THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, June 28, 1996 TAG: 9606280446
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PAUL CLANCY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: 60 lines
Three small brown sharks cruised the breadth and depth of their new home Thursday - the Norfolk Canyon tank at the Virginia Marine Science Museum - as test cases for their larger brothers and sisters.
The 2-to-3-foot-long sharks and a stingray were trucked to the museum from a holding facility and lowered into the 300,000-gallon aquarium.
The quick little sharks immediately began exploring the rocklike crevices of the floor-to-ceiling tank, while the ray skimmed along the sandy bottom.
``Hi, sharkie,'' several children chorused as the fast swimmers cruised by.
The smaller sharks were the first of several species to be introduced. They will be studied for several days to make sure the aquarium's filtration system handles their waste and regulates the quality of the water pumped in from nearby Owls Creek.
Earlier this week, smaller fish such as crevalle jacks and bluefish were released into the tank.
Like any aquarium, Norfolk Canyon can't handle an entire collection of fish at once. If all goes well, the others, including five larger tiger sharks and one 7-foot brown shark, will be placed in the tank Tuesday, museum officials said.
``They're precursors to the big boys going in the tank,'' said exhibit technician John McGurk.
``We always try to go slow so that the animals can let us know if there's a problem,'' said museum curator Maylon White.
The brown sharks were caught near Wachapreague on the Eastern Shore with the help of the Virginia Institute of Marine Sciences. One of them still wears a thin VIMS tag on its dorsal fin.
They are kept in quarantine for 30 days to check for and treat bacterial infestations, then moved from an off-site holding facility.
Thursday, the sharks were placed in a transition area above the tank that resembles a child's wading pool.
Then a gate was raised and the sharks dove into their new habitat.
The smaller sharks went first, White said, because if there's a problem, they are much easier to retrieve than the larger ones.
Watching the sleek swimmers through the large window in the exhibit area, White said, ``They look neat in here, and they're small sharks.
``I can't wait until Tuesday.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
L. TODD SPENCER
Sharks dart around the Norfolk Canyon aquarium Thursday at the
Virginia Marine Science Museum in Virginia Beach. The
2-to-3-foot-long sharks and a stingray were trucked to the museum
from a holding tank and lowered into the 300,000-gallon tank.
Photo
Lauren Subrel, 5, of Indiana watches some of the small sharks
brought to their new home Thursday in the Norfolk Canyon tank at the
Virginia Marine Science Museum. The sharks were caught near
Wachapreague on the Eastern Shore. by CNB