Rosie was made famous last year when video of her was posted to YouTube. Sadly, it also brought this dead great white the wrong kind of attention, too.
Discovering Rosie
Luke Mcpherson found a dead great white shark in a closed down wildlife park in Melbourne, Australia late last year. It was soaking in formaldehyde in a large, andondoned tank. His video quickly went viral and Rosie, as she the shark became known, was suddenly very famous.
Died In Fishing Net
A Facebook page was created for Rosie the Shark. One post explains how she came to be in the park:
Wildlife Wonderland, located in Bass, Victoria, has been sitting abandoned since 2012. Amongst rubble and crumbling buildings, is Rosie, a taxidermied 16.5-foot great white shark. She was captured way back in 1998 in the tuna fishing nets of South Australia. Her body was supposed to be kept at the Wonderland park on a temporary basis, but she ended up there permanently instead.
Vandals
Unfortunately, her fame led vandals to track her down at the abandoned park and try to break into her tank. They succeeded in removing the top of the tank and had been throwing trash into it. Many people began calling for Rosie to moved to a safer home.
Donated
Crystal World and Prehistoric Journeys stepped in to help Rosie and move her to a new, safe home. Rosie was donated by her owner to Crystal World’s exhibition. But they still had to figure out how to transport her, and fast — liquid was quickly evaporating from her tank.
Moving Her
The team started by pumping the formaldehyde out of her tank. This left Rosie lying awkwardly on her side. A crane was then brought in to move her and her now-empty tank.
Safetly Transportsd
Rosie was then transported via a large truck to her new home at the Crystal World and Prehistoric Journeys exhibition.
Rallied Together
Shane McAlister, one of Crystal World’s employees, was thrilled:
“It’s such a great outcome. Australia rallied together to save Rosie and get her a forever home at Crystal World.
“It has been an exhausting week but we are very happy with Crystal World coming to the rescue.”
All of this has come at an extreme expense, however. Removing the chemicals safely, repairing the tank, and transporting Rosie wasn’t cheap. The new owners of Rosie have set up a Go Fund Me page to seek help in covering their expenses.
