Mystic Aquarium

Ever wonder what a shark feels like? Find out at the new Shark Encounters exhibit. The shallow pool allows for easy reach of these docile, bottom-dwelling sharks. The exhibit houses six sharks, all one to three feet in length.

About the species...

• White-spotted bamboo sharks are found in the Indo-Pacific west oceans, primarily in tropical waters and coral reefs.
• They eat small fish and marine invertebrates. Predators include larger fish, marine mammals and humans.
• These sharks live up to 25 years in the wild and longer in zoos and aquariums.
• Their pectoral fins are muscular and can be used to "crawl" around reefs.

Did you know?

- White-spotted bamboo sharks are listed as nearly threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature's (IUCN) Red List. The bamboo shark population is affected by regular hunting for human consumption in its west Indo-Pacific habitat range, as well as by habitat degradation.

- In July 2002, a female white bamboo shark at Belle Isle Aquarium in Detroit released two eggs that both bore a pup, despite the fact it spent the previous six years in an exhibit with a female brown banded bamboo shark.