UPDATE Sept. 1: The Monterey Bay Aquarium announced in a press release on Thursday that the juvenile shark is now part of the Open Sea exhibit.
"Aquarium staff observed him swimming comfortably and documented him feeding [for 13 days] in the [Malibu holding pen] before he was brought to Monterey and placed in the million-gallon Open Sea exhibit at 7:01 p.m. [on Wednesday]," the press release states.
Go here for more information on the exhibit.
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A young male great white shark , and later sent to a 4-million-gallon holding pen near Paradise Cove in Malibu that is owned by the Monterey Bay Aquarium. The juvenile could be the sixth great white placed in an exhibit at the aquarium. Scientists are determining if the recently captured shark is appropriate for the journey and placement in the exhibit called Open Sea.
The five sharks exhibited since 2004 were all released after stays that ranged from 11 days to six and a half months, according to the aquarium's website.
Sharks in the holding pen near Paradise Cove are observed in an enclosed space before being transported to the aquarium's 1-million-gallon exhibit, said Karen Jeffries, the aquarium's public relations manager.
By tagging and exhibiting the great whites, scientists hope to develop a greater understanding of the creatures, Jeffries said.
Scientists have tagged and tracked 18 juveniles and 167 adult sharks through the program. Go here to view a tagging map that shows some of the routes that sharks marked in the Malibu area have traveled.
Malibu's ocean appears to be a prime area for juvenile great white sharks, Jeffries said. She said the young sea creatures are likely drawn to Malibu's waters due to the warm temperature.
The population is so large that if you were to observe the Malibu coast from the air, you might notice pools of juvenile white sharks.
Editor's Note: A previous version of this story stated the shark was caught off the Malibu coast. It was actually caught off the Marina del Rey coast, and later brought to the holding pen off Paradise Cove.
