Since Georgia Aquarium opened in 2005, the aquarium has provided a home to a total of five southern sea otters (Enhydra lutris nereis). Over the years, through the maintenance of strong behavioral fundamentals and desensitization, the sea otters have been trained a variety of husbandry behaviors. As Gracie, the aquarium’s eldest sea otter, aged the care she required greatly influenced the direction of the sea otter husbandry program.

In 2013 Dolphin Quest Hawaii, located at the beautiful Hilton Waikoloa Village resort, temporarily acquired two adult male blacktip reef sharks (Carcharhinus melanopterus), from a local oceanographic charter school that was in the middle of moving campuses and renovating their shark lagoon. Dolphin Quest took on the sharks with the plan to train the animals and have them act as ambassadors for their wild counterparts.

Keepers started to notice that Glacier became lethargic and disinterested in certain food items, and was no longer eating herring, capelin, beef fat, or his carnivore raw meat diet. Keepers further found straw and sand in his feces and noticed he was no longer enthusiastic about participating in training sessions. A comprehensive diagnostic evaluation revealed Glacier had dilated cardiomyopathy, a weakened heart muscle that does not function properly, and hepatocellular carcinoma or liver cancer.