Spotted any sharks in Malta?

Whilst sharks may make an appearance in the Mediterranean sea, they very rarely come close enough to the coast of Malta to be seen. This means, if you are looking to get a glimpse at one of the most fearsome predators in the sea, then your best bet is to pay a visit to us here at the Malta National Aquarium.

We are incredibly proud to be able to bring you sharks that are from a variety of places around the world, not just those that you will find close to our shores. All of our sharks are at home in a 12m long tunnel, which you are able to walk through, seeing them up close and personal.

But what sharks call the Malta National Aquarium their home?

We have 2 zebra sharks, which are known to grow up to 2.5m. Our shark tanks holds one male, who is older and bigger and one female who is smaller and younger. A common misconception with zebra sharks is that they are going to be stripey, however, this really isn’t the case. In fact, zebra sharks are actually spotted. In the younger sharks, the colour pattern is dark brown with vertical yellow stripes and spots.

Our tank is also home to 4 black tip reef sharks. These sharks are darker on the dorsal side and whiter on the ventral side, which allows them to blend in with the sun rays as it hits the water surface, and give them camouflage. These sharks can swim in shallower water, with their fin sticking out of the top, just like you may visualise when you think about sharks in the media. One thing that you will notice about these sharks is that they are always swimming and moving, they do this because the swimming motion will ventilate their gills and allow them to breath underwater.

We also have some harder to spot and shyer sharks in the tank, these spend some of their time hidden among the rocks and corals, however, this can make a fun game of spot the shark. Our nocturnal sharks, the two female banded hound sharks are often seen spending their time in the darker sports of the tank, whilst the two grey bamboo sharks lay on the sides of the tunnel, simply lying in wait for food to fall down for them to grab. These bottom dwelling sharks eat a variety of things during our feeding times, however, they are rather fond of small fish, shrimps, worms, molluscs and crabs.

Last but not least, we have the horn shark. Our horn shark is incredibly shy, which means that only the most eagle eyed of customer will be able to spot him. He is brown/grey in colour and has an assortment of smaller dark spots. His head is short and blunt and he boasts ridges over his eyes and two dorsal fins with large spines that stand tall and proud.

All these sharks swim in 380,000 litres of water within our main tank, which is also home to many other species of tropical fish. We are so often asked if this means that the sharks eat the other fish, as they would in the wild, however, this isn’t the case. In order to stop this from happening, we have installed a special lighting system, which is a combination of both white and blue lights. These lights resemble moon light, which reduces the ability of the sharks to catch and eat the other fish. Other ways that we control the sharks and stop them from attacking the other fish is by always ensuring that they are fed at the same time and at the same spot. We also ensure that any new fish that are being introduced to the tank will be introduced slowly, often using a net, which will cordon off their area for a couple of weeks, before then releasing them into the larger tank.

Along with our permanent residents, we also have 2 local species of shark. This the larger nursehound and the small spotted catsharks, these sharks are special to us as they were rescued thanks to our partnership with Sharklab Malta NGO. This partnership means that volunteers are able to go to the fish markets, checking whether the sharks are in fact, pregnant sharks. If they notice that they are, then they will perform a c-section on them and remove any eggs. Before immediately preserving them within sea water and bringing them directly to our team here at the Aquarium. We then develop and hatch the embryos under controlled conditions, over a 4-6 month period, before they are released into the wild.