Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay

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The Shark Reef Aquarium at Mandalay Bay is a public aquarium located at and owned by the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. Its main tank is 1.3 million gallons (4.9 million liters), the third largest in North America.^[1] The facility is 95,000 square feet (8,800 square meters), and displays 1,200 different species of sharks, rays, fish, reptiles, and marine invertebrates. It also features a shark tunnel.

The Shark Reef Aquarium is the only Nevada institution accredited by the American Zoo and Aquarium Association. While most aquariums are located close to the ocean, the Shark Reef is exceptional in that it is located in a desert, far from any natural water source. The reef was developed in consultation with the Vancouver Aquarium.

[edit] History

The exhibits opened in 2000. In 2007, it underwent a re-branding campaign adding "Aquarium" to the official name. Shark Reef Aquarium officials stated that the re-branding is intended to present the actual nature of the habitat, as members of the public sometimes confused Shark Reef as a name for a bar, lounge, restaurant, etc.^{[citation needed]}

Shark Reef Aquarium was the first closed-system aquarium in North America to exhibit a great hammerhead shark. The female juvenile was less than four feet long when she was accidentally caught off the coast of Florida. The shark was successfully flown into Mandalay Bay in August of 2001 on a record 16-hour flight in a special transportation tank designed specifically for it. It remained in a private quarantine tank for 2.5 years until the in-house aquarium husbandry team decided it had grown large enough where it would not fall prey to the other sharks in the exhibit tank. It measured six feet long when it was finally introduced among big public fanfare into the 1.3 million gallon tank on November 3, 2003 for public exhibition. After more than a year on exhibit, the specimen died suddenly and unexpectedly on December 16, 2004. A necropsy later attributed an intestinal infection as the cause of death. The specimen had grown to 6.5 feet and weighed in at 95 pounds at time of death.^[2]