The Georgia Aquarium has applied to the Taiwanese Government for an additional 2 whale sharks. The aquarium applied for a permit to export 2 whale sharks from Taiwan on April 12. Two sharks were netted in March and could be destined for the Georgia's Ocean Voyager tank, but the permit is not guaranteed and the Taiwanese government has genuine concerns over the ability of the Aquarium to display these animals.
More Information: ajc.com"We will have our experts and government officials get together soon to discuss whether we should give the permits," said Hung, whose agency oversees the export of whale sharks native to Taiwanese waters. "For one whale shark has died; we don't want to see it happen again, either during the transportation, or after their arrival."The large Ocean Voyager tank was designed to accommodate 6 of the giant fish. In all likely hood there was already a plan in place to procure 2 additional fish this year. After the death of Ralph in January and the recent revelation that Norton the aquarium's other male shark has lost his appetite as well. The aquarium is likely desperate to get new males on display and salvage the dream for a whale shark breeding program.
Photo Credit
Hyku
2 comments:
I think they should work on keeping their current charges happy before they try to get more.
I think the perspective of the aquarium is that the 2 females are quite content. The problem was isolated to the two males which were exposed to the leech treatment. I'm actually a bit concerned that the aquarium still hasn't exposed what treatment they used in the tank.
Post a Comment