Tom Kapitany with Rosie. Pic: Flying Fox Productions.
It was back in the 1990s that the former Wildlife Wonderland Giant Earthworm Museum took possession of the shark, with part of the roof of the museum removed in order for it to be housed in a specially-designed tank.
Rosie the Shark is still without a permanent home after a Melbourne council rejected plans for a shark education centre.
Three years after he rescued Rosie from Wildlife Wonderland Giant Earthworm Museum in Bass, owner Tom Kapitany is now taking his proposed development to VCAT.
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In February 2019 Tom, who runs Crystal World in Devon Meadows, removed Rosie from her formaldehyde-filled tank at the derelict museum in Bass, and trucked the five-metre-long fish to Crystal World.
In a massive operation, 15,000 litres of the carcinogenic formaldehyde was removed and a crane hoisted Rosie and her 10-tonne tank on to a truck, driven 60km to what was to be a temporary home in Crystal World’s carpark.
But Tom said Rosie continued to live in the carpark in her tank, on display free of charge.
He said his plan for the “most well-known shark in the world” was to build a 400m2 exhibition building, including a specially designed concrete slab to hold Rosie’s tank.
“But we are still fighting with council (the City of Casey),” he told the Advertiser.
“They rejected it because they don’t think it’s an appropriate place for an exhibition area. So we’re taking them to VCAT.”
Tom said an initial VCAT meeting would be held this month, with the full hearing in September. “We are determined. My town planner believes it’s a weak objection and it will be overruled.”
Rosie became a social media sensation and hit the international headlines in 2019 after a series of YouTube videos – filmed by a subculture of trespassers known as urban explorers – went globally viral, spawning unwanted vandals and trespassers.
Tom is a geologist, botanist and entrepreneur who travels the world chasing fossils and who also owns the National Dinosaur Museum in Canberra, with Crystal World selling geological specimens, fossils, meteorites, crystals and minerals.
He has erected the jaw of a megalodon near Rosie, an extinct shark species.
Preserved for eternity
In the meantime, Rosie was looking better than ever.
“She’s very stable. The glycerine is looking after her very well. She’s better off than when we got her,” Tom said.
After initially washing out her tank with water (neutralising the water with baking soda), Tom and his team opted to preserve Rosie in glycerine – a colourless, odourless, sweet, non-toxic liquid. Glycerine costs $300 for one litre and they have so far used 5000 litres ($16,500) to fill the tank.
“The glycerine never deteriorates and keeps her stable and safe and we only occasionally need to inject some into her dorsal fin.”
Tom said the public interest in the shark – which was donated to Crystal World – continued to grow, with updates regularly posted on their Rosie the Shark Facebook page.
“It has been crazy since Covid, we can’t handle any more business. We still get messages from around the world, thanking us for saving her and taking care of her. When school children do shark projects they contact us and the YouTube videos continue to get a lot of hits.”
Despite the considerable costs and logistical headaches of housing Rosie, he does not regret taking on the responsibility of the shark, which was donated to Crystal World.
“No, I don’t regret it. At the end of the day Rosie will always be looked after. She’ll be preserved for eternity.”
