During China’s National Day holiday in early October, expectant tourists visiting Shenzhen’s Xiaomeisha Ocean World were surprised to see a man-made mechanical whale shark, according to Southern Metropolis Daily. Some visitors expressed dissatisfaction about paying to see fake fish in an oceanarium, while netizens remarked on the environmental benefits of using artificial whale sharks, saying that it avoids the confinement of live sharks.
Upon its trial reopening after renovations, the oceanarium announced the debut of the “Mecha Whale Shark 3.0”. It described the robot shark as a “technological wonder” that combined advanced mechanical engineering and simulation technology with a realistic appearance and flexible movements.
The oceanarium reportedly opted for a mechanical shark due to the protected status of the whale shark, and because trading of the species is banned. Whale sharks are currently listed on the IUCN Red List of Endangered Species, and in China, they are a national Class II protected animal – the same category as red pandas.
However, captive whale sharks are still exhibited in some aquariums. This September, the China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation revealed that a whale shark died in the Cube Oceanarium in Chengdu, Sichuan, which reportedly claimed to be the only whale shark breeding base in the world at one point. The cause of death has not yet been announced.
The mechanical shark in Xiaomeisha Ocean World is not the first or only artificial whale shark exhibited in Chinese oceanariums. In 2022, Science and Technology Daily reported that the world’s first bionic whale shark was unveiled at an ocean park in Shanghai. In 2023, dutenews.com reported that a high-tech bionic whale shark that “looked exactly like the real thing” was exhibited at a resort in Zhengzhou, Henan.
Whale sharks (Rhincodon typus) are the largest fish in existence. According to Oceans and Wetlands, a conservation channel on WeChat, the global population of whale sharks has decreased by 63% in the past 75 years due to reasons including overfishing, habitat loss, ship strikes and pollution. In October, a research team from the University of Southampton and the Marine Biological Association published a paper noting that rising sea temperatures caused by climate change will mean that newly suitable habitats for whale sharks will overlap with busy shipping lanes, increasing the risk of ship strikes.
Read Dialogue Earth’s previous report on the regulation of global shark fin trade.