The Crystal World in Victoria houses a great white shark named Rosie the Shark. It was discovered at the abandoned Wonderland wild park before it gained popularity among the visitors of the exhibition center where it is currently displayed. The great white is owned by botanist, geologist, and entrepreneur Tom Kapitany.
Tiger shark, Bahamas
Rosie the Shark Discovery
Rosie the Shark used to swim in the waters off Portland, South Australia before she was preserved. Rosie's new owner was not present at the time but was aware of the events. He told Newsweek that Rosie's life was cut short when she became entangled in a tuna net and began thrashing around in 1997.
Kapitany said that everyone was too afraid to go in and help Rosie. According to him, if it was done to a white shark, it would bite the rescuer and eat it.
When Great Whites get heavily stressed, their blood boils and it can kill them. In the case of Rosie the Shark, the people used one pole with a bullet and put it through her head causing instant death. It was an option they needed to take instead of letting it thrash in the net.
The shark was then placed in a tank and transported to Victoria's Wonderland wildlife park, where she was placed in a tank of formaldehyde. However, the park closed in 2012, and all of the attractions were removed. Rosie spent many years in a dark shed within the abandoned park.
Rosie was rediscovered in 2018 when urban explorer Luke McPherson visited the abandoned amusement park. The discovery gave Rosie the Shark international attention. McPherson recorded the discovery and uploaded it to YouTube, where it has over 17 million views and counting.
According to Kapitany, people wanted to come and see the shark even if it was private property. They started breaking in at night and vandalizing all the buildings, exhibition halls, galleries, and old amusement displays. People also decided to take some of the shark's teeth and broke open the tank to do so.
Kapitany added that the tank broke and exposed the formaldehyde. He warned those interested to see Rosie to wear a full hazmat suit or a breather mask. Oxygen may be needed as well because it was so bad.
Due to the public liability issue, the owner began to panic. The owner planned to destroy the shark and it was at the time when Kapitany decided to take Rosie.
Fish out of water. 💦🦈 Rosie the shark arrives at her new home at Crystal World in Devon Meadows after years abandoned in a tank of formaldehyde. @theheraldsun pic.twitter.com/9Nd1JhIXIV
— Tamsin Rose (@tamsinroses) February 21, 2019
Rosie the Shark in Crystal World
By the time Rosie arrived at Crystal World in 2019, the tank had become extremely toxic due to neglect. Kapitany decided to replace the tank's interior with glycerin, a much safer and natural preservative. Rosie is now submerged in approximately 5,000 liters of glycerin, allowing visitors to see her.
It's critical to preserve specimens like Rosie because white sharks are a protected endangered species. Preserving and displaying it is about education and natural history preservation; making people aware of life in the ocean, and even a dangerous-looking shark, can have a global interest.
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