The female reef shark, one of various exotic creatures in the popular Mayan Temple aquarium at the Atlantis resort in the Bahamas, tumbled down the slide – known as the Leap of Faith – after vaulting the one foot high and 18 in wide barrier around its pool.
Although the creature survived the journey its body could not cope with the chlorinated water in the swimming pool at the bottom of the slide. Rescuers managed to return the 12-year-old shark to its own pool but it died shortly afterwards.
Staff at the Atlantis resort said that guests were never at risk as the water park had yet to open for the morning. The shark posed no threat to humans and regularly swam with guests in its aquarium
"The Atlantis Aquarists believe the shark was startled by an unusual circumstance that we have no way of defining completely. In the over ten years guests have experienced the Leap of Faith, the reef shark itself, harmless to humans as it is fed regularly by our staff, had shown no previous incidences of leaping out of the water in the marine habitat," the resort said in a statement to the TMZ website.
"Once the shark fell onto the slide and into the chlorinated water, it was in significant distress.
"The Marine Aquarium Operations team responded immediately and was able to retrieve the animal at the bottom of the slide and return the animal to the main marine habitat in an attempt to resuscitate her. Despite the team's best efforts to recover the animal, it died shortly after the occurrence.
"The entire team at Atlantis is truly saddened by the loss of this animal who had resided in the Atlantis marine habitat for over ten years."
The Atlantis resort describes itself as a "unique, ocean-themed destination", with 20 million gallons of pools and lagoons, waterfalls, and a marine habitat filled with water filtered from the Atlantic Ocean.
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