Aquarium of the Pacific

Friday, May 09, 2008

Everybody, lets welcome Ginger Bling! by David

© David Chen

Check out that dorsal fin

Ms. Bling is a sandbar shark, Carcharhinus plumbeus. She naturally lives in shallow, coastal areas such as harbors, bays, and estuaries. Her species tends to stay away from beaches and the water’s surface, which means sandbar sharks rarely encounter humans. Sharks like Ginger can be found all around the world from the Hawaiian Islands to the Red Sea and in both tropical and temperate waters. One of the defining characteristics of Ginger is the size of her fins. Whereas other sharks at Shark Lagoon, like Keith the nurse shark, have modest sized fins, Ginger has spectacular fins that almost look like sails.

Ginger Bling is a former Las Vegas showgirl. She came to us from Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas where she used to entertain the people there as she swam in her habitat. Now, she is the only sandbar shark on display in Southern California. She spends her days cruising along the substrate in Shark Lagoon and hanging out with the other sharks.

We all know variety is the spice of life. Ginger does not have a favorite food. Instead she likes to have a taste of everything offered to her at feeding time. She will eat mahi-mahi steaks, hoki fillets, mullet fillets, and sardines. Sandbar sharks are opportunistic feeders that will eat anything meaty they can find, like molluscs, small fish, and crustaceans.