29th August 2009

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New Long Beach tiger shark rather picky

(Um, did I order the steak?)

The new 5-foot-long tiger shark at the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, California, has the erratic mealtime attitude of a tortured starlet.

In the wild, tiger sharks are scavengers who will devour smaller sharks, boat cushions and even discarded car parts. The one at the aquarium, however, has tastes that change almost too rapidly for staff to keep up.

“Some days she won’t eat,” Assistant Curator Steve Blair tells the L.A. Times. “Other days she goes on benders, feasting only on one type of food. Her tastes change from one day to the next. The tricky part is figuring out what thing triggers her hunger on a given day.”

The shark is supposed to eat about a half pound of meat a day and its menu choices have been expanded to include over 30 items such as mackerel, snapper, squid, ono, fresh water eels, chicken, flank steak, quail and $20-a-pound lobster tails.

Tags sharksfeedingLos Angeles