| Photograph |
Aquarium and Details |
TL (m)
M (kg) |
Sex |
Time in captivity |
1934
|
Mito Aquarium (Izu Mito Sea Paradise). First captive
record for a whale shark from1934. The whale shark was kept for 122 days
in a net enclosure of a natural bay |
|
|
122 d |
| 1995 |
Marine Palace (Oita Ecological Aquarium, Oita Japan)
obtained a 60 cm male neonate from the Taiwan litter and kept
it successfully for 3 years and 2 months until it died in Sept. 1998 when
3.7 m total length. |
0.60 - 3.7 |
M |
3.2 yr |
 |
Kagoshima City Aquarium, Japan.
Were successful in keeping captive whale shark, but Nishida
(2001) gives no details. They currently have a whale shark on display
in their1.5 million-liters Open Ocean tank (since spring 2006). (Thanks
to Filipe Pereira for info and photo).
Update Sep 2012 by Filipe Pereira
Currently there is another whale
shark in their main tank. There is no information available on this
fish's origin and size, neither is there any information about the previous
specimens brought to the exhibit.
|
|
|
~1 yr |
| Dec 2000 |
Kinosaki Marine World, Japan. Attempted to keep captive
whale shark but not successful as of Dec. 2000. |
|
|
|
| Dec 2000 |
Notojima Aquarium, Japan. Attempted to keep captive
whale shark but not successful as of Dec. 2000. |
|
|
|
| Dec 2002 |
Aquarium Thiruvananthapuram, India
The
Hindu Dec. 27, 2002
Kerala: Whale shark dies in aquarium Thiruvananthapuram,
Dec 27. (PTI): A rare whale shark kept in an aquarium here died "due
to difficulty in surviving in artificial conditions," after attracting
sizeable visitors since it was brought ashore by local fishermen yesterday.
The 95 cm long white-dotted "juvenile" belonging to "Rhincodon typus"
species, netted off the Vizhinjam coast near here, was the smallest
of the type recorded so far from the Indian coast, a scientist at the
Marine Aquarium at Vizhinjam said. The largest living fish species,
the smallest of this type recorded earlier was 3.15 metres long, the
Aquarium Principal Scientist Gopakumar said. "The species which can
grow upto 20 metre long and weigh up to 20 tonnes when full-grown normally
scan 2500 metres depth in the sea. At birth, it is on an average 50
cm long. The one we kept here must have found it difficult to survive
for long in the aquarium tank," he said. It is called whale shark because
its head-region resembles that of a whale, he said. International Union
for Conservation of Natural Resources (IUCNR) has listed it as "vulnerable"
due to its fast dwindling population. |
|
|
|
>1980 |
Okinawa
Churaumi Aquarium, Japan.
UCHIDA, S.;TODA, M;KAMEI, Y.;TERUYA, H. Okinawa Expo
Aquarium, Okinawa, 905-0206 Japan The husbandry of 16 whale sharks Rhincodon
typus, from 1980 to 1998 at the Okinawa expo aquarium From 1980 to 1998
16 whale sharks, Rhincodon typus , were kept in captivity at Okinawa
Expo Aquarium, Okinawa, Japan. They were captured around Okinawa Is.
by set-nets the center of which is located at 26¡23«N, 127¡41«E from
March to September. The sea water temperature of the time captured were
21.1 to 29.0¡C at the depth of 20 m. Only two of 16 sharks were females
and 14 were males, The mean value and range in total length and body
mass were 4.8 m and 3.1 to 6.3 m, and 814 kg and 290 to 1750 kg respectively.
They were kept in the Kurosio tank which is 27 m long, 12 m wide and
3.5 m deep 1,100 m3 in volume. Water parameters of the tank in mean
and range were as follows : Water temperature(¡C) was 24.6 and 19.8
to 29.6, ph 8.2 and 7.9 to 8.35, and salinity (o/oo) 35.79 and 33.04
to 37.36. Mean and range of survival time in the tank were 502 days
and 3 to 2056 days (ca. 5y 8m). The Whale sharks were fed on Euphausia
pacifica, E. superba, Sergia lucens, Loligo japonica and Spratelloides
gracilis once a day 6 days week. Mean feeding rates (food quantity /
body mass / week x 100) of a 3.65 m female were 11.0 % in the first
year of keeping, 8.5 % in the second year and 8.0 % in the third year.
Mean growth per year of this shark was 29.5 cm in total length ( survival
time : 2056 days) , 4.5 m male shark 21.6 cm (1040 days) and 4.85 m
male 25.5 cm (458 days) respectively. Feeding and other behaviors in
tank are reported.
Update Sep 2012 by Filipe Pereira.
Three whale sharks are kept in their 7500 tons Kuroshio Sea exhibit,
together with six manta rays and thousands of other tropical pelagic
fish. This aquarium is still the one holding the World Record for whale
shark long term exhibition. A specimen now nearly 8 m long) has been
living in the aquarium for more than 10 years. The aquarium also has
an ocean pen offshore where other specimens are kept on rotation. The
aquarium organizes group tours to the ocean pen so that people can swim
with the whale sharks kept there.
|
|
|
>10 yr for now 8m long male |
Date? |
Whale Sharks in Okinawa Bay.
Thanks to Ollie Lloyd for text and photo.
500 feet off the Okinawa Bay, the Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium
keep an open water netted enclosure of 30m diameter and 20m depth housing
juvenile and grown whale sharks. The sharks kept in the nets are from
the Aquarium's rotation system, where the sharks are moved to the nets
when they have had a suitable amount of time living at the aquarium
and then are eventually moved back, much like a resort or spa. New whale
sharks captured for the aquarium are also living in the nets. The aquarium
company offers free diving with the Whale Sharks within the nets. |
|
|
|
>1993 |
Osaka Aquarium KAIYUKAN, Japan
Have successfully kept whale sharks for
a number of years under the guidance of Director Uchida and other staff
of the Okinawa Expo Aquarium. Nishida (2001) gives a detailed account.
Kitafuji and Yamamoto (1998) reported that a 4.07 m TL female grew 2.36
m in 1825 days or 45.2 cm/yr. Presently they hold one whale shark in
their 5.4 million liter tank (Filipe Pereira personal communication,
2007). |
4.07 |
F |
5 yr |
July 2008 |
Osaka Aquarium KAIYUKAN, Japan
This institution added two whale sharks
to its "Pacific Ocean" 5.4 million-litter exhibit. The two
new residents measure 4.23 and 4.5 meters long and are now the major
attractions of the Kaiyukan Aquarim. No information about the sex of
the two specimens. (Filipe Pereira personal communication, July 2008).
Update Sep 2012 by Filipe Pereira.
The second largest aquarium in Japan exhibits currently a female whale
shark named "Yuchan" in its Pacific Ocean tank (5400 tons
of water). Other tank mates are a manta ray, a devil ray, scalloped
hammerhead sharks and hundreds of pelagic fish from the Pacific Ocean.
|
4.23 & 4.5 |
|
|
June 2005 |
National Museum of Marine Biology and Aquarium, Ping TungTaiwan
Three whale sharks were on exhibit since June
2005 after two failed attempts to exhibit the species. The first successful
capture was a female named "Cha-cha" (= success success) with
the peculiarity of no first dorsal fin, perhaps stolen by fishermen
or eaten by a tigershark. She came to the aquarium measuring ~4.2 meters
total length. "Cha-Cha" was released on March 7, 2007, after
three years of successful husbandry. The specimen was 5.2 m TL at release
and weighed more than 1000 kg. Thanks to Filipe Pereira for update and
photo. |
5.2 |
|
3 yr |
Date? |
National Museum of Marine Biology and Aquarium, Ping TungTaiwan
For several years they have displayed whale
sharks in their Ocean Tank, including a time when three specimens were
kept in the exhibit. Mre recently (2012), they've tried once more to
add a whale shark to the collection,
and there's a single specimen currently on exhibit. There are no data
about it, but it swims in the large hexagonal tank together with bowmouth
guitarfish, tunas, jacks, stingrays and nurse sharks, among other tropical
pelagic fish. Thanks to Filipe
Pereira for update and photo. |
|
|
|
>2005 |
Georgia Aquarium, USA
Two males (Nortan and Ralph) about 4 m long
and weighing about 500 kg each were transported by airplane from Taiwan
to Atlanta, Georgia USA on June 6, 2005 after being caught be local
fishermane and kept in Hualien for months. Two female whale sharks (Alice
and Trixie) arrived in 2006. One of the males caught in 2005 (Ralph,
now 6.7 m long) died
in Janurary 2007. (Thanks to Andy Johns for URL). CNN.com: Aquarium
looks for answers in whale shark death.
Updates provided by Filipe Pereira:
On 01 June 2007, two male whale sharks, "Yuchan"
and "Taroko" (approximately 13 (~4 m) and 14 feet (~4.3 m)
TL, respectively), were flown from Taiwan to Atlanta's Georgia Aquarium
to join Norton (M), Alice (F)and Trixie (F) in the 6.2 million gallon
Ocean Voyager Exhibit. The names given to the specimens were decided
among Taiwanese fishermen, who have been colaborating with the aquarium's
staff since 2005, and are meant to be a gift for recognition of their
work.
On 13 June 2007, a second whale shark died at the Ocean
Voyager exhibit (Norton, the other specimen brought to Atlanta in June
2005). Norton's death might be related to the same problem that affected
Ralph, caused by the special treatment of the water in the 6.2 million
gallon tank. Apparently, it has lead to a progressive loss of appetite
in both animals, forcing staff members to feed them artifficially through
a PVC tube which might have damaged their stomachs, the apparent cause
of death.
Update Sept 2012:
Four specimens are still on display in the 6 million-gallon Ocean Voyager
exhibit, which is still the largest fish tank in the whole world. The
animals were flown from Taiwan between 2005 and 2007 and are apparently
healthy and growing. Other tank mates are four manta rays, a devil ray,
sandtiger sharks, zebra sharks, sandbar sharks, wobbegong sharks, blacktip
reef sharks, stingrays, eagle rays, and about 100.000 fish from different
species.
|
~4 |
M |
~ 7yr |
Date? |
Atlantis, The Palm (Dubai):
A 4-meter long juvenile whale shark was found stranded in a shallow water
laggoon off the coast of Dubai in the Summer of 2008. Water temp was 37-38C
and salinity of 47ppt chloride. Swimming was very labored. She was transferred
to the aquarium which is 11 million liters. Water temp is maintained during
the summer months at 23C and salinity is ambient for the region at 39-40ppt.
She was emaciated on arrival and started eating after 16 days. Currently
being fed a mixture of 50% E. superba and E. pacifica plus multiple vitamins.
She has grown to 4.30 m over the last 13 months and is doing well (as
of Oct 2009) .Thanks to Steve Kaiser and Filipe Pereira for information
and photo. |
4.3 |
F |
> 1 yr |
2012 |
Aquaplanet (South Korea)
This huge
aquarium opened recently and became Asia's largest aquarium. It holds
a total of 10.800 tons of water. The main attraction is the Ocean Tank
(25 m long, 23 m wide and 8.5 m deep) where the aquarium had two juvenile
whale sharks, which were caught by local fishermen and brought to the
aquarium. A few days after the aquarium opened, one of the animals died.
According to staff, the cause was stress from the capture and transportation.
Conservationists from all over the world were shocked with this situation,
saying that the aquarium had no preparation at all to keep these large
creatures. The aquarium director publicly apologized that they actually
had not conducted any rigorous studies for the exhibition of whale sharks,
and said that they'll release the second animal back into the ocean in
order to avoid another loss. Thanks to Filipe Pereira for update. |
|
|
|
 June
2009 |
Dalian Aquarium (China)
In June 2009, the Chinese aquarium in Dalian
brought a juvenile 4-meter-long female whale shark to its main tank, hexagonal
in shape and with several columns inside. According to the aquarium's
staff, the young specimen stayed in the exhibit for almost 3 years, but
there's little information about it on the web. Thanks to Filipe Pereira
for information and photo |
|
|
|
2012? |
Hakkeijima Aquarium (Japan)
The Sea Paradise in Hakkeijima is one of Japan's
largest aquariums and recently added to their vast collection of sea creatures
two whale sharks in the dolphin show pool, allowing visitors to see the
animals both underwater and from the stands around the pool, including
during the dolphins' performance. The aquarium's number of visitors has
increased significantly since the arrival of the whale sharks. |
|
|
|
 2011 |
Yantai Aquarium (China)
Opened to the public a year ago, in September
2011, the Yantai Whale Shark Museum was involved in a controversy because
it displayed a group of five young whale sharks in a tank that was only
88 ft (~27 m) long and 52 ft 9~16m ) wide, which conservationists considered
to be too small for such a large number of the world's largest fish. |
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| Photograph |
Aquarium and Details |
TL (m)
M (kg) |
Sex |
Time in captivity |
