| USA & Taiwan. Georgia Aquarium male whale sharks receive special UPS delivery |
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| Monday, 05 June 2006 | |
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Environmental news: The Georgia Aquarium's two male whale sharks, Ralph and Norton, received a special delivery from UPS (NYSE:UPS) - two females, named Alice and Trixie. UPS previously transported the two males to Atlanta 366 days ago. The two females were flown more than 8,000 miles on a specially configured UPS B-747 freighter from Taipei, Taiwan, through Anchorage to Atlanta. The two whale sharks are 11 and 14 feet in length. Whale sharks are the largest fish on earth, and UPS is the only airline to ever fly the species across the Pacific. The Aquarium will allow researchers around the world to join them as they embark on a general study of whale sharks including behaviour, breeding and development. To facilitate these intricate moves safely, UPS had to carefully plan the plane's center-of-balance. The 747's interior was reconfigured to secure custom containers with highly advanced marine life support systems and accommodations were added for marine veterinarians travelling aboard. Having the past experience of successfully transporting Ralph and Norton, UPS was able to cut the planning of Alice and Trixie's relocation down to a mere six weeks compared to 2005's year-long preparation. After landing at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport late Saturday evening, the whale sharks remained in their transport containers and were hoisted off the plane and secured to specially designed trailers for a police escort to the Aquarium. In the future, a replica of the special transportation containers will be displayed in the Ocean Voyager gallery showcasing the complexity of the whale sharks' move completed by UPS and the Aquarium. The Ocean Voyager gallery was built by Home Depot. UPS also worked with the non-profit organization to transport four Beluga whales and more than 42 containers of smaller aquatic animals, which comprise the majority of the Aquarium's collection, prior to the Aquarium's grand opening last November |
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| Last Updated ( Monday, 05 June 2006 ) |
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