Review and images by Suspsy; edited by bmathison1972
There is no shortage of attractions to found in the great city of San Francisco, California, but my own personal favourite is the California Academy of Sciences. It encompasses a natural history museum, a planetarium, a multi-level indoor rainforest, and last but especially not least, the Steinhart Aquarium. The latter’s residents range from South American river fish to Philippine coral reef denizens to African penguins and to alligator gars. It was here back in 2012 that I acquired the subject of this review, a tiger shark (Galeocerdo cuvier).
At about 41 cm (16″) long and 21 cm (8″) wide at the pectoral fins, this is one of the smaller stuffed sharks in my collection. Its main colours are light grey and white with dark grey stripes, black stitched gills, black and grey plastic eyes, and a pale pink mouth lined with tiny white felt teeth. Most of the body is soft, but there’s a clump of pellets around the stomach region.
Aside from the stripes, this toy doesn’t look very much like a tiger shark. The snout is conical as opposed to broad, the gills only number three on each side, and the second dorsal and anal fins are totally absent. The body is also too short and chubby, but that’s common with plush toys. And on the plus side, the caudal fin is correct for a tiger shark, or a generic requiem shark at least.
While this is admittedly one of the weaker plush sharks in my collection, it adds a touch of variety, and it’s definitely got a cute appearance to it. And really, if anatomical accuracy is your primary concern, then you’re better off going with plastic figures anyway. It can be found online or in aquarium and zoo gift shops across the world.
I went to the California Academy of Sciences two weeks ago, and it really is an amazing museum. The best part was Claude, the albino alligator