Translation of Newspaper article by Victor Lin

14 October 1997 (Link to Chinese Newspaper article)

Pregnant Shark Caught, Eight Young Saved.
Eight embryos, pink in color, the buyer donated 5 to the National Museum of Marine Biology and Aquarium (NMMBA).

Chen, the buyer and also the owner of a private museum, a shark dealer at Chen-gung dock, Taidung County, saved 8 embryos from a captured female great white shark (GW) on 13 October (1997). Five of them were collected by researchers at NMMBA. If they can survive and be raised, it would be a great success in our country's shark biology research.

These 8 embryos, about 50-60 cm long, are pink all over. The gills are exceptionally large. There are big eggs at the middle of the bodies which are their growing sources. [They are not big eggs, they are yolk-stomachs full of little eggs that the ovary produced and the embryos ate]. Sharp teeth can be seen in their mouth yet the eyes are not fully formed. The pectoral fins are very large and look like chicken wings without leather.

According to Chen, the captured GW was caught yesterday in a set-net in Baisolane. The shark weighed 2000 kgand was about 7 meters long [length estimate from weight using Mollet et al. 1996 is about 6m TL], which is the largest caught at Chen-gung so far. The shark was brought to the dock at 10 am. When gutting the shark, they found that the stomach was very big, and the shark itself was very oily, so they guessed that there were embryos inside. Therefore, they took much care when cutting the belly and indeed 8 embryos were found.

Having the experience of saving 43 tiger shark embryos on May 12 (1997), Chen kept the 8 embryos in his tank and called the National Museum of Marine Biology and Aquarium. Because the embryos looked very weird, local people all felt strange when seeing them.

The NMMBA researchers arrived at 7 pm. Witnessing 8 surviving embryos , Lue, the leader of the team pointed out excitedly that this is the first time to see such small embryos in Taiwan. He estimated these shark would be very difficult to keep alive, but if it worked, it would be a great success in our research. [Hard to say if these early- to mid-term embryos could have been kept alive. One would have had to simulate the uterus of the mother, a “soupy” liquid with nutritive egg cases containing nutritive eggs which probably spill out easily. I don’t know if egg-yolk from chicken eggs would have been sufficient].

Follow up article 15 October 1997 (Link to Chinese Newspaper article)

Researchers not Familiar with their Biology,

Eight Young Sharks Dead

The 8 embryos from a gutted female GW on the 13th, comprising 3 brought back and kept in a tank by the fish dealer and 5 brought back by the NMMBA researchers all died on 14th because they were too young. All Researchers were disappointed.

According to Lue, NMMBA researcher, the 5 they brought back were still embryos and very fragile. No great white shark reproduction studies are available world wide that could have been consulted. Therefore, the chance of raising these embryos is very small. They brought back 4 young tiger sharks in May and the sharks died 2 monthes later. The main reason is people still don't understand the biology of these sharks either.

The 3 embryos brought back by fish dealer Chen also died the next morning. Chen said he wants to taxidermy one of them.