Monterey Bay Aquarium releases captive great white shark

According to Monterey Bay Aquarium Sea Notes, a juvenile female white shark, which had been held in captivity at the Monterey Bay Aquarium‘s Outer Bay Exhibit, was successfully released back into the wild on November 4, 2009. The 5’5″ 100 lbs. white shark had grown a couple of inches in length while in captivity and had put on about 20 lbs. of weight. The white shark was captured in August and had been on display at the aquarium since August 26, 2009. Over the past weekend, the white shark was involved in multiple incidents of “aggressive behavior” toward other sharks in the exhibit, prompting the aquarium’s husbandry team to make the decision to return the animal to the wild. In addition to her safe release, the white shark was tagged with two electronic tracking devices, one of which will report real-time location data, the other will report temperature, depth, and location data in 6 months. According to Randy Hamilton, vice president of husbandry, the white shark’s health was “excellent” upon her release.

YouTube user SideOffVideo recently posted this quick video shot of the captive white shark at the aquarium, prior to her release.

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About George Probst

George T Probst is an award-winning American photographer best known for his underwater great white shark photography. In addition to his work underwater, Probst travels to schools, businesses, and communities for public speaking events to discuss the importance of sharks and ocean conservation.

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