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The Aquarium's Fifth Great White Shark Goes on Exhibit

The Monterey Bay Aquarium's fifth white shark is collected by staff August 12 near Malibu, California, with the help of a spotter plane and a commercial fishing crew using a purse seine net. The five-foot, three-inch shark remains in an ocean holding pen for almost two weeks while Aquarium staff confirms that she is feeding and swimming well. Then, on August 26, she is placed in the million-gallon Outer Bay exhibit, where she helps change public attitudes and promote protection for this magnificent and much-maligned ocean predator.

The shark remains healthy throughout her stay, and is released on November 4, because of aggressive behavior toward other sharks on exhibit. She does well on release, traveling from Monterey Bay to Baja California, a distance of more than 500 miles. In March 2010, she is incidentally caught in a gillnet and dies.

View a video of the white shark's arrival

Learn more about our white shark program