Practical Fishkeeping Magazine

Copyright © Scott Perry, Creative Commons

A shark called Osbourne has been released back to the sea by the Bermuda Aquarium and Zoo.

The seven-year-old Galapagos shark (similar to the one shown above) had been living at the Aquarium for the past six years but there had been several clashes between the 6.5' shark and a Black grouper, another resident of the North Rock exhibit at the Aquarium, and this had resulted in Osbourne's nose becoming injured.

Despite the best efforts of staff to try and reduce the aggression between the two fish through various training methods they continued to compete and it escalated to the point where Osbourne's health began to deteriorate. Eventually it was decided that releasing him back into the wild was the best move.

Dr Ian Walker, Principle Curator of the Aquarium, said: "The decision to relocate the shark was not made lightly as sharks need to constantly have water flowing over their gills and can go into shock from stress relatively easily."

Osbourne was released on Friday. He has been tagged to provide researchers with information on his swimming patterns, and to keep a check on his wellbeing. 

"We wish him well," Dr Walker said.