Georgia Aquarium: NC, GA Aquariums collaborate to move sand tiger sharks to new, larger homes

North Carolina Aquariums and Georgia Aquarium staff came together to transport two sand tiger sharks up the N.C. coast. (Photo: N.C. Aquariums) North Carolina Aquariums and the Georgia Aquarium came together to transport two sand tiger sharks across the state. The move began at the N.C. Aquarium at Fort Fisher, where staff secured a female weighing 282 pounds and a male weighing 165 pounds into a special cargo net, the North Carolina Dept. of Natural and Cultural Resources shared on Wednesday. They then loaded the sharks using a telehandler - a machine that's like a hybrid of a forklift and a crane - onto a vehicle with a mobile aquarium. Georgia Aquarium, the largest in the country, provided the mobile aquarium and a crew to help with the sharks' transport. A crew from the Georgia Aquarium helped transfer the sharks. (Credit: N.C. Aquariums) A crew from the Georgia Aquarium helped transfer the sharks. (Credit: N.C. Aquariums) The sharks first stopped at the N.C. Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores. Here, staff introduced the male shark to his new home at the Living Shipwreck habitat. Next, the team traveled farther north, moving the female shark to the N.C. Aquarium on Roanoke Island's Graveyard of the Atlantic exhibit. "The transport of these two special sharks was amazing to watch," N.C. Aquarium at Fort Fisher director Joanna Zazzali said. "We are grateful for the excellent preparation and planning from everyone on the team to execute the transport as flawlessly as possible and especially appreciate the assist from our friends at the Georgia Aquarium." The Fort Fisher location had housed the two sharks for almost a decade, where they resided in the 235,000-gallon Cape Fear Shoals habitat. The sharks' new homes are larger and will provide more space for the animals as they continue growing - Living Shipwreck has 306,000 gallons, and Graveyard of the Atlantic has 285,000. This move comes ahead of the N.C. Aquarium at Fort Fisher's upcoming closure due to major renovations. All areas of the aquarium will be closed to the public for the duration of the project, which is estimated to take more than two years. A hard closing date for the aquarium has yet to be announced. The expansion includes building the largest shark habitat in North Carolina and expanding the aquarium into the largest in the state.