Young Great White shark from Monterey Bay Aquarium has been released into the wilderness

A young great white shark that was exhibited at the Monterey Bay Aquarium for 11 days was released into the wild this afternoon, aquarium officials announced.

The shark was brought to the Monterey Bay Aquarium on Aug. 27 and because she ate only once while living in the million-gallon Outer Bay exhibit, the animal care staff decided she should be returned to the ocean, according to aquarium officials.

"These decisions are always governed by our concern for the health and well-being of these animals under our care," Jon Hoech, director of husbandry for the aquarium, said in a statement.
"On Saturday, it became clear it was time to release her," Hoech said.

When the shark was collected from the Santa Monica Bay on Aug. 16 by an aquarium team, she was 4.5 feet long and weighed 55.5 pounds.

She was released at about 1:30 p.m. today into offshore waters in the Santa Barbara Channel.
Monterey Bay Aquarium has housed three other great white sharks, each for a period of four to six months before they were returned to the ocean.

Each shark, including the one released today, was tagged with a tracking device that documents the sharks' movements in the wild, according to aquarium officials.

The tag records information on where the sharks travel, the depths the sharks dive to and the water temperatures the sharks favor for the first 148 days upon their release.

(© 2007 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. In the interest of timeliness, this story is fed directly from the Associated Press newswire and may contain occasional typographical errors. )