Great white shark dissection deemed a success

The necropsy of a great white shark conducted by the Auckland Museum and the New Zealand Department of Conservation is being described as a huge success.

The dissection, the first of its kind for the museum, took place in front of a crowd of nearly 4,000 people and was also watched live by an estimated 30,000 people around the world on the museum's Internet site, where it was streamed live and can still be viewed.

"This was a fantastic and rare opportunity to bring the public face to face with a great white, both to promote the conservation of this magnificent and vulnerable species and to further our knowledge of great white biology," said Auckland Museum marine curator Tom Trnski, who took part in the operation along with DOC marine conservationist Clinton Duffy.

The stomach contents were removed and examined, and did not contain any surprises -- remains of fish, parasites, a small fish hook and some nylon wire.

The shark, an adolescent female that measured 10 feet long and weighed 660 pounds, was accidentally caught by a  New Zealand fisherman when it became entangled in a gill net in Auckland's Kaipara Harbor last week.

Some may question whether the public necropsy was performed for research or merely publicity. What do you think?

-- Kelly Burgess

Photo: The public gets an up-close look at the great white shark. Credit: Auckland Museum

Comments

[P H D]

I didn't watch it, but I think it would be a GREAT educational tool for those interested. I applaud the museum.

[AMM]

If the shark wasn't injured by being caught, there's no good reason that the shark should have been killed for a dissection. Why not release it back into the water, and dissect a shark that isn't a healthy adolescent?

[AucklandMuseum]

Hi there,

The shark came up dead in a fisherman's gill net. It wasn't killed by that, so part of the necropsy was to determine cause of death (which we're still waiting for)

From the Museum's perspective, your question about this being a publicity stunt are puzzling. There is so much misunderstanding in our part of the world about sharks and attitudes toward them are changing at a glacial pace. As a public research institution, and one given the opportunity by the government's Department of Conservation to share scientific practice with our visitors in a dynamic manner, we jumped at the chance to do some interactive education.

The crowd that gathered included a large number of researchers, along with families (this being school holidays down here) and international visitors. While some might have been there for the spectacle, they were treated to almost two hours of narrative by two of the most experienced marine scholars in this hemisphere. There was no gratuitous display or cheap thrills, and the general tone was one of respect for these magnificent, maligned creatures.

I will say that we had no idea there would be such worldwide interest in the event, and I'll leave it to other to speculate on the reasons behind that. As another commenter says, this is not terribly uncommon, though it had not been done in Auckland before. We did absolutely no "marketing" for this event beyond an initial media release last week, and an update sent out the day before...and only to New Zealand media! Every single bit of coverage erupted spontaneously.

I hope your readers will see beyond the easy inclination to cry "media stunt" for this, as it was the last thing on our minds. We know that for our local audience and the 10,000 people who watched it streamed live (another media opportunity that came to us out of nowhere only hours before the event!), it was a solid piece of scientific education, and for us that is what's important.

Thanks to the LA Times for giving us a chance to talk about this!

Cheers.

[Mike]

Just curious; did they save the fins?

[AucklandMuseum]

The fins were saved for detailed measurement and preservation in our Marine Storage. Interestingly, the scientist conducting the necropsy mentioned to the public that shark fins are worth up to $25,000 on the black market, and Great White fins probably many times that. So, even though the remains of the fish were being disposed of back into the sea by law, there were good reasons to keep careful and permanent track of the fins so as not to tempt anyone to commit a crime by trying to obtain them.