The God Complex — Tue, 30 Sep 2003 21:33:57 -0800

I understand there's a very strong contingent of people who don't believe animals of this nature should be held in captivity, but I have to admit that the first thought that struck me was this would be extremely cool, if a little trauma-inducing (for me, not the shark).

By: troutfishing

troutfishing — Tue, 30 Sep 2003 22:21:15 -0800

Those Great Whites are so high strung, they get overwraught so easily. Not like the Cephalopods. No, not at all.

By: Jubey

Jubey — Wed, 01 Oct 2003 00:12:36 -0800

They taste great served with chips, salt and a bit of vinegar. Yummy.

By: davidmsc

davidmsc — Wed, 01 Oct 2003 00:51:25 -0800

Absolutely fascinating creatures -- I have always considered Great Whites to be "perfect eating machines." Captivity? Why not - the media buzz and attendant knowledge gleaned from the captivity, along with likely increased funding/donations, would likely benefit both sharks and humans.

By: ciderwoman

ciderwoman — Wed, 01 Oct 2003 05:00:51 -0800

Have these people never seen Jaws 3?

By: ZachsMind

ZachsMind — Wed, 01 Oct 2003 06:09:11 -0800

Why would anyone want to see Jaws 3? It was terrible!

By: maceo

maceo — Wed, 01 Oct 2003 09:12:46 -0800

I would just lke to say that the Monterey Bay Aquarium is by far the best aquarium I have ever been to (and I've been to a lot). If you ever get the chance, you should really take the time to check it out. Also, they seem to really focus a lot of their energy into conservation and research.

By: piskycritter

piskycritter — Wed, 01 Oct 2003 09:20:12 -0800

All shark news, all the times.

By: biscotti

biscotti — Wed, 01 Oct 2003 10:16:41 -0800

would likely benefit both sharks and humans I think this, too. Sharks are being slaughtered in frightening numbers for unproven cancer treatments and other reasons. Anything that gets people to see them as the fascinating creatures they are and not just death machines is probably worth trying.

By: Pollomacho

Pollomacho — Wed, 01 Oct 2003 11:39:46 -0800

Anything that gets people to see them as the fascinating creatures they are and not just death machines is probably worth trying. I'm not sure giving people a close up look at them feeding is the best way to accomplish that though! All those videos of them chomping stuff is what's given people this impression in the first place, well, that and Jaws.

By: biscotti

biscotti — Wed, 01 Oct 2003 12:30:53 -0800

I'm not sure giving people a close up look at them feeding is the best way to accomplish that though! Hmmm...maybe I'm a freak then, because I find that fascinating... Having seen piranhas feeding close up recently, I was amazed to find that they didn't do it at all the way I'd imagined, much more leisurely and much more careful. I expect that being able to watch a shark swimming around and going about its sharky prey-finding business and not just ripping into a dead fish on a line with gnashy teeth and rolling eyes might educate people a bit. But perhaps not.

By: The God Complex

The God Complex — Wed, 01 Oct 2003 12:34:17 -0800

Having seen piranhas feeding close up recently, I was amazed to find that they didn't do it at all the way I'd imagined, much more leisurely and much more careful. I expect that being able to watch a shark swimming around and going about its sharky prey-finding business and not just ripping into a dead fish on a line with gnashy teeth and rolling eyes might educate people a bit. But perhaps not. From the article it seems that they would probably feed it salmon fillets most of the time (see the last link), but I agree, it would be very cool if they had something like that. I know I'd make the effort to check out the aquarium the next time I headed down the coast to California.

By: biscotti

biscotti — Wed, 01 Oct 2003 15:04:57 -0800

From the article it seems that they would probably feed it salmon fillets most of the time Yep. I meant more that it's thought that sharks spend most of their time looking for food, so one would assume that most of this shark's activity would be prey-finding in nature, whether it actually found any prey or not. It would also give us a chance to see what (one, captive) shark does with spare time.

By: Pollomacho

Pollomacho — Thu, 02 Oct 2003 08:32:31 -0800

Oh, I'm not saying it wouldn't be educational or cool, I'm just saying that watching a great white shark, up close, rip a salmon fillet to shreds in a froth of chum and blood would not educate folks to think of them as gentle and friendly.