<P> Hundreds of whale sharks are illegally killed every year in China for their fins, skins, and oil . </P> <P> The whale shark is popular in the few public aquariums that keep it, but its large size means that a very large tank is required and it has specialized feeding requirements . Their large size and iconic status have also fuelled an opposition to keeping the species in captivity, especially after the early death of some whale sharks in captivity and certain Chinese aquariums keeping the species in relatively small tanks . </P> <P> The first attempt at keeping whale sharks in captivity was in 1934 when an individual was kept for about four months in a netted - off natural bay in Izu, Japan . The first attempt of keeping whale sharks in an aquarium was initiated in 1980 by the Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium (then Ocean Expo Park) in Japan . Since 1980, several have been kept at Okinawa, mostly obtained from incidental catches in coastal nets set by fishers (none after 2009), but two were strandings . Several of these were already weak from the capture / stranding and some were released, but initial captive survival rates were low . After the initial difficulties in maintaining the species had been resolved, some have survived long - term in captivity . The record for a whale shark in captivity is an individual that, as of 2017, has lived for more than 18 years in the Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium . Following Okinawa, Osaka Aquarium started keeping whale sharks and most of the basic research on the keeping of the species was made at these two institutions . Since the mid-1990s, several other aquariums have kept the species in Japan (Kagoshima City Aquarium, Kinosaki Marine World, Notojima Aquarium, Oita Ecological Aquarium, and Yokohama Hakkeijima Sea Paradise), South Korea (Aquaplanet Jeju), China (Chimelong Ocean Kingdom, Dalian Aquarium, Guangzhou Aquarium in Guangzhou Zoo, Qingdao Polar Ocean World and Yantai Aquarium), Taiwan (National Museum of Marine Biology and Aquarium), India (Thiruvananthapuram Aquarium) and Dubai (Atlantis, The Palm), with some maintaining whale sharks for years and others only for a very short period . The whale shark kept at Dubai's Atlantis, The Palm was rescued from shallow water in 2008 with extensive abrasions to the fins and after rehabilitation it was released in 2010, having lived 19 months in captivity . Marine Life Park in Singapore had planned on keeping whale sharks, but scrapped this idea in 2009 . </P> <P> Outside Asia, the first and so far only place to keep whale sharks is Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta, United States . This is unusual because of the comparatively long transport time and complex logistics required to bring the sharks to the aquarium, ranging between 28 and 36 hours . Georgia keeps four whale sharks: two females, Alice and Trixie, that arrived in 2006, and two males, Taroko and Yushan, that arrived in 2007 . Two earlier males at Georgia Aquarium, Ralph and Norton, both died in 2007 . Georgia's whale sharks were all imported from Taiwan and were taken from the commercial fishing quota for the species, usually used locally for food . Taiwan closed this fishery entirely in 2008 . </P>

How long do whale sharks live in captivity
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