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Watch: Many great white sharks have died in aquariums, here's why they can't survive in captivity

Written by : TNM Staff

Since the 1970s, many zoo-aquariums in the US have tried to capture and keep a great white shark- which can grow to a whopping 15 feet- in tanks. 

A video by VOX explains how this has cost many great whites their lives over the years. The longest a great white shark survived in captivity was 16 days at one point.

It was only in 2004 that Monterey Bay Aquarium managed to keep a great white shark for about 6 months. They also spent a decade planning the program and released the giant fish back into the sea after the said duration. They captured and displayed five more young great white sharks before ending the program in 2011. 

What their experience taught them was that these sharks' biological make, dietary requirements and instinct makes them incapable of being bred in captivity.

And while the Monterey Bay Aquarium released their last shark into the sea after 55 days, it died soon after. They don't know why. What they did realise however is that pelagic and fast moving fishes like the great white suffered lasting damage when they met with walls of the tanks - they are used to roaming the open sea changing directions as they please.

Even so, in January 2016, a Japan aquarium captured an eleven-and-a-half-foot great white shark and put it for display. However, the giant sea predator died in three days.

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