Dubai's Atlantis frees whale shark

Dubai luxury hotel the Atlantis has released a whale shark it was keeping in its aquarium into the waters of the Arabian Gulf, the hotel said on Thursday. The female whale shark had been rescued after being found in distress in the Arabian Gulf in 2008. But animal rights activists said the fish, dubbed Sammy, had been kept by the Atlantis as a tourist attraction and campaigned for its release. The hotel said in a statement its fish husbandry team had worked towards Sammy's release in accordance with international conventions on endangered species and she had been set free in the ocean. "We will continue to track her progress through a tagging programme co-developed with The Mote Marine Laboratory in Florida," said Steve Kaiser, vice president of marine and science engineering at the Atlantis. Whale sharks are the world's largest fish species and grow to an average of around 8 metres length. They are found all over the world in tropical or warm seas.