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Georgia Aquarium to get 'toothy' sharks
Next time I go to Florida, I'll have to stop here in Georgia
Georgia Aquarium to get 'toothy' sharks
By DORIE TURNER - Associated Press Writer
ATLANTA -- The world's largest fish tank is about to get a lot more teeth.
The Georgia Aquarium is adding six sand tiger sharks to its 6.3-million-gallon Ocean Voyager exhibit, officials announced Friday.
"This shark is the most sharky shark you can imagine," said Kevin Curlee, manager of acquisitions and quarantine for the aquarium. "They're toothy and snaggly."
The fearsome creatures can grow up to 10 feet long and weigh 300 pounds. They have pointy fins, mouths full of razor-sharp teeth and beady eyes.
Despite their frightening appearance, sand tiger sharks are docile fish that only attack in self-defense, Curlee said. That's good news for the dozens of visitors who sign up for the aquarium's diving program that plops them in the middle of the Ocean Voyager tank.
"If you want a shark that's going to stay in front of your window with big gnarly teeth and that's not a threat to your divers and will swim slowly so everyone can see them, you just described a sand tiger," Curlee said.
The sharks are scheduled to go on exhibit before Thanksgiving.
Aquarium officials hope to breed the sharks by bringing in three males and three females. The sand tiger shark is considered a vulnerable species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature because of its low birth rate and thinning from commercial fishing.
The sharks live in the waters off the eastern U.S. coast from Maryland to Florida.
The aquarium already has a long list of sharks in its exhibits, including the world's largest fish, the whale shark. Others include the hammerhead shark, the bamboo shark and zebra sharks.
The addition is part of the aquarium's push to add a new animal or exhibit every three months to keep visitors coming back. In August, the downtown Atlanta attraction began housing the only manta ray at a U.S. aquarium.
