Whale shark necropsy shows no ``obvious'' cause of death

ATLANTA - Georgia Aquarium officials say that a necropsy of one of the aquarium's prized whale sharks did not reveal any obvious causes of death.

They say the investigation is continuing and could take months.

Ralph, who was one of four whale sharks at the one-year-old aquarium, died Thursday night. It was the second death of a popular exhibit at the aquarium in ten days. Officials say the whale shark stopped swimming Thursday afternoon and died later that night.

Ray Davis is the senior vice president of zoological operations for the aquarium.

He says the necropsy took 12 hours, as officials from the aquarium, the University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine and the Mote Marine Laboratory based in Sarasota, Florida, examined the whale shark and took samples for future tests.

Davis says the three other whale sharks -- Norton, Alice and Trixie -- are still on exhibit in their six-million-gallon tank.

He says there's NO indication of a problem with them.

Ralph and Norton, the aquarium's other male whale shark, arrived in June 2005 from Taipei, Taiwan, where they had been destined to become seafood. They were joined a year later by the two females, Alice and Trixie.

They were the only whale sharks on display outside of Asia.

Gasper, one of the Georgia Aquarium's five beluga whales, was euthanized on January second after months of declining health.

(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)