Monterey aquarium releases white shark that set captivity record (http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2005/03/31/state/n093732S08.DTL) -- SFGate/AP, 2005-03-31
A great white shark that survived longer than any other in captivity was released back to the wild early Thursday because it was growing too large for its tank and beginning to prey on other fish at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

The shark, captured off the coast of Orange County on Aug. 20, was kept in captivity for 198 days and was the first to regularly eat outside the wild. Despite a half century of attempts to keep a white shark, the previous captivity record was 16 days.

Editor's note: The linked article features four file photos of the shark in her aquarium habitat.

Monterey aquarium releases great white shark after 198 days in captivity (http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/03/31/SHARK.TMP) -- SFGate, 2005-03-31
The Monterey Bay Aquarium released the world's only captive great white shark shortly before sunrise today because officials said it was outgrowing its tank and starting to hunt other captive sharks.

Aquarium officials plan to track the female shark's movements with the help of electronic data tags attached to her.

Editor's note: This is a local follow-up to the previous AP wire story.

geez, that's a huge tank. so sad i'll be skipping the socal aquariums :(

I'm just annoyed because we're going to be at MBA in nine days. I had really hoped to see the shark. Though I know it was for her best interests.

hers and theirs i'm sure. doesn't help when your shark is so bored she has to preoccupy herself by killing off other species in your collection.

it seems a bit twisted though that they introduced her to captivity fully expecting her not to last more than a couple of weeks. well, actually a lot twisted.

I'm just annoyed because we're going to be at MBA in nine days. I had really hoped to see the shark. Though I know it was for her best interests.

Yes, remember that the "tunabego" (as they call it) is pretty small and at the rate she was growing, if they waited too long it would have been impossible on their own to release her (I am sure someone would ahve offered to help but this may have caused delays). I really don't think she was all that bored though. She is a white shark. It's what they do- eat, sleep and make baby sharks :) and she only really had 2 out of the 3 options. I think it's pretty natural that she would want to hunt when SHE felt like it, not when the handlers decided it was feeding time, ya know?

I am excited it has now been proven that white sharks can be held in captivity. I do not think every aquarium should or will go out and try to capture one. They are very finicky but perhaps having one or two white sharks occasionally in captivity will help the species as a whole. Remember that before killer whales were on display they were thought of as vicious hunters that would kill any person at any chance given to them. Now they are not pursued and killed for "eating all the fish" or "chasing the fish away" as fisherman used to think either. I know we still lose some in hunts for Sea World and other parks but now parks are starting to be able to hold their whale populations to some degree. I know white sharks are not cute and playful but perhaps seeing one on display every now and again will stop some of the senseless hunting for their jaws as a trophy.

Jade Starr :)

there were (and still are) a lot of misconceptions about a lot of species. while the answer definitely includes education, i don't think it necessarily requires an active wild capture program. and incidentally, educators don't always know the correct answers either, observation alone doesn't grant expertise. much of the information we have is somewhat arbitrary and tends to change from moment to moment.

while a lot of people seem to want to congratulate the aquarium for being able to keep her alive for so long, i personally think it was somewhat irresponsible to take on a ward where the expected life expectancy in captivity was 2 weeks and reflects poorly on the public image of aquariums and zoological parks as a whole.

maybe they know something, maybe they just got lucky, but obviously they learned their lesson that nothing good lasts for a year, let alone forever.

there were (and still are) a lot of misconceptions about a lot of species. while the answer definitely includes education, i don't think it necessarily requires an active wild capture program. and incidentally, educators don't always know the correct answers either, observation alone doesn't grant expertise. much of the information we have is somewhat arbitrary and tends to change from moment to moment.

while a lot of people seem to want to congratulate the aquarium for being able to keep her alive for so long, i personally think it was somewhat irresponsible to take on a ward where the expected life expectancy in captivity was 2 weeks and reflects poorly on the public image of aquariums and zoological parks as a whole.

maybe they know something, maybe they just got lucky, but obviously they learned their lesson that nothing good lasts for a year, let alone forever.

I agree that I don't want to see a capture program, just having one in captivity every once in awhile helps- like this one that was just accidentally caught. It doesn't mean that they have the answers but if having 1 shark in captivity means there will be 10 less shark jaws mounted in rec rooms, I am for it. Remember too that not every white shark in captivity dies, Sandy (held in florida) was released when she did not do well.

I do like the fact that they just released her as well and didn't keep her until she grew too big, died, got really ill etc.

I simply want to see the species do better than it is due to people wanting trophies. It's sad to see such a great predator fished for its jaws.

Jade Starr :)