NEW: Another Great White at Monterey Bay Aquarium

[Meloco14]

It endangers the health of the shark. This is an endangered animal with a very small population. It has killed a few in the past, one recently. Captivity and transport are bad for them, period.

Lets say that is true. The question to me becomes is the trade off worth it? Is potentially endangering one animal acceptable if it is going to benefit the entire species? The fact that this raises awareness and creates discussion like it has tells me that it is. Having thousands of children coming through every day seeing that it is not a man eating monster is good for the species. Thats what it is all about.

It would be idiotic to think that the aquarium didnt have publicity in mind when pursuing this but so what. Every animal they have is there to get people to come and see the aquarium. We all know that every animal in the aquarium would be better off in the wild; however with research like this maybe the GWS will be common in public aquariums in the future.

IMO, As long as they make every effort to care for the animal and educate the public Im still fine with it. I think doing nothing and letting them slowly vanish from the oceans is a bigger crime.

That is the justification the aquarium is using. Personally I think it is a tough call. Both sides have valid arguements. I think capturing this second shark as a whole does not do much destruction to the shark population in the wild, and the publicity it provides is worthwhile. But as Matt pointed out to me, they killed a shark previous to this successful capture. How many other sharks have they killed/injured that we don't know about? Probably not a whole lot, but again it makes it a tough decision. But in the end if someone has to try to keep a captive white shark it might as well be MBA with their capacity, funding, and experience.

 

[Anonymous]

Yeah, clearly the exposure and publicity has a positive benefit to it. Undeniable.

I think it's sad that sometimes people have to be slapped in the face to care about something. Maybe you guys are right.

 

[Anonymous]

They released it.

 

[Anonymous]

I had forgotten about this....linky?

 

[Anonymous]

We saw it in November, and also went on Saturday and verified it was gone. It did perfectly fine in that tank from what I could see. I honestly wasn't impressed. We go there so much I am actually bored with that exhibit. Dim lights, murky water and a bunch of grey, colorless fish. My kids seem to really like it. I find myself wondering how the damn tank will hold up if I am standing next to it during an earthquake.

 

[Anonymous]

It's all about the cash. Why else would a non profit go out on a limb to do this? :lol:

 

[pcardone]

hey you guys, lets keep it in perspective. we are all keeping fish.

 

[tazdevil]

pcardone posted:

hey you guys, lets keep it in perspective. we are all keeping fish.

Major difference, the fish we keep can survive long term in captivity, and are not endangered.

 

[Anonymous]

hey you guys, lets keep it in perspective. we are all keeping fish.

...and some keep, or attempt to keep fish that DO NOT adapt to life in a glass box, a practice for which there is no justification for.

 

[TheJGMProject]

The thing is, sharks are a huge draw for the public, so they're probably feeling the pressure on the business end of things to bolster their shark exhibits.

You hit the nail on the head....it's all about incremental ticket sales.

it's probably slow for MBA since its cold here and not a lot of tourists stop by, so they figure another GW will help out. Either way a shark like that will sell more tix no matter what time of year it's there.