Why Great White Sharks Do Not Survive In Captivity

Experts believe that great white sharks cannot be kept in captivity for many reasons.

Most scientists and biologists have best intentions of keeping the great white sharks in huge aquariums. They want to learn about the creature and safely observe them. On the other hand, the great white sharks do not survive longer in the aquariums.

Currently, a female great white shark survived for only 44 days in a million-gallon tank housed at Monterey Bay Aquarium in California. This has reached a new record. The creature ate four pounds of salmon, mackerel and one sardine. On the other hand, it died a week later after it was released, according to Shark Bookings.

In August 1981, a great white shark lasted for only 16 days at Sea World in San Francisco. It was released back into the ocean after refusing to eat. On the other hand, it did not survive too.

According to many theories, great white sharks cannot be kept in captivity for some reasons. Great white sharks are open water fish. They cannot be locked up or restrained. These sharks are known to swim hundreds of kilometers within a matter of days. This makes them be contented.

Great white sharks are depressed in captivity. With this, they become aggressive. In the tank, they kill and eat all other creatures. They do not want also to be fed by human so they either die of starvation or be released into the wild. They are natural hunters and they want to hunt to survive. They will not survive on already dead small fish.

There are also some speculations that aquariums wherein the sharks are in captivity used the incorrect water solutions, probably without enough saline. They are saltwater species and the correct balance must be maintained. They are incredibly hard to handle too because of their size and aggressiveness inside the tank. These are probably the reasons why no shark kept in captivity in aquariums.

The great white shark is also referred to as white death or white shark. It is a large lamniform shark or mackerel shark that can be found in the coastal surface waters of major oceans. The mature female great white sharks can grow up to 6.1 meters (20 ft.) in length and has 1,950 kg (4,300 lb.) weight. The average males measure about 3.35 to 3.96 m in length and the females 4.57 to 4.88 meters. It is one of the longest-lived cartilaginous fish, in which can live for up to 70 years or more.