Monterey Bay Aquarium to be featured on Nature:

[Ninong]

"Oceans in Glass: Behind the scenes at the Monterey Bay Aquarium" will air Sunday, January 22, on PBS's Nature. Filmed by the award-winning team at Sea Studios in Monterey, the program offers a visually stunning look at what it takes to create our exhibits. The program also features the white shark we had on exhibit for six months before we released her in March 2005.

For a preview of the program, visit the PBS web site.

[Ninong]

^^

[Poseidon]

What time George? I don't see a time listed.

[Poseidon]

Nevermind.... 8pm eastern here.

[Ninong]

Nevermind.... 8pm eastern here.

Right! It comes on in four minutes here (7 p.m., Central time).

I've been there at least a dozen times over the years but I've never been "behind the scenes."

[Reefland]

Ah yes, thanks for the reminder! I have it on now.

[Poseidon]

Me too... In HD!

[Ninong]

Wow! How cool was that!?!

[Poseidon]

I like the 2000 GALLON PER MINUTE part! Holy CRAP!

That great white was cool, but breeding the MOon Jellies, that is impressive! And what's up with 100 year lifespan FISH! I never thought I would here that!

[vtec si]

I Missed It! Doh!

[Ninong]

I Missed It! Doh!

Check your local PBS listing. It repeats again on my station at 11 p.m. Central Time tonight!!! Then it comes on again at 2 a.m. January 29th.

It's a one-hour program and I highly recommend it. Maybe I'm prejudiced because I lived in Monterey from 1979-1981. Every time I go back to the SF Bay Area, we almost always drive down to Monterey, Carmel and Big Sur for at least one day. It's a beautiful area.

I saw the white shark in person about two weeks after she was introduced into the 1,000,000-gal tank. That was a very impressive sight. This program devotes a lot of time to the great white episode. In fact, that's the main topic of the show. They even show how they removed her and transported her back to the ocean for release after six months in captivity. She was growing too fast and had started to kill off the other sharks in the tank -- she was becoming territorial and a million gallons was just way too small a territory.

[vtec si]

Feb' 5, 2006 7pm YES!

Thanks,
Martin

[Ninong]

The Monterey Bay Aquarium has a very nice website.

[BubbaWPB]

It was a good show and it is worth watching, but I don't think it conveyed how absolutely amazing and impressive the aquarium really is. It really is an amazing place to visit.

[James]

Four hour drive from my house. I try to go at least once or twice a year. The large tank with the tuna and the big sun fish in it, is my favorite. Those tuna are HUGE!!
A must see in person if you live in or visit California.

[Kevin McG]

What ever happen to the great white? I fell asleep 3/4 through the show

[Frag Hag]

She started to snack on her tank mates, so they micro-chipped her and put her back where she belonged.

Shay

[Kevin McG]

She started to snack on her tank mates, so they micro-chipped her and put her back where she belonged.

Shay

Bad for the "tank mates" and good for the great white

[Ninong]

She started to snack on her tank mates, so they micro-chipped her and put her back where she belonged.

Shay

They didn't exactly implant a microchip. They used a "pop-up satellite archival tag." It was attached externally to the dorsal fin where it collected data in a tiny computer. At the end of 30 days it popped up as pre-programmed and floated to the surface where it transmitted it's data via satellite.


Sharks are outfitted with satellite tags that record their movements and the temperature of the water in which they travel.



Data from the electronic tag recovered from the young white shark released back to the wild in March 2005 after being on exhibit for almost six months showed that she traveled more than 100 miles offshore.

Exhibiting a White Shark

In September 2004, the aquarium became the first in the world to place a white shark on long-term exhibit. The shark was tagged and successfully released back to the wild in March 2005. The data tag mapped the shark's movements for a month—travels that took the shark more than 100 miles (161 km) offshore and to depths greater than 800 feet (244 m) below the surface.

We received the young white shark in August 2004 after she was caught inadvertently in a commercial fishing net. She was tagged and held in an ocean pen until September 14. The shark remained in good health and was transported to Monterey and placed in the Outer Bay exhibit. During her 198 days in the aquarium's million-gallon Outer Bay exhibit, she grew from a length of 5 feet and a weight of 62 pounds to a length at release of 6-feet-4½ inches and a weight of 162 pounds.

Having a white shark on exhibit allowed us to gather new data on the biology and behavior of young white sharks—data that will help in their management and conservation. We hope to bring another white shark to Monterey for exhibit in the summer of 2005.

[Frag Hag]

We hope to bring another white shark to Monterey for exhibit in the summer of 2005.

Good news for the public... bad news for the temporary tank mates.