A Fishy Fact

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It's Trick-or-Trunk weekend at Zoo Mark, and in honor of our celebrations, we thought we'd share a "spook-tacular" animal fact on this week's blog posting.

Great White Sharks, one of the ocean's most feared predators, can smell blood from up to three miles away. That's quite a ways away to be sniffing out sushi!

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We were looking at introducing a Great White into our shark exhibit recently, but our research revealed that they are one of the only animals that truly cannot flourish in captivity; the longest one has ever survived outside of their natural habitat is six months. The jury is still out on exactly why that may be, but we're chalking it up to the fact that sharks of that size need several hundred miles to travel in order to find prey and enough oxygen to breathe properly, and no tank exists that can provide that. It's the same for most whales- they are simply too big to be in captivity. There is a lot of debate regarding captive orcas- many say that they are also too big to be in a tank, and stories of orca-related trainer deaths seem to support that idea. The other big reason Great White Sharks may not do well in captivity is that they are solitary animals; they don't always play nice with the other animals and humans. The opposite may be why dolphins do well in captivity- they are naturally very social creatures, engaging with humans even in the wild.

No matter how ferocious an animal may seem, we believe that every one- feathered, furry or finned, deserves their best chance to flourish, and therefore we at Zoo Mark will be leaving Great White Sharks in their ocean homes.

For updates on Zoo Mark shenanigans, check out this week's podcast at: Zoo Mark Podcast

Also, don't forget to stop in to Treasure Cove for your Buy One Get One stuffed Halloween-themed animal. We're running the special Friday, October 28, 2016 through Monday, October 31, 2016, while supplies last.