Cairns sharks airlifted to Dubai
THOSE flying out of Cairns within the next month may find they have some toothy passengers coming along for the ride: a pair of 1m silvertip sharks.
Cairns Marine is preparing to send a couple of 1m silvertip sharks from Cairns to one of the world’s largest aquariums in Dubai.
It will be the first time the oceanic shark species has ever been sent air freighted anywhere in the world – and it’s not cheap.
Transporting the sharks from Cairns to Dubai will cost $40,000.
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Cairns Marine director Lyle Squire Jr said the silvertips, which have been kept in a large tank at the company’s Stratford facility since November, would be transported in a 3-tonne tank, stored on board a commercial flight later this month.
"It will cost about $15,000 just for the airfare component alone," Mr Squire said.
"It’s a large investment for the aquarium."
Cairns Marine has supplied close to 40 aircraft pallets full of Great Barrier Reef wildlife to the Dubai Mall Aquarium in the past 12 months.
The marine export specialists also received
two of four juvenile leopard sharks that were driven north from Townsville’s Reef HQ aquarium yesterday.
Two of the sharks were flown from Cairns to Melbourne, where they will go on display at the Melbourne Aquarium.
The other two leopard sharks are expected to be flown to an aquarium in the US.
Reef HQ curator Andrea Severati said the two-year-old leopard sharks were part of the aquarium’s captive breeding program, designed to reduce the amount of animals taken from the Reef. "For these sort of animals where captive breeding is possible, we prefer not to collect them from the wild," he said.
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