The Georgia Aquarium got top billing as the only aquarium in the U.S. to display a whale shark. Not just one, but four. This month the attention got hotter when Ralph, a whale shark, and Gasper, a Beluga whale, died in captivity.

Organizations like the Captive Animals' Protection Society and the Georgia Animal Rights and Protection have cited this as reasons why aquariums should be shut down. Individuals have written letters, sent e-mail, even held a candle-light vigil to protest animal captivity.

Aquarium supporters have fired back, insisting their purpose is to research marine life and educate the public about them. They feel raising awareness of certain animals, like the beluga and whale shark, will help their long-term survival.

With concerns about global warming, pollution, extinction, and overfishing, the only place we may see animals like the whale shark are at the aquarium. Most of the public never gets underwater to realize how much sea life needs protection, and if it weren't for aquariums would they ever know? More marine life is killed as by-catch than will die in captivity.

Aquariums should be held to strict standards and be wholly accountable for their actions, but shutting them down would be the greatest disservice to the very creatures they serve to protect.

Last week a creature from the depths washed up on a north Oregon beach. Not a frill shark or giant squid, but a Longnose Skate. Skates and rays aren't an uncommon sight while diving, but most of us won't see a Longnose because they dwell up to 2,000 feet below the surface.

A benthic fish, this deep dweller spent considerable time on the dry sand before being rescued by the Seaside Aquarium. Nearby beach goers (actually a group of people observing a bird for possible rescue), dug a hole in the sand and filled it with water until the aquarium staff arrived. "He's in pretty bad shape because of being in the air so long, so it's hard to say if he's going to make it," according to Keith Chandler of the aquarium staff.

The rescued skate measures 32 inches in length and has two eyespots (fake eyes) to distract predators. Little is known about the Longnose although they can be found between the Bering Sea and Baja California.

It seems like only yesterday when the Monterey Bay Aquarium took in another white shark and the time has come to send him back home.

After 137 days in captivity and 600,000 visitors later, this 6 foot 4.5 inch fella was released into the Pacific Ocean yesterday. He enters the record books as the second white shark to be held in captivity for more than 16 days, but the stay was 61 days shorter than his predecessor.

In mid-April his tag will automatically release and send data to scientists so they can track his journey across the globe. The data will be published on TOPP (Tagging of Pacific Pelagic) if you're into that sort of thing.

As if dolphins didn't have enough problems already, Tara Reid has decided to inflict yet more pain on some of the already oppressed marine mammals. The former-actor-turned-party-girl is in Australia to promote Magic Millions' two-week carnival. To the delight of no one at all, she frolicked in the water with two dolphins -- Gemma and Nila -- while photographers yawned and looked on.

Wearing a tiny purple bikini, Reid described her experience thus: "It was one of the most magical moments of my life . . . I'm on a total high. I think this will be my favorite experience – this is just amazing... I love Australia. The people are amazing." Amazingly, the dolphins did not return the compliment. For more <ahem> amazing shots of Reid's escapade, check out this image gallery.

Recently, staff at the Georgia Aquarium grew concerned about Ralph, one of four rescued whale sharks in the facility. Apparently, the 22-foot-long fish had developed unusual swimming patterns and lost his appetite. Yesterday, Ralph stopped swimming. The aquarium's husbandry and veterinary team "administered immediate care," but he died at 9:30 p.m. last night. The Aquarium has not announced a cause of death, although they are planning a necropsy.

Ralph lived in the aquarium for nearly two years, and had grown six feet while there. He was joined by another male whale shark, Norton, and two female whale sharks, Alice and Trixie. I wonder if the other whale sharks will realize Ralph is missing?

Sadly, on January 2, the aquarium euthanized Gasper, a 17-year-old beluga whale. Gasper, who delighted visitors by blowing bubbles, was ill prior to his October 2005 arrival at the aquarium, and the facility said his condition had deteriorated in the weeks before his death. According to officials, Gasper's condition "was believed to be the result of his weakened immune system due to years of chronic illness." The past two weeks have been tough for the Georgia Aquarium.

[Thanks, The Tick!]

This is so cool and totally puts our office fish tank to shame. It's a habitrail for fish. It looks like two fish tanks, connected by an acrylic tube. Of course, this started a debate in my office on how it works but alas we couldn't figure out how this works.

Anyone have any ideas?

If you think using the bathroom is typically boring, then you might be interested in the Fish 'n Flush, which will certainly add some color to your otherwise mundane scatological endeavors.

A Fish 'n Flush is a 2.2-gallon acrylic aquarium that wraps around a separate 2.5-gallon toilet tank. Claiming the novelty aquarium is intended for people who want to maximize space and who want to add both entertainment and excitement to their lives, a $299 Fish 'n Flush includes the tank, a flushing system, a filter, a pump, two artificial plants, and a guide. All you add is gravel, water, fish, fish food -- and a sense of humor.

With a Fish 'n Flush, maybe you'll finally be motivated to finish reading Moby Dick.

[Via Cephalodpodcast]

Okay, when I saw the word "Macquarium," I thought it was a typo. However, a Macquarium is an aquarium made from the shell of an old Apple Macintosh computer -- or even an iMac or an iCube. (As of yet, there are no iPod versions. That'd be a pretty small tank!) Although I wonder if aquaria made from plexi-glass are good for fish, the novelty of the tanks are supreme. How fun to "log on" to this computer each morning!

For a huge gallery of Macquariums, check out The Apple Collection, which boasts more than 60 imaginative designs as well as dozens of links for further reading. Want to build your own? Check out Andy Ihnatko's original instructions for a Macquarium.

Florida's Mote Aquarium has a new display: a 14.5 foot female great hammerhead. She weighs in at 1,280 pounds but don't expect to see her swimming about.

The shark is only a cast taken of the real creature caught by a sport fisherman in May. This enters the history books as the largest hammerhead caught by rod-and-reel. Although most sport fisherman release their catch this big-bad-momma was donated so scientists could study her since little is known about the species. That they did: finding 55 unborn pups and taking samples for later study.

Can you imagine pulling this thing in and having the kahunas to bring it onto the boat?

The Mote Aquarium is open every day of the year, including holidays, from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM. Admission is $15 for adults and children $10 with other discounts if that doesn't fit your description.

San Diego's SeaWorld is offering visitors a chance to get in the water with beluga whales. According to their web site you can "touch, feed and interact with magnificent beluga whales." I suppose we can argue the appropriateness of this (or swimming with dolphins) but since they're not in the wild what's the harm?

Be prepared to enjoy the 55-degree water (not too cold by California standards) after you've paid $160 for the 20-30 minute interaction not counting your adult admission of another $54. It's still cheaper than a trip to the nether regions of our planet to see them in the wild.

Ordinarily, I believe Christmas songs should only be played after Thanksgiving. Similarly, Christmas decorations should only be displayed after that holiday, as well. However, in the case of this photo, I thought I'd break my own, personal rule about Christmas-promotion. Why? Because this picture, taken by Yoshikazu Tsuno, is just too funny. Featuring four white Beluga whales wearing Santa hats during a Christmas show at the Hakkeijima Sea Paradise aquarium in Yokohama, I bet the tuna-dressed-as-reindeer are right around the corner.

What do you think? Is it wrong to make whales dress in quasi-Pagan costumes? Or is it okay, if the picture is really, really cute?

When is the last time you visited an aquarium and commented on the attractiveness of a fish? I'm not talking about ugly fish but one with a missing eye or crooked nose? For the most part any wounded (or sick) marine life is removed from an aquarium exhibit and replaced with a healthy, intact specimen.

There's a growing trend to treat (photos), rather than replace, unattractive fish. Vets with aquatic specialties are using surgical techniques normally reserved for humans on marine life. Long Beach Aquarium of the Pacific staff vet, Dr. Lance Adams, recently straightened the nose of a sawfish and gave a prosthetic eye to a fish because "[t]ank injuries, parasites and bites from other fish make eye injuries common."

Although procedures like these make the animals more attractive to visitors they're also for its own good. According to Adams, "[even] in captivity, if animals sense another's vulnerability, such as a missing eye, they are more prone to attack. In short, appearance matters, even to a red snapper."

In a video called "the Shark Whisperer," a father-of-four temporarily houses two black tip sharks in his home aquarium. It seems a local dentist bought the two sharks and quickly realized they were more than he could handle. I can't imagine how someone would buy these wihtout realizing they're not critters to be displayed in your office waiting room. Wait...where do you buy a shark in the first place?

The video is a quick two minutes and seeing the reef sharks in a home tank is worth the look. You're going to get a pop-up window and continuous content once the clip is finished. You've been warned.

If diving with a Whale Shark is one of the grails of open water, then diving with a sedated on has to be an experience to remember.

The Georgia aquarium has several Whale Sharks. A 22 footer named Ralph received a medical exam yesterday - it involved over 50 personnel and an incredible 1500 gallons of anesthetic laced water for a two hour procedure.

That had to be an incredible experience. I had no idea that anyone had a Whale Shark that large in captivity. I'll have to add the Georgia Aquarium to my list of places to visit. [Via CNN.com]

Biota! is a new $150 million aquarium being built in London's East End. Part of a $2.7 billion scheme to redevelop part of the London Docklands, Biota will help describe and explain aquatic habitats from around the world. Featuring displays from the Amazonian rainforest, the British Isles, the Atlantic Ocean, and the Indo-Pacific, Biota! will provide hands-on demonstrations, multi-media displays, and plenty of huge tanks filled with marine life. Biota! also features what is thought to be the biggest coral reef ever grown in the UK.

The reef -- which is composed of species from throughout the Indian and Pacific oceans, many of which were siezed from smugglers -- will form the centerpiece of Biota! The reef, which has been growing at the London Zoo's aquarium for the past 18 months, is expected to fill a wall 9 feet high and 24 feet long when "full grown" in 2009. When it opens, Biota! will house mammals, free-flying birds, invertebrates, fish, reptiles, amphibians -- and coral reefs -- in 70 exhibits that combine glass-roofed "biomes" and large aquatic tanks. No word on whether divers will be able to enter the displays, but most aquaria are always looking for volunteers.