White Shark Breaking News
3/11/2005
The soupfin shark that was injured on Monday morning died Wednesday morning,
despite receiving medical attention soon after the encounter with the white
shark. As a result, aquarists transferred two other soupfin sharks yesterday
from the Outer Bay exhibit to the Monterey Bay Habitats exhibit, currently
undergoing renovation. The female white shark has been at the aquarium for
nearly six months. She continues to swim comfortably on exhibit, and her
health is excellent.

“We want to be cautious and conservative,” said an associate curator of sharks
and rays. “We wanted to err on the side of the health of the soupfins.”

The aquarium has no plans to release the white shark as a result of these
incidents, which are the first time the shark has displayed any type of aggressive
behavior since she was placed in the multi-species community exhibit. Aquarium
staff believe she is an excellent ambassador for white sharks in the wild, whose
numbers may be declining worldwide, in part because they’re slow to reproduce and
because of growing fishing pressure that is decimating most shark species. Their
reputation has also made the white shark a target of trophy hunters and the body
parts trade, influenced by media in popular culture.

Jelly
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