The Great White Shark which was housed at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, the first of it’s kind to last as long as it did in captivity, was released into the wild today.

SALINAS, Calif. - A great white shark that survived far longer than any other in captivity was returned to the wild Thursday because it was growing too large and had begun preying on other fish at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

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“The larger she grew, the more that human safety and animal welfare concerns became a factor in our thinking,” said Randy Hamilton, vice president of husbandry for the aquarium. “It’s more risky to handle a larger animal.”

The predator had killed two soupfin sharks earlier this year, although aquarium officials weren’t sure whether the shark was hunting at the time. After close observation this week, researchers noticed it was starting to exhibit true hunting behavior.

“We’ve been watching to see if she was actively hunting other animals in the exhibit,” Hamilton said. “When we saw clear signs on Monday, we decided an immediate release would be best.”

The shark was caught in a fishing net off the coast of California. It was then placed in a pen to rehabilitate the animal and later found itself in an exhibit at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Keeping a Great White Shark in captivity to learn from has been tried before, but unsuccessfully. This shark lived the longest in captivity before being released.

Hopefully a tracking tag that will last longer than those placed on Great White Sharks in the wild was placed upon the animal in order to learn the habits of Great Whites. It is believed that the Great White Sharks that prey off the coast of California travel hundreds of miles following schools of fish from the northwestern United States, to Hawaii and along the Mexican coast and even to the Guadalupe Islands.

Despite several researchers who have devoted their lives to learning about the elusive Great White Shark, much of their existence is still a relative unknown. Researchers at Monterey Bay Aquarium had a wonderful opportunity to learn about this species in order to hopefully preserve this magnificent creature.