It's a year later and the Monterey Bay Aquarium (MBA) is playing host to another white shark. This young male was caught by their husbandry team in mid-August, just miles outside Santa Monica Bay in California. After a period of observation at Malibu's 4-million gallon ocean pen, on August 31st he was moved to the aquarium's million-gallon Outer Bay exhibit. They hope to keep him on long-term display to educate the public about protecting sharks and their ocean habitat.

The previous white shark, a female, broke records with her 198 day stay until staff feared her growing aggression was cause for release to the wild. Aquarium attendence jumped 30% during her stay which prompted the organization's trustees to provide $500,000 for field studies in juvenile and adult white sharks. In cooperation with the Tagging of Pacific Pelagics (TOPP), 95 five adult white sharks have been tagged off the Farallon Islands, Point Ano Nuevo, and the Central coast. The MBA hopes this additional research, including location tracking and DNA collection, will provide greater insights into the migratory and population structure of white sharks.

If you find yourself in Northern California, the new shark (anyone know his name? I'll call him Lester) can be viewed in-person between 10:00 am and 6:00 pm every day except Christmas. If that doesn't work for you, check out the webcam from 7:00 am to 7:00 pm, everyday. For more information visit the aquarium's White Shark 2006 page where you can view his arrival video, listen to related podcasts, and view the webcam.