Studying the Great White Shark

For the fourth time in four years, a young great white shark is going on display at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, part of an ongoing research project that has attracted sharp criticism.

Captured off Malibu on Aug. 16, the new shark is a young female, 4 feet long and 55 pounds. Researchers moved her to Monterey on Aug. 27, and she now swims in the aquarium's Outer Bay exhibit.

The aquarium's trawler and floating shark pen have been fixtures in Paradise Cove in Malibu for each of the last four summers. This year, researchers tagged and released five great white sharks. Four others were brought to the pen, three of which were subsequently released. The fourth, now in the exhibit, is expected to stay in Monterey for several months. Upon release, her movements will be tracked until her GPS unit loses power or falls off.

Controversy has dogged the shark project since its inception, with animal rights activists saying that keeping such a nomadic creature in captivity is cruel. In 2005, the white shark on display attacked and killed two soupfin sharks in the exhibit. Another shark damaged its snout on the exhibit's walls, earning the aquarium some bad press.

But scientists for the aquarium say the project's benefits far outweigh its risks. With shark populations in decline worldwide, and with the great white being demonized in films and television shows, scientists say information gathered about the sharks' movements and behavior is their best defense.