A great white shark was caught off the coast of Malibu Aug. 18 by researchers from the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Project White Shark, the aquarium’s public relations manager Karen Jeffries said Wednesday afternoon. The shark is currently in captivity and being transported north to the aquarium, a trip that takes five to six hours. It could become the sixth great white shark to be displayed in captivity at the aquarium, although Jeffries could not confirm that. Jeffries said the shark was less than one year old, and that sharks that age are usually around five feet long, but did not specify the size or sex of the shark.
The aquarium floats a four million-gallon mesh pen off the coast of Paradise Cove in Malibu every year as part of Project White Shark. The project, implemented in 2002, researches and exhibits great white sharks caught off the coast of California. For more information on the project, go to http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/whiteshark.aspx.