Food tube may have killed shark
Georgia Aquarium fish had been forcibly fed for several months
By The New York Times
ATLANTA — A young whale shark that sank to the bottom of its tank at the Georgia Aquarium and died this year had been forcibly fed for months, a practice that might have punctured its stomach and caused an infection that led to its death, scientists said Wednesday.
“Findings show that Ralph’s stomach appeared abnormal, because it was thin-walled and perforated,” Jeff Swanagan, the executive director of the aquarium, said in a news release. “This likely caused peritonitis which led to Ralph’s death.”
The whale shark was fed with a tube after it seemed to lose its appetite over several months last year, said Robert Hueter, director of the center for shark research at the Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota, Fla. Hueter said it was possible the shark’s stomach had been punctured by the feeding tube.
The results of the necropsy have increased scrutiny of the 16-month-old, $290 million facility here, which bills itself as the world’s largest aquarium and has flown four whale sharks, the world’s largest fish, from Taiwan to Atlanta to be its star attractions.
Only one other aquarium, in Okinawa, keeps whale sharks, which may live as long as 120 years in the wild.
箱網養殖休閒漁業興起 繼釣花枝、餵海鱺後 業者買進價值30萬元鯨鯊 噱頭十足 
