CozumelAntonio
Contributor
Very sad news I received today from my friend Ramon Guerrero of Searious Diving in Isla Mujeres.
(disclaimer: Ramon and I are on island/mexican time)
Hi everybody: please read the article located below this lines. I'm sending this info. to you because once again in the name of cience, investigation or research, people without concience gets profits from showing organisms in captivity, this time is the
Aquarium of Atlanta, Georgia. After the aquarium gets close you may both scuba dive ($290 US) or snorkeling ($160 US) with whale sharks. USA proclame to be a fair country, USA is also a proud country because the way they protect animals with two differnt tools: Animal's protecction Law and Animal's rights Law.I expect some one push the button to stop this lie, at least Georgia's benefactor and all the people of the
marketing team should be honest and just to sell the tickets like a regular bussiness company.
Selections... Fish in the News Sharks in the News
Opinions On Captivity Swirl As Aquarium Loses Another Huge Fish
June 14, 2007
Release from: Mark Davis
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Another whale shark is dead at the Georgia Aquarium, but the issues surrounding their captivity are very much alive.
As specialists prepared on Wednesday to perform a necropsy on Norton, euthanized earlier that day, fans and critics of aquariums wondered what had happened to
the 23-foot-long fish.
Some also asked if specimens of the world's largest fish — they can grow up to 40 feet — should be on display. Two whale sharks have died at the aquarium
since January.
"One has to wonder if it's appropriate to keep such an animal in captivity," said George Burgess, director of the Florida Program of Shark Research at the Florida
Museum of Natural History. "I think probably the answer is no."
Another shark expert disagreed. Robert Hueter, director of the Center for Shark Research at Satasota's Mote Marine Laboratory, said displaying whale sharks "provides us with invaluable learning opportunities."
Aquarium officials said they had not learned what felled Norton. The fish sank to the bottom of Ocean Voyager, the aquarium's largest display, about 3 a.m. Wednesday. He'd been swimming erratically, aquarium officials said, and blood samples showed a fatally low cell count. A team of specialists euthanized him before sunrise.
Norton had not been eating regularly for months, prompting the aquarium to force-feed the fish with a PVC pipe.
Despite his loss of appetite, aquarium workers had noticed Norton occasionally showed an interest in eating and hoped he would improve, said Ray Davis, the aquarium's senior vice president of zoological operations.
"In a sense, this caught us by surprise," Davis said.
Accused of showboating
The death didn't seem to shock Naomi Rose, a marine mammal specialist at the Humane Society of the United States.
A frequent critic of large aquariums, she accused aquarium benefactor Bernie Marcus and Jeffery Swanagan, the aquarium's president and executive director, of
"showboating to sell tickets" by putting whale sharks on display.
"Now that two of them [whale sharks] are dead, it will be very interesting to see what happens to the other four," Rose said. "The fact remains that very little is known about whale sharks. Maybe these four will live longer; maybe they won't."
Norton and Ralph were among the first star attractions to come to the aquarium, which opened in November 2005. Marcus took special pleasure in bringing the
giant swimmers so far — 8,000 miles from Taiwan.
"All the experts said, 'You can't do it,' " Marcus said when the whale sharks arrived. "I just love that — when they tell you that you can't do it."
Marcus was unavailable for comment Wednesday.
Painful similarities
Norton's death is reminiscent of Ralph's demise. Ralph died Jan. 11, days after the aquarium euthanized Gasper, a beluga whale that had contracted a fatal bone disease before coming to Atlanta.
Like Norton, Ralph drifted to the bottom of the 6.2-million-gallon tank, and efforts to revive him failed. Like Norton, he came to Atlanta in June 2005.
Like Norton, Ralph was in the tank when the aquarium treated it with a pesticide to eliminate parasites. The aquarium has refused to say what chemical its workers used. Both fishes stopped eating sometime after the chemical had been applied; the aquarium started force-feeding them.
A necropsy on Ralph showed that the 22-foot-long fish had died of peritonitis, an inflammation of the abdominal cavity's lining.
He also had perforations in his stomach, possibly caused by the force-feedings. His stomach, veterinarians noted, also appeared to have thin walls.
The aquarium's other four whale sharks, which weren't in Ocean Voyager when workers applied the pesticide, appear well. Females Alice and Trixie, which arrived
in June 2006, are eating regularly, aquarium workers say. The latest arrivals, males Taroko and Yushan, which came to the aquarium on June 1, also seem
healthy.
All the fishes came from Taiwan, which recently banned the capture, sale and export of whale sharks, beginning in 2008.
It's too soon to trace the chemical treatment to the whale sharks' deaths, Davis said. "It's a little early to make a correlation of these two," he said.
News of Norton's death traveled quickly among people who study Rhincodon typus.
Hueter, whose field studies of whale sharks has received funding from the Georgia Aquarium, said having Norton on display has added knowledge about whale sharks, one of the world's most mysterious fishes.
"It provides us with invaluable learning opportunities — in order to fully understand whale sharks' behavior, biology and natural history, we have to be able to
observe them in controlled environments 24 hours a day," Hueter said in a written statement.
Jason Holmberg, a whale shark researcher from Portland, Ore., said he hoped the two latest arrivals to the aquarium might profit from the big fish's
death.
"Now that he has perished, I hope that, with the next two, they [aquarium workers] will do a better job," he said.
So did Lori Marino, an Emory University neuroscience lecturer who is a specialist in whales, dolphins and porpoises. She's criticized the aquarium for its displays of large swimmers.
"I think a lot of people predicted this [death], unfortunately," she said.
Members saddened
News traveled outside the scientific community, too, in an e-mail from Swanagan to aquarium members.
"I am very saddened to announce that Norton, one of the Georgia Aquarium's original whale sharks, died this morning," the message began.
When he heard about Norton, Darin Melton of Atlanta said he wondered if he should renew his membership. "I'm concerned about all the deaths of the large animals they have there," he said. "I feel like all the problems are stemming from them being in
captivity."
The aquarium, meantime, hummed with visitors who crowded into Ocean Voyager. Interpreters, the term used for employees who explain exhibits, had been told to answer any questions about the missing whale shark if anyone asked.
Atlantans Andrew and Debbie Eggleston, who were there with their two sons, learned about Norton's death while talking with another visitor.
"It's great to see them, but if they're not surviving in captivity, they need to go back to their native habitat," she said. "I don't want them to die for my sake."
A shaft of sunlight penetrated the tank, penetrating the depths. It illuminated four whale sharks, swimming in big loops.
(disclaimer: Ramon and I are on island/mexican time)
Hi everybody: please read the article located below this lines. I'm sending this info. to you because once again in the name of cience, investigation or research, people without concience gets profits from showing organisms in captivity, this time is the
Aquarium of Atlanta, Georgia. After the aquarium gets close you may both scuba dive ($290 US) or snorkeling ($160 US) with whale sharks. USA proclame to be a fair country, USA is also a proud country because the way they protect animals with two differnt tools: Animal's protecction Law and Animal's rights Law.I expect some one push the button to stop this lie, at least Georgia's benefactor and all the people of the
marketing team should be honest and just to sell the tickets like a regular bussiness company.
Selections... Fish in the News Sharks in the News
Opinions On Captivity Swirl As Aquarium Loses Another Huge Fish
June 14, 2007
Release from: Mark Davis
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Another whale shark is dead at the Georgia Aquarium, but the issues surrounding their captivity are very much alive.
As specialists prepared on Wednesday to perform a necropsy on Norton, euthanized earlier that day, fans and critics of aquariums wondered what had happened to
the 23-foot-long fish.
Some also asked if specimens of the world's largest fish — they can grow up to 40 feet — should be on display. Two whale sharks have died at the aquarium
since January.
"One has to wonder if it's appropriate to keep such an animal in captivity," said George Burgess, director of the Florida Program of Shark Research at the Florida
Museum of Natural History. "I think probably the answer is no."
Another shark expert disagreed. Robert Hueter, director of the Center for Shark Research at Satasota's Mote Marine Laboratory, said displaying whale sharks "provides us with invaluable learning opportunities."
Aquarium officials said they had not learned what felled Norton. The fish sank to the bottom of Ocean Voyager, the aquarium's largest display, about 3 a.m. Wednesday. He'd been swimming erratically, aquarium officials said, and blood samples showed a fatally low cell count. A team of specialists euthanized him before sunrise.
Norton had not been eating regularly for months, prompting the aquarium to force-feed the fish with a PVC pipe.
Despite his loss of appetite, aquarium workers had noticed Norton occasionally showed an interest in eating and hoped he would improve, said Ray Davis, the aquarium's senior vice president of zoological operations.
"In a sense, this caught us by surprise," Davis said.
Accused of showboating
The death didn't seem to shock Naomi Rose, a marine mammal specialist at the Humane Society of the United States.
A frequent critic of large aquariums, she accused aquarium benefactor Bernie Marcus and Jeffery Swanagan, the aquarium's president and executive director, of
"showboating to sell tickets" by putting whale sharks on display.
"Now that two of them [whale sharks] are dead, it will be very interesting to see what happens to the other four," Rose said. "The fact remains that very little is known about whale sharks. Maybe these four will live longer; maybe they won't."
Norton and Ralph were among the first star attractions to come to the aquarium, which opened in November 2005. Marcus took special pleasure in bringing the
giant swimmers so far — 8,000 miles from Taiwan.
"All the experts said, 'You can't do it,' " Marcus said when the whale sharks arrived. "I just love that — when they tell you that you can't do it."
Marcus was unavailable for comment Wednesday.
Painful similarities
Norton's death is reminiscent of Ralph's demise. Ralph died Jan. 11, days after the aquarium euthanized Gasper, a beluga whale that had contracted a fatal bone disease before coming to Atlanta.
Like Norton, Ralph drifted to the bottom of the 6.2-million-gallon tank, and efforts to revive him failed. Like Norton, he came to Atlanta in June 2005.
Like Norton, Ralph was in the tank when the aquarium treated it with a pesticide to eliminate parasites. The aquarium has refused to say what chemical its workers used. Both fishes stopped eating sometime after the chemical had been applied; the aquarium started force-feeding them.
A necropsy on Ralph showed that the 22-foot-long fish had died of peritonitis, an inflammation of the abdominal cavity's lining.
He also had perforations in his stomach, possibly caused by the force-feedings. His stomach, veterinarians noted, also appeared to have thin walls.
The aquarium's other four whale sharks, which weren't in Ocean Voyager when workers applied the pesticide, appear well. Females Alice and Trixie, which arrived
in June 2006, are eating regularly, aquarium workers say. The latest arrivals, males Taroko and Yushan, which came to the aquarium on June 1, also seem
healthy.
All the fishes came from Taiwan, which recently banned the capture, sale and export of whale sharks, beginning in 2008.
It's too soon to trace the chemical treatment to the whale sharks' deaths, Davis said. "It's a little early to make a correlation of these two," he said.
News of Norton's death traveled quickly among people who study Rhincodon typus.
Hueter, whose field studies of whale sharks has received funding from the Georgia Aquarium, said having Norton on display has added knowledge about whale sharks, one of the world's most mysterious fishes.
"It provides us with invaluable learning opportunities — in order to fully understand whale sharks' behavior, biology and natural history, we have to be able to
observe them in controlled environments 24 hours a day," Hueter said in a written statement.
Jason Holmberg, a whale shark researcher from Portland, Ore., said he hoped the two latest arrivals to the aquarium might profit from the big fish's
death.
"Now that he has perished, I hope that, with the next two, they [aquarium workers] will do a better job," he said.
So did Lori Marino, an Emory University neuroscience lecturer who is a specialist in whales, dolphins and porpoises. She's criticized the aquarium for its displays of large swimmers.
"I think a lot of people predicted this [death], unfortunately," she said.
Members saddened
News traveled outside the scientific community, too, in an e-mail from Swanagan to aquarium members.
"I am very saddened to announce that Norton, one of the Georgia Aquarium's original whale sharks, died this morning," the message began.
When he heard about Norton, Darin Melton of Atlanta said he wondered if he should renew his membership. "I'm concerned about all the deaths of the large animals they have there," he said. "I feel like all the problems are stemming from them being in
captivity."
The aquarium, meantime, hummed with visitors who crowded into Ocean Voyager. Interpreters, the term used for employees who explain exhibits, had been told to answer any questions about the missing whale shark if anyone asked.
Atlantans Andrew and Debbie Eggleston, who were there with their two sons, learned about Norton's death while talking with another visitor.
"It's great to see them, but if they're not surviving in captivity, they need to go back to their native habitat," she said. "I don't want them to die for my sake."
A shaft of sunlight penetrated the tank, penetrating the depths. It illuminated four whale sharks, swimming in big loops.
Last edited:
