Zebra Shark
A Zebra named Dotty!
You’d think, wouldn’t you, that a Zebra Shark would have stripes? But no. They only have stripes as young and develop spots in adulthood. Dotty was raised in captivity and is very friendly. She’s always looking for a free meal and will often hang around the staff during talks.
Unlike most sharks, a Zebra shark does not have to swim continually. Dotty can therefore take it pretty easy and sleep wherever and whenever she wants.
You’ll find your shark encounter in the Ocean Display where we have Black Tip Reef Sharks, Sandbar Sharks, a Nurse Shark and a Zebra Shark.
Our sharks eat large chunks of Whiting, Mackerel and Squid and are fed every other day. It’s important to keep the peace in the Ocean Display so we make sure that all the sharks are well fed and won’t go after the little fish.
All our sharks have the potential to cause serious injury but, contrary to popular belief, sharks do not target humans specifically. Scientific tests reveal that the taste of human blood does not excite the part of the sharks brain which deals with taste. This is one of the reasons most shark attacks on humans aren’t shark inflicted fatalities. The shark will take a bite to taste but will often disengage if the taste isn’t what it was expecting.