Monterey has another Sharky!!!!!!!!

[BarTopDancer]

And I shall name her Sharky 2.

Originally Posted by email from Andrew from Monterey Aquarium

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - September 1, 2006

For the second time, the Monterey Bay Aquarium has placed a young white
shark on public exhibit, bringing him to Monterey on Thursday evening
(August 31), 14 days after aquarium husbandry collectors caught the shark
on hook-and-line gear off Southern California.

As in 2004-2005 - when another white shark was on exhibit for a record 198
days before her successful return to the wild - the aquarium hopes to
keep him on long-term exhibit as a way to change public attitudes, and
promote stronger protection for this magnificent and much-maligned ocean
predator.

The young shark, a 5-foot, 8-inch male weighing 104 pounds, was brought
north Thursday in a 3,000-gallon mobile life support transport vehicle.
Caught several miles offshore in Santa Monica Bay, he had been held since
August 17 in a 4-million-gallon ocean pen off Malibu and was observed
feeding in the pen before he was brought to Monterey.

Since 2002, the aquarium through its White Shark Research Project has
worked to learn more about white sharks in the wild and to bring a white
shark to Monterey for exhibit. During that time, aquarium staff have
tagged and tracked seven juvenile white sharks off Southern California -
animals either collected by staff biologists or obtained from commercial
fishing crews who caught them accidentally in their nets. The first shark
kept at the aquarium was also tagged and tracked after her release.

Nearly two years ago, a female white shark became "the most powerful
emissary for ocean conservation in our history," according to aquarium
Executive Director Julie Packard. The shark was part of the aquarium's
Outer Bay exhibit for six and a half months and was seen by more than a
million people between September 15, 2004 and March 30, 2005 - nearly 30
percent more visitors than normal for the period. In follow-up surveys,
many visitors reported coming away with a deeper understanding of the need
to protect white sharks and their ocean homes.

The unexpected boost in attendance prompted trustees of the nonprofit
aquarium to provide an additional $500,000 - for a total of $840,000 since
2002 - for field studies of juvenile and adult white sharks. In the fall
of 2005 alone, researchers funded by the aquarium placed electronic tags
on 29 adult white sharks off the Farallon Islands and Point Año Nuevo -
the largest number ever tagged in this fashion over such a short period.
Researchers with the Tagging of Pacific Pelagics (TOPP;
www.toppcensus.org) project have now tagged 66 adult white sharks off the
Central coast with data-collecting tags.

Data from the tags are offering new insights into the far-ranging travels
of white sharks in the eastern Pacific, according to Dr. Barbara Block of
Stanford University, a marine biologist and principal investigator with
TOPP.

The aquarium continues to collaborate with other research teams to tag
young white sharks in southern California waters, and to collect DNA
samples for analysis of the population structure of white sharks in
California and Mexico.

Aside from the animal that thrived during its 198-day stay in Monterey, no
aquarium in the world has ever exhibited a white shark for more than 16
days. There is general agreement in the marine science community that past
failures with white sharks at other aquariums resulted from the stress of
capture, inability to encourage the sharks to feed, and inadequate exhibit
design.

In the Monterey Bay Aquarium project, collecting white sharks has been the
subject of a focused multi-year effort involving aquarium husbandry and
veterinary staff, scientists and fishermen, said aquarium husbandry
curator Jon Hoech. This approach, developed in consultation with an
outside panel of shark experts, is designed to minimize the stresses of
collection, holding and transport, he said.

Though the aquarium succeeded two years ago in exhibiting a white shark
caught accidentally in commercial gear, staff veterinarian Dr. Mike Murray
said the husbandry staff prefers to work with sharks it collects itself.

"There are a lot of unknowns with sharks that are bycatch from a
commercial fishery," Dr. Murray said. "We never know how long they've been
in the net, or to what degree their health is compromised. We have much
more confidence that we have a healthy animal to begin with when our team
does the collecting."

During 2006, the aquarium team worked with six white sharks caught
accidentally by commercial fishing crews. Three died, one escaped the
ocean holding pen, one was released because it proved not to be a
candidate for exhibit, and one was tagged in the field and released.

While in the pen, white sharks are monitored to see if they adjust to
swimming in an enclosed space. The aquarium's field team offers food -
including salmon filets, mackerel and other fish - and confirms that the
shark is feeding before any attempt is made to bring it to Monterey.

At the aquarium, the Outer Bay exhibit was designed specifically to
accommodate pelagic (open ocean) animals. It is home to Galapagos and
scalloped hammerhead sharks, as well as bluefin tuna weighing 400 pounds
or more, yellowfin tuna, barracuda, sea turtles, ocean sunfish and other
open ocean species.

The first white shark coexisted with the other animals until February
2005, when she killed two soupfin sharks. On March 28, aquarium biologists
saw clear signs that her behavior had changed and she has begun actively
hunting other sharks. They returned her to the wild three days later.

During her stay, people not only saw a white shark face-to-face, they
learned about shark conservation issues in conversations with staff and
volunteer guides; through a question-and-answer auditorium program devoted
to the white shark project; in other exhibits that address shark
conservation; and through exhibit graphics specifically addressing the
threats facing white sharks.

"I can't overstate the impact of this single animal on advancing our
mission to inspire conservation of the oceans," Packard said.

The public can see the white shark daily through Labor Day from 9:30 a.m.
to 6 p.m., and from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily beginning September 5. He can
also be viewed online via the aquarium's streaming Outer Bay web cam from
7 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily (Pacific time), at www.montereybayaquarium.org
<http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/> . (Specific link:
http://www.mbayaq.org/efc/efc_hp/hp_obw_cam.asp).

White sharks are in decline worldwide, in part because they're slow to
reproduce and because of growing fishing pressure that is decimating all
shark species. White sharks are now a protected species in California and
other U.S. coastal waters, as well as in South Africa, Australia, Mexico
and other nations. Their fearsome reputation has also made them a target
of trophy hunters and the curio trade.

In October 2004, white sharks were granted additional protection by the
166 nations that are parties to the Convention on International Trade in
Endangered Species of Flora and Fauna (CITES).

The aquarium presents strong shark conservation messages in many of its
live exhibits, including the permanent "Vanishing Wildlife" gallery and in
"Sharks: Myth and Mystery," an award-winning special exhibition that
closes on Labor Day, September 4.

The aquarium encourages the public to get involved in shark conservation
by using its "Seafood Watch" consumer pocket guide to sustainable seafood.
The guide, as well as supporting materials for restaurateurs and seafood
retailers, highlights "best choices" fisheries, including those that kill
fewer animals - including sharks - that aren't the direct target of the
fisheries. Details are online at www.seafoodwatch.org
<http://www.seafoodwatch.org/> .

Through its Center for the Future of the Oceans, the aquarium works with
other institutions and agencies to develop the best strategies for white
shark conservation policy in California waters. It is also part of a
coalition working to establish a network of marine protected areas,
including fully protected marine reserves where fishing is not allowed,
along the entire California coast. Details are available at
www.oceanaction.org <http://www.oceanaction.org/> .

The mission of the Monterey Bay Aquarium is to inspire conservation of the
oceans.

- 30 -

[Alex]

Oh you have got to be kidding me. We were just at the aquarium last Saturday and it will probably be another 5 years before we go back.

[katiesue]

Ratz, we were there two weeks ago. It was the Munchkins favorite part of our trip.

[Matterhorn Fan]

Originally Posted by BarTopDancer

And I shall name her Sharky 2.

It sounds like it's a "he." You might have to drop the Y from that name.

[flippyshark]

Is Sharky with a Y necessarily a girl's name? I associate it with the Laurie Anderson song "Sharky's Day," in which Sharky is a he. (This is on the album Strange Angels. On the side 2 reprise of the song, Sharky is none other than William S. Burroughs.)

I wanna go to Monterey!

[wendybeth]

Lol- these articles are like chum for Flippy- anything with sharks or corndogs and he's on it!

[BarTopDancer]

I wonder if Sharky 2 likes corn dogs.
I wonder how long he will be able to stay there. He is about the size of Sharky when she was released.

I want to go to Monterey more than I want to go to Vegas. And I want to go to Vegas soooo badly.

[€uroMeinke]

If William S. Burroughs is Sharky, who then is Jetty?

[Matterhorn Fan]

Originally Posted by flippyshark

Is Sharky with a Y necessarily a girl's name? I associate it with the Laurie Anderson song "Sharky's Day," in which Sharky is a he. (This is on the album Strange Angels. On the side 2 reprise of the song, Sharky is none other than William S. Burroughs.)

I wanna go to Monterey!

Since someone asked . . .

Actually, the trend of adjectives ending in y being used as nouns has begun to really bug this English teacher. I'm sure I'll get over it.

[Jughead P. Jones]

Sounds really cool! I wish I could go to Monterey!