I am not willing to slam the whole varied group of people who keep and study animals in zoos and aquariums as stupid. They've chose a life doing what interests them. I think their jobs must be pretty cool.
The shark was caught by accident by a fisherman. Most fisherman would have killed such a catch outright, and taken pictures of himself next to it for the newspapers, not gotten on the phone to see if anyone might want it alive. Under the circumstance, they tried to put together a pen for it in a hurry and failed.
So what... I don't know if they like Ann Coulter, but your cynicism is clouding your perspective. It's a shark. They've never done well in captivity, but they gave it a shot. I don't know how often they eat or if 8 days is too long or whether feeding it would have been futile under the stress of the move. Do you?
Do I know whether or not 8 days is too long for a GWS to go without eating? I'll assume thats a rhetorical question.
And yeah, I'm a bit cynical today. They gave it a shot and I've no problem with any of that. And you're right, I shouldn't have generalized about the marine workers of course.
But just imagine the outcry if this had happened in a Zoo or at a Circus! Oh the humanity!!