A shark at the Birmingham National Sea
Life Center is surprising her handlers - she appears to be the world's
first vegetarian shark.
Florence, a six-foot nurse shark, started life as a meat-eater, but following an operation in 2009 to remove a rusty hook from her jaw, she has completely stopped eating her normal prey.
In fact, her handlers need to resort to devious tactics to get protein into Florence's diet - such as hiding pieces of fish inside her celery, and even in hollowed-out cucumbers.
'And it has to be well hidden, because if she realises it’s there she’ll ignore the offering and wait for the strictly vegetarian option.'
Florence’s mouth is filled with razor-sharp, serrated teeth designed for demolishing fish and crustaceans.
Instead she uses them for pulping broccoli and cabbage and any other greens she can steal from fellow ocean tank resident Molokai the green turtle.
It is not the first time Florence has caused her guardians some concern.
'She was off her food for a good while when she first arrived from Florida with three other nurse sharks at our main collection centre in Dorset,' said Graham.
'She was given an ultrasound scan which revealed a fishing hook buried deep inside her mouth.'
That is how Florence came to be operated on by specialist vet Nick Masters from the International Zoo Veterinary Group in Bristol.
The groundbreaking procedure saw Florence sedated, then lifted onto a makeshift operating table where Nick successfully removed the hook while tubes pumped saltwater through her gills.
'The hook had obviously been there for years and was badly rusted which is what had made her so ill,' said Graham. 'She was put on antibiotics and made a swift recovery.'
Graham and his team are determined that their history-making shark is not going to fall ill again through lack of proper nourishment, and use every trick they can devise to make sure she has a proper diet.
'Nurse sharks do occasionally graze on algae in the wild, and we weren’t surprised when Florence first stole some of Molokai’s greens,' said Graham.
'We just weren’t expecting her to go completely veggie. We wouldn’t want her to be an embarrassment to the other flesh-eating hammerheads and black-tipped reef sharks in the ocean tank.'
Florence, a six-foot nurse shark, started life as a meat-eater, but following an operation in 2009 to remove a rusty hook from her jaw, she has completely stopped eating her normal prey.
In fact, her handlers need to resort to devious tactics to get protein into Florence's diet - such as hiding pieces of fish inside her celery, and even in hollowed-out cucumbers.
Watch out lettuce! The nurse shark at the
Birmingham National Sea Life Center in England appears to be the world's
first vegetarian shark
Eating away: The shark refuses to eat any form of meat or fish - so staff try to sneak fish into the lettuce
Curator
Graham Burrows said: 'We’re having to hide pieces of fish inside celery
sticks, hollowed out cucumbers and between the leaves of lettuces to
get her to eat them.'And it has to be well hidden, because if she realises it’s there she’ll ignore the offering and wait for the strictly vegetarian option.'
Instead she uses them for pulping broccoli and cabbage and any other greens she can steal from fellow ocean tank resident Molokai the green turtle.
It is not the first time Florence has caused her guardians some concern.
'She was off her food for a good while when she first arrived from Florida with three other nurse sharks at our main collection centre in Dorset,' said Graham.
'She was given an ultrasound scan which revealed a fishing hook buried deep inside her mouth.'
Painful: Florence, had to undergo a risky out-of-water surgery procedure to remove a rusty hook from her jaw
The hook that caused all the pain: The operation in 2009 may have led to the shark's lack of appetite for meat
That is how Florence came to be operated on by specialist vet Nick Masters from the International Zoo Veterinary Group in Bristol.
The groundbreaking procedure saw Florence sedated, then lifted onto a makeshift operating table where Nick successfully removed the hook while tubes pumped saltwater through her gills.
'The hook had obviously been there for years and was badly rusted which is what had made her so ill,' said Graham. 'She was put on antibiotics and made a swift recovery.'
Graham and his team are determined that their history-making shark is not going to fall ill again through lack of proper nourishment, and use every trick they can devise to make sure she has a proper diet.
'Nurse sharks do occasionally graze on algae in the wild, and we weren’t surprised when Florence first stole some of Molokai’s greens,' said Graham.
'We just weren’t expecting her to go completely veggie. We wouldn’t want her to be an embarrassment to the other flesh-eating hammerheads and black-tipped reef sharks in the ocean tank.'
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