Why Are There No Great White Sharks In Captivity?
The Secret Is Revealed!
Great white sharks are all the rage now, after all they are the talk of the town, uhmm in
every town!
So when you set foot in your local zoo or aquarium, it is understandable that your eyes
look for the great white.
But do you ever find it?
Nope!
Well it’s not that the majestic shark has never made it to a glass tank to showcase
its grace.
But within a few days of living in the new home, the newspaper would read, “Great White
Shark dies after capture”!
The first known attempt was by Marineland of the Pacific, a California oceanarium and
tourist attraction, during the mid-1950s.
It survived for less than a day.
Can you believe that?
But the sad trail of deaths had just started!
When Seaworld tried a hand at captive shark displays in the 1970s, 80s, and 90s, all of
them resulted in the shark dying or being released back to the wild within a couple
of weeks.
Such incidents suppressed the motivation and by 2000s only the Monterey Bay Aquarium was
trying to keep a great white in captivity.
Things moved in favor when in 2004, MBA was able to put a Great White on display for more
than six months before it was released back into the ocean.
Now that was something or should we say just an exception!
The truth is that Great whites and aquariums simply do not mix well!
But why is that so?
We have some theories here that will shed light on this important mystery!
One of the major problems with the great shark is that it would not eat anything other than
a live prey, unless it is near starvation!
Woah, self-dependence taken to the next level!
Alright now if you look at it practically, there are a lot of problems associated with
giving into the shark’s whim of feeding.
Firstly, it is not easy and then it won’t come cheap.
And then if you look at the bigger picture, arranging for a live animal for it to feast
on would be a terrible PR exercise!
You know animal rights and all that, so a BAD idea!
And when you try to offer it dead fish to eat, the great White would most certainly
refuse.
You know what it’s gonna do to the shark, right?
Furthering this, we’d want to shed light on the fact that great whites are expensive
to keep in captivity.
Like we said, if you decide to serve live prey to them, it is expensive and will help
you gain negative publicity.
Ready for that?
Okay leave that for a while now and concentrate solely on the nature of this shark.
What would be the first thought raiding your mind when we question the marine beast’s
personality?
You’d probably say aggression and you won’t be entirely wrong!
The most interesting thing is that captivity irritates the shark and ignites the anger.
This results in damage to the glass tank at times in addition to injury and death of tank
mates due to their hunger and anger instincts!
You can well understand how expensive it would be to refill their tank time and again.
Were you thinking about a solo tank for them as a solution to this problem?
Well, that would add to expenses again and besides, constructing a tank that stretches
for miles for just one animal is neither profitable nor feasible!
Another problem is that the magnificent shark needs a constant flow of water through its
gills to be able to extract oxygen from it and survive.
Unlike other marine creatures who simply open their mouths, the great white has to move
forward in the water at high speeds to be in a position to breathe!
Now you do realize how big a tank you would need to allow the 6meter long shark to swim
around and get oxygen.
This might make more sense when you know that once a great white known as Nicole was documented
to travel from Africa to Australia and back again - a round trip of over 12,400 miles
- in just nine months.
Wow!
The great whites have to swim long distances for their contentment, that is the way they
live and trying to change that won’t end well, right?
So now tell us, is it possible to mimic the size of the waters they feel comfortable in?
That’ll simply be unrealistic!
On second thoughts even if you can build such a tank, it’ll not be entertaining for the
paid visitors to try to spot the shark in a caged ocean, it’ll take hours!
Shall we move on with another theory?
Alright then, this one suggests that since the shark’s electroreception is incredibly
sharp, being captive in a glass tank might overwhelm or confuse the shark.
The explanation behind this is that the shark can perceive subtle changes in the marine
environment due to its electroreception but it could end up in confusion due to excessive
stimuli in the form of glass walls and electronic equipment surrounding them!
This results in the shark colliding with the walls and getting injured or simply getting
gloomy due to insane confusion.
Physically or mentally hurt shark will not be able to survive for long!
Wait, we have more reasons here!
Do you think it is easy to capture a great white shark?
Come on, it isn’t a prawn that you can find, cook and gobble in the blink of an eye!
It is a shark and the largest one at that so capturing is a challenge in itself.
Once you manage to do that, the next question pops up.
How are you planning to move it to your aquarium?
You need a transfer tank that is big enough for the giant shark and manages to control
it till you reach your destination!
All this involves a lot of effort in addition to the mounting risk factor.
Are you ready to take the plunge?
Last but not the least, it is believed that these sharks retire to depression and gloominess
because their tank environment does not match their wild habitat!
Since these sharks are salt water species, it is important to create a saline water tank
for their survival.
Though we keep them in one but it is believed that the right balance is often not achieved
which leads to the shark’s deteriorating health and subsequent death.
We can only hope this is not the case, poor massive sharks!
Death, ill health and a tendency to attack tank mates has made keeping the great white
in captivity a challenge.
So if you are dying to meet a Great White face to face and still exit alive, Gansbaai
in the Western Cape of South Africa is undeniably the best bet for you!
A 15-minute boat ride will take you to a spot where there is a 99.5% chance of seeing a
Great White Shark so you’d see these incredible creatures swimming happily in their natural
habitat!
Carefree in the wild or caged in an aquarium, where do you want to see the majestic Great
White Shark?
Tell us in the comment section below.
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