What happened to the second whale shark at the Georgia Aquarium?

But when another of the rare fish at the Georgia Aquarium died Wednesday, there was talk of carelessness: It was, in short, a public relations crisis. Norton, a 23-foot juvenile whale shark and one of the stars of Atlanta's super-sized aquarium, was euthanized after he had slowly spiraled to the bottom of his tank.



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Alice's death came less than a year after the aquarium's largest whale shark Trixie passed away from health complications. The largest fish in the sea, whale sharks are considered endangered by International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species.

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In total, the aquarium is intended to hold four whale sharks: Ralph, Norton, Alice, and Trixie. Two of the whale sharks, Ralph and Norton, passed away in 2007, two years after the aquarium's opening.

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The beluga whale exhibit, which includes three of the animals, is closed for an indefinite amount of time. The reopening is “dependent on how mom and calf are progressing after the birth,” according to a spokeswoman. We want to give them as much privacy as possible to allow for them to bond and nurse, she said.

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In Defense of Animals also criticized the Georgia Aquarium for having swim-with-dolphin programs, holding belugas inside an enclosed building and shipping belugas across the country with no apparent regard for their social, psychological and physical well-being.

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Maris, a captive-born beluga brought to Georgia Aquarium on Nov. 6, 2005, died last Thursday afternoon at the age of 21.

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Georgia Aquarium is now licensed as a Class R research facility under the Animal Welfare Act. This license is the highest standard of establishing ethical review of animal research for advanced scientific understanding.

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