Ask a Shark Expert
Read shark researcher Mark Marks' responses on the following shark topics:
Disappearing sharks
Shark evolution
Shark deterrent?
Nonstop swimmers?
Shark posturing
Swimming with the sharks?
Shark diving
Shark education
Shark enemies
Shark reproduction
Great white disposition
Favorite shark
Shark eyes
Shark companions
Bite pressure
Bladderless sharks
Warmblooded killers
Hammerheads
Thresher sharks
Great whites in captivity
Shark protection
Q: On Great Whites in Captivity I was wondering why it is so hard to catch and keep a great white in captivity. What is it about the species that it will not survive that?
A: White sharks and captivity don't mix! In truth, white sharks are not that difficult to capture, a fact illustrated by the rampant poaching of these sharks for their jaws and trophy status within the sport fishing community. Aquaria all over the world have tried, unsuccessfully, (literally hundreds of white sharks, primarily adolescents, have died in attempts at captivity) to maintain whites for nearly 50 years. Perhaps the best explanation relates to the species' physiology and biology. Shark species of the
Lamnidae family, to which white sharks belong, have a built-in heat-exchange system, which essentially makes them warmblooded animals. This warmblooded state gives these sharks the ability to move from cool to warm water and back again. The lamnoid sharks were built to patrol large areas of water, and are sensitive to currents and thermoclines. In the case of the white shark, we are also talking about a behaviorally complex, intelligent fish, which in its natural environment is constantly challenged neurologically. Even the best man-made habitats don't come close to replicating their world. Captive sharks are deprived of their stimulus-rich biome. The artificial confines and limited swimming space are so alien and restrictive that typically the fish's metabolism begins to shut down, they refuse to eat, and often active swimming stops, which results in suffocation.
