by Playfuls Staff |
12th January 2007
Ralph the whale shark, a star attraction at the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta, died suddenly in his tank of unknown causes, [more] aquarium officials said.
The 22-foot-long shark, whose death follows the euthanization of a beluga whale named Gasper at the aquarium Jan. 2, stopped swimming in his tank Thursday afternoon, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Friday.
"Sometimes, nature is that way," said Jeff Swanagan, the aquarium's executive director and chief executive officer. "It can be cruel in terms of back-to-back tragedies."
Dave Santucci, the aquarium's director of public relations, told the newspaper that Ralph and the aquarium's other three whale sharks -- Norton, Alice and Trixie -- displayed no outward signs that anything was amiss before the 12-year-old fish died.
"The other three whale sharks are swimming normally in the exhibit," he said.
Swanagan said the water conditions in the tank that housed Ralph and a host of other sea creatures have been analyzed and nothing out of the ordinary was discovered. He said a necropsy on the body of the animal is scheduled, the Journal-Constitution reported.
© 2007 UPI
