The Two Oceans Aquarium at the V and A Waterfront in Cape Town is set to release all the ragged-tooth sharks from the current I and J Predator Exhibit.The release dates at this stage are May 24 and June 2 and the sharks will be released off Mossel Bay, the aquarium said in a statement.
“This is in preparation for the closing of the I and J Predator Exhibit for repairs in mid-June and the long–awaited opening of the new large-scale exhibit, the I and J Ocean Exhibit.The sharks had been tagged with internal VEMCO multi-purpose transmitters. These transmitters had a 10-year battery-lifespan and would transmit to various acoustic monitoring receivers dotted along the southern African coast.
“As with all our previous shark releases, we are really excited as we will receive data from these transmitters for the next 10 years and through that will continue to contribute to the scientific research being conducted on sharks around the southern African coast,†Two Oceans Aquarium operations manager Tinus Beukes said in the statement.
On Monday, aquarium staff would remove the first two ragged-tooth sharks from the predator exhibit at about 8am. Divers would manoeuvre each shark into a transparent PVC cone. Once secured, the shark would be moved to a holding tank that had been placed into the exhibit.From there, the sharks would be moved to a 6000 litre holding tank on the back of a transport truck.
The truck and tank were fitted with complete life-support systems that would maintain water quality during the journey to Mossel Bay and overnight.On Tuesday morning, the sharks would be transported to the harbour, transferred to a boat, and taken out to an off-shore reef for release.A similar procedure would take place on Wednesday June 1, when the second set of sharks were removed from the exhibit and transported to Mossel Bay for release on June 2, the aquarium said.– African News Agency (ANA)
