Law Lacks Teeth So 8 Pool Sharks Stir Controversy

One of his neighbors in Orange believes Mark Nalley has bitten off more than he can chew this time. It’s not the size of his new backyard aquarium that’s the problem--it’s the eight sharks that live in it.

Nalley, 30, says he tried to make sure he wouldn’t be violating any laws before he began building the 20,000-gallon pool about a year ago. In fact, he says he was assured by the city, as well as by state and county Fish and Game Department officials, that there wouldn’t be any problem with keeping the sharks there.

But now, two months after he filled the new $80,000 aquarium and turned the sharks loose in it, an unidentified neighbor has complained, and the Orange City Council is scheduled to take up the matter at a public hearing Aug. 11.

An Orange ordinance bans “wild animals” within the city limits, but the only fish listed in that category are piranha and walking catfish.

“We just forgot about sharks,” City Atty. Furman Roberts conceded.

Nalley’s nameless pets--four black tips, two leopards, one white tip and one lemon shark--range from 6 to 33 inches long. They mature at five feet in length, but Nalley said he plans to trade them for smaller sharks when they get to be four feet long.

In the past, Nalley said, he has traded sharks with Sea World in San Diego, Marineland in Palos Verdes, the Steinhart Aquarium in San Francisco and the Waikiki Aquarium in Hawaii. He said he has had sharks in his home for six years but never on this scale--and never outdoors. He started with a 250-gallon aquarium and graduated to a 1,000-gallon tank before deciding to move his hobby outside.

Nalley’s fascination with sharks began when he was looking for a company logo, he said during an interview at his physical-fitness equipment company.

“A shark has been termed the ultimate machine,” he said. “That was a nice association we wanted to make with our product.”

Now the likeness of a swimming shark is emblazoned on his company’s T-shirts, envelopes and letterheads. And a 52-inch model of a great white shark hangs in Nalley’s office.

The uncovered aquarium--which he says is earthquake-proof--juts from a hillside, rising three feet above ground and extending three feet below ground. About 110 tons of concrete were used in its construction, Nalley said. The landscaping, which includes 50 tons of granite, hasn’t been completed.

“It has two viewing panels, and you have to climb four feet of granite rock to get to the top,” Nalley said.

Neighbor Cynthia Hartstein said Friday she was not upset by the sharks after inspecting the aquarium.

“I have two children, and I’m not concerned in the least,” Hartstein said. “We scuba and swim with sharks a lot. We have swum with a lot larger fish than those.”

But neighbor Michelle Benabou called the sharks “terrible.”

“I don’t see why any person would want to have a shark as a pet,” she said. “How can a shark not be dangerous? Aren’t they all?”

“It’s too bad that when people talk about sharks their first perception is ‘Jaws,’ ” Nalley said. “I think it’s important the general public know there are 350 species of sharks, and only five species have a reputation for being killers. All sharks are not the man-eaters they’re made out to be.

“There’s nothing in the pool that can jump out of the water and chase someone down the street.”

In fact, the aquarium’s waters are more dangerous than the sharks, said Tom Tucker, curator of Steinhart Aquarium.

“The danger from drowning is of more concern to me than the sharks,” Tucker said. He added that, while the sharks are not aggressive, if provoked they could “take a chunk of meat off of your hand.”