It’s Not A Good Time To Be A Shark In A Brooklyn Applebee’s Aquarium

This shark is a candytarian. (Alan Rappa)

This shark is a candytarian. (Alan Rappa)

So there you are, just swimming along like sharks do, the entire ocean is at your disposal and you’re living the life of a normal shark (who is apparently also self-aware enough to realize how good you’ve got it). But then the next thing you know, you’re living in an aquarium at a Brooklyn Applebee’s, one of your fellow shark pals is dead and you’re in serious trouble for eating three other fish in a “shocking killing spree.”

A new Applebee’s in Coney Island opened up today with a bit of a pall cast on the grand celebrations. One Blacktip shark had to be removed last week from the 5,000-gallon aquarium after it took out three Lookdown fish, reports the New York Daily News. And another Whitetip shark met its maker after colliding with the tank’s three-foot Wonder Wheel replica.

The paper reports that all this blood and gore has left employees “shaken by the mayhem.” And then there’s the $4,000 Blacktip in question, who had to be moved to an aquarium to atone for his appetite.

Apparently the sharks “were in shock. We moved them in too quickly,” said the Applebee’s owner. “They went from being in an ocean to being in a tank. They were all disoriented.”

The fish-on-fish violence was all captured by a camera crew there to film an episode of Animal Planet’s Tanked reality show. Which we’re going to assume will air during Shark Week, perhaps?

The owner hopes his pricy buddy will be able to return soon to his starring role as a customer attraction, and has been consulting with a shark expert to figure out why the normally docile Blacktip snapped.

“We are concerned about his health. The sharks are a big investment,” he added.

I can’t wait for the Law & Order SVU episode based on this headline. You know it’s totally gonna happen.

One shark is dead, another is wounded at new Applebee’s aquarium in Coney Island [New York Daily News]

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