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Mandalay Bay's hammerhead shark goes belly up

December 20, 2004 at 6:51 AM | 2 Comments

Sadly, the great hammerhead shark on display at Mandalay Bay's Shark Reef died suddenly and unexpectedly, Thursday night, according to the Las Vegas Review Journal.

The unusual rectangular-headed shark was the only one in captivity in the United States, and one of just two in the world. It was a main attraction and marketing draw at the Shark Reef, which sees about 1 million visitors each year.

"This animal was doing extremely well," said Jack Jewell, the world-class aquarium's chief of animal care.

Hammerheads have been known to live as long as 30 years, however, the Mandalay hammerhead was only 6 years old at the time of his death. Officials, and CSI Vegas cast members, believe an intestinal infection caused by an unusual series of events killed the 6-year-old shark.

Jewell said he suspects that during the hammerhead's most recent prolapse (some strange intestine cleansing process, thing, think LA colon cleansing) another fish in the aquarium bit the shark's intestines and punctured them. The other fish has not yet been identified.

Hammerheads are endangered, and, over the years, the Mandalay shark tanks staff was able to educate the general public on why hammerhead preservation is important to the oceans ecosystem. No word on whether or not the Mandalay will look to capture another hammerhead, but since he was the main attraction...