Nursey the Nurse Shark (2022-2024)
Obituary
Nursey died in August 2024 at the North Carolina Aquarium at Roanoke Island.
Nursey, a 22-year-old nurse shark, died in August 2024 after becoming unresponsive following a medical exam.
Held at the North Carolina Aquarium on Roanoke Island since 2008, Nursey spent the last 16 years of his life in a tank. Sadly, nurse sharks in aquariums are denied the freedom they’d experience in the wild, roaming across reefs in the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.
In the wild, nurse sharks face threats from heavy fishing and divers disturbing them. As of 2021, nurse sharks are classified as vulnerable under the IUCN Red List, and some particular species of nurse sharks, like the Pacific Nurse shark, are classified as endangered.
World Animal Protection urges everyone who loves nurse sharks to avoid aquariums and enjoy them in the wild or at sanctuaries.
