Can’t cage a great white
QUESTION
Has a great white shark ever been kept in captivity?
For decades, many aquariums tried to display the world’s largest predatory fish, but it was always a short stay. Some needed help swimming and none would eat.
From the 1970s to the 1990s, the longest one lasted in captivity was just 16 days. A 1984 report by the Steinhart Aquarium in California put it this way: ‘In most cases, it could be said all these captive sharks were merely in the process of dying, with some taking longer than others.’
It wasn’t until 2004 that the Monterey Bay Aquarium proved it was possible to keep great white sharks in captivity for at least six months.
The aquarium designed a million-gallon, 35 ft deep, egg-shaped tank for open-ocean fish, such as tuna and sharks. Adult great whites reach 15 ft, so the aquarium caught one that was just a few months old and 4 ft 4 in.
When great whites are young, they feed on fish, later moving on to mammals, and so the team targeted the age bracket where they knew they could provide a natural diet.
The baby shark wasn’t put straight into the aquarium. A 4 million-gallon pen was set up in the ocean, allowing experts to monitor it to see if it would feed.
Sharks, like all fish, need to have water continually passing though their gills in order to get oxygen.
Most species can open and close their mouths to pump the water through, but great whites have to move forward with their mouths open, which is why a custom-built transport tank with mobile life support was needed.
Everything from oxygen sensors, video cameras and lighting and filtration systems was provided for the ten-hour journey to the aquarium.
Visitor attendance jumped by 30 per cent while the great white shark was on display. However, after six-and-a-half months, staff decided to release it because it had proved to be a lethal tank mate, killing two other sharks.
over the next six years, Monterey Bay displayed five more baby great white sharks, with their stays ranging from 11 days to five months.
It became clear that captivity took a toll. Due to being used to swimming long distances without obstruction, the sharks developed sores from bumping into the sides of the tank.
After the sixth was released back into the ocean in 2011 following just 55 days at the aquarium, a tracking tag revealed it died shortly afterwards.
Emilie McRae, Trowbridge, Wilts.
QUESTION Why do dogs reverse sneeze?
THIS is technically known as inspiratory paroxysmal respiration. A dog rapidly pulls air into its nose as opposed to air being expelled in an ordinary sneeze.
It usually occurs when the dog’s soft palate becomes irritated by an allergen, but can occur when it’s over-excited. The soft palate is the muscular area at the back of the roof of the mouth that assists with barking, swallowing and breathing.
The irritation causes the soft palate muscle to spasm, which narrows the trachea. The dog will extend its neck as it tries to expand its chest to breathe, but the narrowed trachea does not allow it to inhale a full breath of air.
The dog will forcefully attempt to inhale through its nose, which causes the snorting or gagging sounds associated with a reverse sneeze.
Though distressing to animal and owner, it is not known to be harmful. Lightly massaging your dog’s throat can alleviate the problem.
reverse sneezing affects all types of dogs, but more commonly smaller ones such as miniatures, terriers and short-nosed breeds. If the condition persists, take your dog to the vet.
A. S. Stuart, Albrighton, Shropshire.
QUESTION Does Hollywood self-censor for the Chinese market?
In THE 2016 Doctor Strange film, Marvel cast British actress Tilda Swinton as mystic mentor The Ancient one. Her character was a Celt living in nepal, while the original comic-book character was an ancient Tibetan mystic.
Screenwriter C. robert Cargill explained the recasting in no uncertain terms: ‘If you acknowledge Tibet is a place and that he’s Tibetan, you risk alienating one billion people who think that’s bulls*** and the government in one of the biggest film-watching countries in the world not showing your movie because you decided to get political.’
The Chinese market is a financial lifeline for Hollywood and there’s a scramble to get films released because only 34 foreign features are allowed to be shown each year.
This is why former WWE superstar and Fast And Furious 9 actor John Cena, having described Taiwan as a country, a fact that upsets the Chinese government, gave a grovelling apology on the social media platform Weibo.
‘I love and respect China and Chinese people. I’m very, very sorry for my mistake,’ he said in a video message recorded in Chinese.
In 1997, Martin Scorsese and Disney upset China with the release of Kundun, a film based on the life and writings of the 14th Dalai Lama, the exiled political and spiritual leader of Tibet.
It depicted Chinese oppression of the Tibetan people. China retaliated by banning Disney films and pulling TV cartoons. The following year, Disney chief Michael Eisner apologised: ‘Here I want to apologise, and in the future we should prevent this sort of thing, which insults our friends, from happening.’
The studio hired former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger to help with the fallout. It eventually led to a deal to open Shanghai Disneyland.
Another controversial example was the Chinese poster for Star Wars: The Force Awakens in 2015. John Boyega’s character, Finn, was dramatically shrunk, despite having a prominent position on the international version. It is believed this was because he is a black actor.
Kim Greenwood, Barnsley, S. Yorks.