1-Year Anniversary For Black Tip Sharks At Aquarium

BALTIMORE (WJZ)-- A couple of years ago the National Aquarium drained the main open air tank in the middle of their original building to put in a new exhibit. Now, it's been a year since the Black Tip Reef sharks came to Baltimore.

Mike Schuh commemorates the anniversary.

In its 33rd year, over 1.5 million visitors will visit the aquarium.

At its core, the main tank hold 18 Black Tip Reek sharks.

It opened a year ago this week. I've been asked to help celebrate, perhaps a gala or some type of social?

"I'm going to get the food for the Blacktips," said Emily Anderson, marine biologist.

Emily is a marine biologist, we're in the fish cooler. It's cold, it's fishy and I have been selected to help.

"We have a box of squid, some mackerl, shrimp and some small fish known as a blue runner," Anderson said.

So I have been invited to a meal, but it's for the sharks and I get to prepare it. It turns out these sharks are kind of picky.

"We actually have to cut the heads and tails off of it," Anderson said, "They don't like to eat the head as much."

They're so picky that we actually have to warm up their food for them. They have us humans trained to give them what they want,  calamari.

Just 8 pounds of food each day for all 18 sharks.

"We really have to be careful that we don't overfeed the sharks, grow them up too fast because we've found there can be health problems with that," said Jack Cover, general curator.

That's the dinner bell for the sharks, if they go near the ball, food appears. The humans then throw it mimicking a live fish.

So if you want to see them feed the fish, they do so every morning here in this corner of the pool at the aquarium.

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