The sad saga of Ralph and Norton
April 18, 2007 at 9:03 am by Scott Freeman in NewsEven with its staff decimated and morale reportedly at a miserable low, the AJC proves in today’s edition that when it sets its mind to it, it can still do meaningful journalism. Today’s story on the death of Ralph the whale shark and the illness of Norton the whale shark by Mark Davis and Craig Simon is a fine piece of journalism. The money quote:
Until his death, Ralph the whale shark got regular force-feedings from his handlers at the Georgia Aquarium, a practice most aquariums with whale sharks avoid.
He lived in a tank whose waters were treated with a chemical that may have curbed his appetite, and which may be impeding the appetite of another shark in the display.
He came to America despite concerns that the director of Taiwan’s national aquarium says he voiced when he questioned the wisdom of moving a whale shark so far from its native waters. Georgia Aquarium officials dispute that the Taiwan official expressed such concerns.
It is a thought-provoking article and a black eye for the Georgia Aquarium, which appears to have adopted the policy of nondisclosure — it won’t release the autopsy on Ralph and won’t even reveal what chemical it used to treat the whale-shark tank. That’s the wrong approach to take and, frankly, gives the aquarium the appearance of guilt.
PR media experts will tell you that in times like this, companies should adopt the spirit of full disclosure, let the chips fall where they will and accept full responsibility for what went wrong.
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