Californian Aquarium Releases Second Great White Shark
Date: 17-Jan-07
Country: US
The Monterey Bay Aquarium said in a statement that the shark measured 6 feet, 5 inches (1.95 metres) and weighed 171 pounds (77.5 kg) on its release, compared with 5 feet, 8 inches (1.73 metres) and 103 pounds (46.7 kg) when it was captured in Southern California in Santa Monica Bay and put into the aquarium on Aug. 31, 2006.
Since 2002 the aquarium has received 10 great white sharks, nine of them from commercial fishermen. Five died, two were released from a holding pen and one escaped from the pen.
The remaining two were put on display in the aquarium, which seeks to educate visitors on ocean resources, including the estimated loss of up to 100 million sharks killed annually for food or trophies or by accident by fishing gear.
The aquarium said in a statement it had implanted an electronic tag on the male shark released shortly after sunrise on Tuesday. The tag will track his movements and will come loose after 90 days, floating to surface where a satellite will be able to collect the tracking data.
In 2004-05, the aquarium displayed a female great white shark for 198 days and released it after it had grown to 6 feet, 4.5 inches (1.94 metres) and 162 pounds (73.5 kg).
The female shark was the first great white shark to survive more than 16 days in captivity in 50 years of attempts by aquariums around the world.
According to data from her tag after her release, she swam more than 200 miles (322 km) south from Monterey, more than 100 west from the California coast and dove more than 800 feet (244 metres) deep.
Great white sharks can grow up to 22 feet (6.7 metres) in length and weigh up to two tonnes.