socalracer
Member
anyone visited the great white at the monteray bay aqaurium....I live in so cal and want to make the trip up their soon
great white on display
- Thread starter socalracer
- Start date
gnorman
Active Member
i thought it was on display a while back ago. it was the longest time one had ever been in captivity... around 9 months or so if im not mistaken. i went there this summer and there was no great white on display, actually, i feel their shark exhibit wasnt that great. i thought the long beach aquarium was just as good as monterey. now i am not sure if they recently put a great white in there. if they did, that would be awesome to see. i wonder if its in there million . 2 gallon tank.
gnorman
Active Member
well i just visited the monterey bay aquarium website and well... the answer is YES! they do have yet another white shark on exhibit in the million gallon tank. here is the site for more info. very interesting. hope this helps out
http://www.mbayaq.org/
http://www.mbayaq.org/
sharkboy13
Active Member
u no soon enough ppl r gonna be able to keep these guys in captivity long term, first aqauriums then in 2063 this forum is gonna be like "my white shark just ate my pacific octopus im bringing him back to the lfs
krj-1168
Member
I'm glad to hear that he's feeding. That's a good sign.
Still - Sharkboy - I think it's a safe bet that we'll never see a Great White Shark available at your LFS(no matter how big it is), at least not within our lifetime.
It's fair to say that to keep a Great White pup(and - yes a great white that's 5-6' - is still considered a pup), you need a tank that at least 750,000 gallons.
Still - Sharkboy - I think it's a safe bet that we'll never see a Great White Shark available at your LFS(no matter how big it is), at least not within our lifetime.
It's fair to say that to keep a Great White pup(and - yes a great white that's 5-6' - is still considered a pup), you need a tank that at least 750,000 gallons.
sinaloa213
Active Member
yeah i went labor day weekend its sooo small
kinda.....
kinda.....
jonathanws
New Member
arg, too bad it's on the opposite coast. i want to see one before i die
socalracer
Member
ya i guess it was introduced at the end of Aug. it is like 5 foot 6 inches i think and like a 140lbs. it is the 2nd one they have had and before the previous one the longest a great white had been kept was 16 days, so it is safe to say they know what they are doing......hope to see it soon
aw2x3
Active Member
I think it's great to see them keeping them long term...and I mean more than a few weeks.
I think the more we keep them (meaning public aquariums), the more we're going to learn about them.
Monteray Bay keeping them is one of the best things that happened to this hobby. I cant wait for the day that they're keeping them and the headline will be "Great Whites breed in captivity". Then, that's something we can celebrate about, considering the fact that no one has even seen a Great White breed in the wild, let alone while being in an aquarium.
More power to them, to keep capturing and keeping these pups.
I think the more we keep them (meaning public aquariums), the more we're going to learn about them.
Monteray Bay keeping them is one of the best things that happened to this hobby. I cant wait for the day that they're keeping them and the headline will be "Great Whites breed in captivity". Then, that's something we can celebrate about, considering the fact that no one has even seen a Great White breed in the wild, let alone while being in an aquarium.
More power to them, to keep capturing and keeping these pups.
krj-1168
Member
Personally - I highly doubt we will ever see the Great White breed in captivity.
In fact it will be a long time, before we actually see an adult in captivity.
Here's why.
Adult Great Whites - are speciality hunters - their main prey is marine mammals(ie seals, sea lions, dolphins). They have also been known to feed on whale carcasses. Juveniles feed mostly in fish, including smaller sharks.
As adults have been known to swim thousands of miles(entire oceans) in under a single year. So even a 6 million gallon tank is basically too small of a single adult, much less a pair.
And Adult Great Whites have a curious, but aggressive nature & are of such a large size(14'+) that makes it very dangerous & practical impossible for a dive crew to preform normal tank maintainence.
In fact it will be a long time, before we actually see an adult in captivity.
Here's why.
Adult Great Whites - are speciality hunters - their main prey is marine mammals(ie seals, sea lions, dolphins). They have also been known to feed on whale carcasses. Juveniles feed mostly in fish, including smaller sharks.
As adults have been known to swim thousands of miles(entire oceans) in under a single year. So even a 6 million gallon tank is basically too small of a single adult, much less a pair.
And Adult Great Whites have a curious, but aggressive nature & are of such a large size(14'+) that makes it very dangerous & practical impossible for a dive crew to preform normal tank maintainence.
krj-1168
Member
The main point is there are still - alot of stages left to cross in keeping a Great White - before we get to the "breeding in Captivity" stage.
Stages like -
- crossing the 1 year mark
- crossing the 2 years mark
- successfully keeping the first teenage(10-14 footer) Great White
- Successfully keeping two great whites in the same aquarium at the same time.
- Successfully keeping the first adult(14 ft +) Great White
Also researchers need to learn where, how & under what conditions does Great White reproduction takes place. This is a very important step - because until this step is done - the possibility of Great Whites reproducing in captivity is next to impossible.
The reality is we're likely to see Whale Sharks breed in captivity(the Atlanta Aquarium - has 4 young whale sharks - 2 males, 2 females) before we see an adult Great White kept in captivity.
Stages like -
- crossing the 1 year mark
- crossing the 2 years mark
- successfully keeping the first teenage(10-14 footer) Great White
- Successfully keeping two great whites in the same aquarium at the same time.
- Successfully keeping the first adult(14 ft +) Great White
Also researchers need to learn where, how & under what conditions does Great White reproduction takes place. This is a very important step - because until this step is done - the possibility of Great Whites reproducing in captivity is next to impossible.
The reality is we're likely to see Whale Sharks breed in captivity(the Atlanta Aquarium - has 4 young whale sharks - 2 males, 2 females) before we see an adult Great White kept in captivity.
1journeyman
Active Member
Originally Posted by AW2x3
Yeah, and people said no one would ever be able to keep one alive for more than a few weeks, too.
Imho until they figure out why Great Whites die in captivity so regularly keeping one or two for a few months is more of a fluke and less of a success story.
I disagree that we will learn more about them by keeping them in captivity. Apex predators can't act "naturally" in captivity. That's like saying we can learn more about killer whales by keeping them in Sea World aquariums.
Don't get me wrong, I believe zoos, aquariums, wildlife parks etc. are a neccessary evil. The more people see the wild" animals up close the more wildlife can be protected. Also, however, don't overestimate the affects of these exhibits. When I was a guide at the Texas State Aquarium the most frequently asked question was "Where is a good place in town to get some good seafood to eat?" :notsure: I'm sure staff at Monterrey frequently here questions like "Where can I fish for Great Whites?"
Yeah, and people said no one would ever be able to keep one alive for more than a few weeks, too.
Imho until they figure out why Great Whites die in captivity so regularly keeping one or two for a few months is more of a fluke and less of a success story.
I disagree that we will learn more about them by keeping them in captivity. Apex predators can't act "naturally" in captivity. That's like saying we can learn more about killer whales by keeping them in Sea World aquariums.
Don't get me wrong, I believe zoos, aquariums, wildlife parks etc. are a neccessary evil. The more people see the wild" animals up close the more wildlife can be protected. Also, however, don't overestimate the affects of these exhibits. When I was a guide at the Texas State Aquarium the most frequently asked question was "Where is a good place in town to get some good seafood to eat?" :notsure: I'm sure staff at Monterrey frequently here questions like "Where can I fish for Great Whites?"
krj-1168
Member
You've made so very valid points,there 1journeyman.
Which kind of brings me back to the real reason the female great White was released. Not to say she wasn't doing well - because for the most part she was. But she also had seriously injured her nose(raw & bloody), while in the tank. Biologist began to wonder if her health wasn't in danger, so to give her the best chance for survival - they released her. Although they claimed they released her was because she killed a couple of sharks.
Which kind of brings me back to the real reason the female great White was released. Not to say she wasn't doing well - because for the most part she was. But she also had seriously injured her nose(raw & bloody), while in the tank. Biologist began to wonder if her health wasn't in danger, so to give her the best chance for survival - they released her. Although they claimed they released her was because she killed a couple of sharks.
cunningham
Member
Originally Posted by socalracer
anyone visited the great white at the monteray bay aqaurium....I live in so cal and want to make the trip up their soon
MY WIFE JUST TOLD MY THAT THE LONG BEACH AQUARIUM JUST GOT A BULL SHARK IN ON DISPLAY. THEY ARE NOT AS COOL LOOKING AS THE GREAT WHITE BUT THEY HAVE KILLED MORE OF US THAN GREAT WHITES :scared: ALSO I AM GOING TO MONTEREY TO CHECK OUT THE WHITE SHARK I MISSED THE LAST ONE. THAT LAST ONE WAS CAUGHT IN A GILL NET OFF HUNTINGTON BEACH THATS MY BACKYARD!
anyone visited the great white at the monteray bay aqaurium....I live in so cal and want to make the trip up their soon
MY WIFE JUST TOLD MY THAT THE LONG BEACH AQUARIUM JUST GOT A BULL SHARK IN ON DISPLAY. THEY ARE NOT AS COOL LOOKING AS THE GREAT WHITE BUT THEY HAVE KILLED MORE OF US THAN GREAT WHITES :scared: ALSO I AM GOING TO MONTEREY TO CHECK OUT THE WHITE SHARK I MISSED THE LAST ONE. THAT LAST ONE WAS CAUGHT IN A GILL NET OFF HUNTINGTON BEACH THATS MY BACKYARD!