Diving with the sharks at the Georgia Aquarium

Whale shark and friends at the Georgia Aquarium. (Dave Bender)

It might have been the setting for a “Jaws” movie.

Six snorkelers wading like ducks in a row, cruising just below the surface of the water while watching exotic fish dart beneath them. It was all very peaceful, until the mysterious whale shark appeared out of the deep blue.

The whale shark is one of the most perplexing and elusive creatures in the ocean, still largely a mystery even to the marine biologists who have dedicated careers to studying the creatures.

But here, in the confines of the Georgia Aquarium in downtown Atlanta, it’s impossible not to see the giant whale sharks — particularly when you’re in the middle of their fish tank.

It’s also somewhat hard to avoid them: The creatures seemed more intrigued by the visitors, often lumbering toward them like a slow, curious locomotive.

The guests were circling the world’s largest fish tank through the aquarium’s “Swim With Gentle Giants” program, which plucks six snorkelers and six divers into the 6.3-million-gallon fish tank each day.

The visitors are treated to close-up encounters of roving bands of sting rays, sleek hammerhead sharks, enormous grouper and countless other species. But the puzzling whale sharks were the real draw — and for good reason.

The aquarium is the only one outside Asia to house the whale sharks, and the only one in the world to offer tourists a chance to dive with the creatures. The program’s directors pitch it as an innovative and safe way to help visitors better understand animals they’d otherwise never see.

“An immersion experience is the ultimate way of connecting people and animals,” said Bruce Carlson, the aquarium’s chief science officer.

“It’s a real opportunity for us to expand ways for people to get to know the animals here at the aquarium and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for our visitors to see animals they’ll probably never get a chance to see in the wild.”

But the ambitious program has raised concerns from critics who worry that dangling legs and curious tourists could stress the habitat of the whale sharks and thousands of other animals that share the massive tank.

“There’s a chance these animals can become stressed because of the increase in the amount of people in their environments,” said Lori Marino, an Emory University biologist who studies whale biology. “Not only can it affect their physical health, but their mental health. And we don’t know how much stress this puts on the animals or how they could respond.”

The Georgia Aquarium is one of the few places that have ever attempted to house the creatures and the only one in the United States.

So far their record is spotty: Two of the whale sharks have died since the aquarium opened in 2005. But the aquarium has invested in research projects on the whale shark in Mexico and Taiwan.

And the facility is quickly making a name for itself in the research community for its whale shark work, thanks to divers who have already logged thousands of hours feeding and studying the massive animals.

Carlson said he gave the go-ahead to the new program because the dives have so far had “no effect on the whale sharks’ behavior.”

“We’re the experts on that, and we can make the judgment because we probably spend more time with whale sharks than anyone criticizing us,” he said.

“Most people who have contact with them have probably had a minute-long experience in the ocean. You have to trust our ju

dgment on that. We’ve gotten to understand their nature, and we feel quite confident that our presence is not affecting them.”

Go to The Georgia Aquarium whale shark page for more details.

(The Associated Press)

Ga. Aquarium helps spur research into little-known whale shark

Whale shark at the Georgia Aquarium (File photo/Dave Bender)

In captivity, a 25-foot whale shark glides gracefully above a throng of enthralled tourists who hurriedly snap pictures from inside a clear tunnel at the Georgia Aquarium's giant six-million-gallon Ocean Voyager tank.

A school of manta rays silently glide overhead, as spectators gaze from within a glassed-in tunnel, below. (file photo/Dave Bender)

In the wild, whale sharks live much more hidden lives. Little is known about how much they eat, where they swim and where they give birth.

But since the Atlanta attraction opened in 2005, more than 5 million guests have helped generate hundreds of thousands of dollars for new research into whale sharks - revealing new details about their nutrition, roaming habits and numbers.

Aquarium executive director Jeff Swanagan once quipped that the sea's largest fish, which can reach more than 27 feet in length and weigh a couple of tons, are the least known by marine researchers.

So the world's largest aquarium didn't start with a manual on how best to handle its four whale sharks, more than are held in any other aquarium in the world.

"'Whale Sharks for Dummies'? The book hasn't been written. We're kind of writing it as we go along," says Bruce Carlson, the aquarium's chief science officer.

But aquarium officials set out to learn more, investing in research projects on the whale shark in Mexico and Taiwan. Satellite tags on the Mexico whale sharks have helped track them from the Yucatan Peninsula across the Gulf of Mexico, the Straits of Florida and the Caribbean.

"We learn more about the animals we're caring for and we can care for them better," said Carlson. "Other people have funded research but really, the major whale shark funding comes from us."

Carlson declined to say exactly how much the aquarium has spent on whale shark research but said it was in the "hundreds of thousands of dollars."

He and other researchers hope other studies answer more questions about whale sharks' lives: Where do they travel and how much do they eat? The mating behavior of the animals has never been observed, nor do researchers know where the whale sharks give birth.

"This collaboration with the Georgia Aquarium is so exciting - it's the first opportunity to really unravel what these animals are doing in this hemisphere," said Robert Hueter, director of the Center for Shark Research at the Sarasota, Fla. Mote Marine Laboratory, which collaborates with the aquarium and Mexico officials. "We are able to not only work on these animals in the wild, but have access to the four animals there in the aquarium."

The aquarium's captive whale sharks - males Yushan and Taroko, and females Alice and Trixie - also have yielded important information for researchers. Studying them allows researchers to do things "that you can't do in the ocean," Carlson said.

Young girl watches, transfixed, as ghostly jellyfish meander just past the thick safety glass. (file photo/Dave Bender)

Another whale shark dies

The Georgia Aquarium has lost another whale shark. Norton was euthanized today after he stopped swimming and settled on the bottom of his tank. The Atlanta aquarium says for months Norton hadn’t been eating and showed erratic swimming behavior. In January, Ralph, another whale shark, died.

Dead whale shark had stomach ailment

Experts at the Georgia Aquarium say they know what killed a whale shark in January. Results of a necropsy on Ralph the Whale Shark show he had a stomach problem called peritonitis. Peritonitis is an inflammation of an important membrane in the abdomen. The Georgia Aquarium says its three other whale sharks do not have the same problem.