S.E.A. Aquarium donates 5 whitetip reef shark pups to Hong Kong Ocean Park for marine conservation

On Jun. 25, 2024, five whitetip reef shark pups made the voyage from Singapore to Hong Kong.

The pups are surpluses of the S.E.A. Aquarium's breeding programme, and their new home will be the Hong Kong Ocean Park.

This is part of S.E.A. Aquarium's commitment to marine conservation — whitetip reef sharks in particular, are classified as "Vulnerable" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Prepping for the trip

S.E.A. Aquarium shared with Mothership that its whitetip reef sharks "have been extremely content and have been mating actively".

This is a result of optimal care and breeding conditions.

In preparation for their move, the pups underwent a check-up, and were microchipped.

The shark pups were then shipped over in a special container which has a built-in life support system, Nick Derbyshire, the director of S.E.A. Aquarium, told Mothership.

Breeding programme

The donation of the five pups to Hong Kong Ocean Park is part of the aquarium's ongoing collaboration with other aquariums around the world "to help captive-bred marine life find safe and caring homes".

Pups and juveniles are donated to prevent the aquarium's own facilities from becoming overcrowded.

S.E.A. Aquarium's breeding programmes also focus specifically on species that are endangered in the wild.

Since the aquarium's conception, it has successfully bred 24 whitetip reef sharks, all of which have been sent off to other facilities globally, Derbyshire added.

It also has breeding programmes for other species such as eagle rays, cownose rays and honeycomb rays, and has plans to donate other marine species, such as the critically endangered bowmouth guitarfish.

Top photo from S.E.A. Aquarium