The Dorsal Fin

Sammy, a young whale shark (Rhincodon typus) like the one in this photo, was reportedly released from captivity last week by the Atlantis hotel in Dubai.

A report form Dubai newspaper 7Days is questioning the release of “Sammy” the whale shark from Dubai’s Atlantis hotel. The article states that 7Days had been informed by a representative from the Atlantis that the whale shark was in “good health.” However, the Atlantis has refused to comment or answer questions regarding the lack of photos or video footage of the animal’s release to the wild. In addition, 7Days reports that the Atlantis also removed all posts on its Facebook page regarding the whale shark, including a series of questions posted there by 7Days.

The whale shark was reportedly tagged with a satellite tracking tag, which is expected to begin transmitting data in 3 months.

According to Monterey Bay Aquarium Sea Notes, a juvenile female white shark, which had been held in captivity at the Monterey Bay Aquarium‘s Outer Bay Exhibit, was successfully released back into the wild on November 4, 2009. The 5’5″ 100 lbs. white shark had grown a couple of inches in length while in captivity and had put on about 20 lbs. of weight. The white shark was captured in August and had been on display at the aquarium since August 26, 2009. Over the past weekend, the white shark was involved in multiple incidents of “aggressive behavior” toward other sharks in the exhibit, prompting the aquarium’s husbandry team to make the decision to return the animal to the wild. In addition to her safe release, the white shark was tagged with two electronic tracking devices, one of which will report real-time location data, the other will report temperature, depth, and location data in 6 months. According to Randy Hamilton, vice president of husbandry, the white shark’s health was “excellent” upon her release.

YouTube user SideOffVideo recently posted this quick video shot of the captive white shark at the aquarium, prior to her release.