Georgia aquarium whale shark dies

<p>One of the Georgia Aquarium's prized whale sharks died Thursday night _ the second death of a popular exhibit at the aquarium in 10 days.</p><p>Ralph, one of four whale sharks at the 1-year-old aquarium, stopped swimming Thursday afternoon and died about 9:30 p.m., aquarium spokeswoman Donna Fleishman said.</p><p>The cause of death was not immediately determined.</p><p>"Recently, he has not been eating well and has had some unusual swimming patterns," Fleishman said. The aquarium staff moved him to another part of the tank.</p><p>Ralph and Norton, the aquarium's other male whale, arrived in June 2005 from Taipei, Taiwan, where they had been destined to become seafood. They were joined a year later by two females, Alice and Trixie, in their 6 million gallon tank.</p><p>They are the only whale sharks on display outside of Asia.</p><p>"The entire staff is saddened by what has happened today," said Jeff Swanagan, executive director of the aquarium.</p><p>Gasper, one of the Georgia Aquarium's five beluga whales, was euthanized Jan. 2 after months of declining health.</p><p>Whale sharks are the world's largest fish, growing up to 50 feet long.</p><p>Ralph was considered a teenager. He measured 22 feet at his last examination by scientists two months ago. It was Ralph's third exam. Norton has been examined twice and Alice and Trixie once each.</p><p>The 17-year-old Gasper had been ill before arriving at the aquarium in October 2005. His health deteriorated further over the past few weeks. That led the aquarium's medical team to make "the difficult decision to humanely euthanize the animal," aquarium officials said.</p><p>Hundreds of get-well wishes flooded the aquarium, many from schoolchildren who had become enchanted by the ghostly white whale, who spent much of his time swimming near his tank's big window, appearing to smile for visitors.</p><p>During the Nov. 6 examination of Ralph, a hose pumped a liquid anesthetic into the water around Ralph's head _ making him nearly unconscious for the two-hour checkup.</p><p>Once he was under, veterinarians from the aquarium and Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota, Fla., took blood samples to test the adolescent shark's hormone levels and studied the inside of his mouth and gills to learn more about how he digests food. They took DNA samples and used an ultrasound machine, with a small, portable computer screen, to check on his internal organs. They also measured him to track his growth.</p><p>More than 3 million people have visited the Georgia Aquarium since it opened last November _ far outpacing attendance predictions.</p><p>The aquarium is considered the world's largest, with roughly 100,000 fish and more than 8 million gallons (30.3 million liters) of water.</p><p>___</p><p>On the Net:</p><p>HASH(0x1cdc440)</p>

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