Shark Obsession

Hello, my name is Annabel and I'm a shark-aholic...

Most people who know me know that I'm pretty obsessed with sharks. You know those little boys who go around spouting random facts about dinosaurs, insects or cars? I'm like that with sharks, except I'm a 30-year-old adult woman. I can identify most species of sharks, tell you what the Ampullae of Lorenzini are, locate primary feeding and spawning grounds, etc.

I go to aquariums with one primary objective... to see the shark tank. I've seen zebra and other carpet sharks in the petting tank, ragged tooth/sand tiger sharks (the scariest-looking shark, but fairly benign), a bull shark, numerous types of reef sharks, and some hammerheads. But next week, I get to see a (knock on wood) great white!!!!!

The Monterey Bay Aquarium has had several great whites in the past, but eventually they would have to return them to the ocean because the sharks get too big. They are usually housed in the Outer Bay exhibit, which is one of my favorite tanks in the world. I could spend hours in front of the glass there, watching the sharks, tuna and other large fish whizz around.

Last Monday, they introduced a young great white into the tank and will keep him there as long as things go smoothly (in other words, as long as he doesn't eat the other fish or get really depressed). Hopefully, he'll still be there when K & I go to visit. If so, I promise to post pictures.

I do have a feeling that this little viewing will have me wanting more. Perhaps, one day, I'll get to go on a tour of Seal Island in False Bay, South Africa and see this: