Sammy the whale shark released from Dubai aquarium
by TheDorsalFin on Mar.19, 2010, under Shark News Stories
The AP is reporting that “Sammy,” a 4.2m (13.8′) female whale shark, has been released back into the wild by the Atlantis hotel. The whale shark had been living in the Dubai hotel’s aquarium since being “rescued” from the wild in September of 2008.
Sammy the whale shark in the Atlantis aquarium in December, 2009 (video by YouTube user aap100)
Al Bawaba is reporting that Sammy will be tracked by the Atlantis hotel’s Marine and Science Engineering department using a tagging program co-developed by the Mote Marine Laboratory.
Sammy’s presence at the aquarium had drawn criticism from environmentalists and activists, both locally and internationally, since her capture in 2008. The whale shark (Rhincodon typus) is a migratory species and is classified as “vulnerable” by the IUCN.
Hopefully, Sammy will be able to adjust appropriately to being returned to her natural habitat.
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June 15th, 2010 on 11:01 am
[...] Shark News Stories Tracking data from “Sammy” the female whale shark that was reportedly released from Dubai’s Atlantis, The Palm on March 18 has been retrieved by Mote Marine Laboratory, according to a gulfnews.com article. The [...]