White Shark on Exhibit

For only the fourth time since 2004, we have a young white shark in the Outer Bay exhibit. She arrived on August 27, and will remain in the million-gallon exhibit as long as she's in good health and hasn't grown too large for us to return safely to the wild.

We collected this shark on August 16 in waters off Southern California with the help of a commercial fisherman using a seine net. She’s a young female, 4 ½-feet long and weighing 55 ½ pounds. As with our three other young white sharks, she was kept in an ocean holding pen off Malibu in Southern California until we observed her feeding and navigating well in the confines of the pen.

Our first shark was with us for 6 ½ months; our second, for 4 ½ months; our third for 5 months. All were successfully returned to the wild, and the tracking tags they carried documented their journeys back in the ocean. We've tagged 16 other young sharks in the wild in Southern California waters as part of our white shark field project, and support research to track the migrations of adult white sharks tagged off the Farallon Islands and Point Año Nuevo on California's central coast.

• Read our press release

	Why White Sharks Need Our Help Overfishing, trophy hunting, habitat destruction—all have contributed to a devastating decline in the white shark population worldwide. Here at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, we're working to turn the tide. We're learning more about white sharks and supporting policies to protect them in the wild. You can help. Donate now to help
	We're Learning a Lot Observing a white shark face to face is exciting for visitors—and helpful for scientists. But it's just a small part of our white shark research project. Studying white sharks in the wild is even more important and intriguing. Together with our research partners, we’re learning more every day about their habits, travels, and their unique role in the ocean ecosystem. Find out more

Tagging of Pacific Predators The Tagging of Pacific Predators (TOPP) project helps reveal the hidden lives of white sharks in the wild. In 2005 the Aquarium provided $500,000 that helped TOPP scientists tag 29 adult white sharks. In 2006, we contributed another $200,000, and 41 more white sharks were tagged. Most of the pop-up satellite tags from 2005 have "phoned home" with truly exciting data. The Secret Lives of White Sharks: A Closer Look

Take Action! You can make a difference for white sharks and other ocean wildlife—and it's easy to do! Join our Ocean Action Team. Follow guidelines from Seafood Watch.