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Great whites aren't the only species of shark that don't fare well in aquariums. (Blue sharks are also quite vulnerable in captive situations.) Great white sharks are pretty darn big -- they can grow up to 21 feet long and weigh as much as 7,000 pounds. That kind of animal needs a lot of space, and that makes it hard to house one in any kind of tank. Even in huge tanks, great whites would probably run into electrical problems. The Monterey Bay Aquarium proposes that electromagnetic fields in steel and concrete tanks may confuse the sharks' delicate navigational systems. Great whites can pick up electrical charges as small as 0.005 microvolts, or the electrical energy generated by a beating heart or a gill action. Yikes. Sharks that thrive in aquariums are usually smaller species that naturally live closer to the sea floor. These types, such as leopard and catsharks, tend to adapt better to aquarium tanks.
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