Georgia Aquarium Whale shark dies

[Wesley B]

Did everyone hear that Norton the second male whale shark died?


http://www.georgiaaquarium.org/newsr...ail.aspx?id=92

[TypicalNoah]

Erm, I don't feel like retyping any of what I wrote... sorry for not looking harder for your thread...

http://archive.reefcentral.com/forum...0#post10143750

[Scuba_Dave]

Why don't they just keep Tangs in 5g aquariums?

[dc]

Be nice Scubey...good point tho. They should just let them stay in the wild.

[Scuba_Dave]

I'm sorry but a I can't think of a worse animal to attempt to keep in captivity. They are filter feeders & travel great distances in the wild

[Aliie]

Originally posted by Scuba_Dave
Why don't they just keep Tangs in 5g aquariums?

HEY!! We all know you should keep tangs in a 30 gallon with your clown fish!!

[TypicalNoah]

Originally posted by dc
Be nice Scubey...good point tho. They should just let them stay in the wild.

The ones they get are from Taiwanese fishermen that will kill them. Taiwan is phasing out their allowed whale shark catch from like 50 or 60 in 2007 (I forget) to 0 in 2008 - at least, on the books :-P

The point is, these animals' fates were either:
1) Help educate millions (that's right, MILLIONS - just two weeks ago, the GA Aquarium awarded it's 5 millionth guest with free annual pass; they opened in Nov. '05) and allow for never before performed research
OR
2) Die.

I pick number one.

[DaddyJax]

Originally posted by TypicalNoah
The ones they get are from Taiwanese fishermen that will kill them. Taiwan is phasing out their allowed whale shark catch from like 50 or 60 in 2007 (I forget) to 0 in 2008 - at least, on the books :-P

The point is, these animals' fates were either:
1) Help educate millions (that's right, MILLIONS - just two weeks ago, the GA Aquarium awarded it's 5 millionth guest with free annual pass; they opened in Nov. '05) and allow for never before performed research
OR
2) Die.

I pick number one.

I agree!! This has been one of my arguments for most animals kept in captivity for the public.

[Ed Ricketts]

I second,...or, um, third that, Typical Noah. I recall the disparity in survival of porpoises and dolphins in captivity (five years) to that typically reported of wild specimens (twenty years) and having the immediate recognition that those tens or few hundreds in captivity are ambassadors of sorts for the rest of the species, even the rest of the toothed whales on the planet, raising the consciousness of the top predator on the planet (us) as to their plight.

Similarly, with whale sharks in the GA, many people see these animals closer than previously possible, and awareness is raised. Anthropomorphizing aside, it's sad when animals like Norton die, but the message I believe is beneficial on balance. Cleary it must feel like living in a cramped closet for whale sharks, but this is the world we live in (tigers in cages, monkeys in pet stores, tangs in my buddy's 8 gal nano (kiddin of course)

[batguano]

DO NOT JOKE ABOUT THE TANGS!!!