Cinematic shark feeding at Budapest’s Tropicarium is a weekly crowd-pleaser for families. Every Thursday at 14:30, certified keepers with dive licenses slip into a 4 m-deep, roughly 1.4 million oz saltwater tank at 70–73.4°F to hand-feed sharks and the shark-tailed guitarfish, a rarity in Hungary. Each dive, the predators polish off about 26–33 pounds of sea fish, right in front of the panoramic glass.
Settle into seats by the massive viewing window, cue the chill music, and watch the animals’ regal glides, twitchy turns, and playful loops up close. It’s as hypnotic as it sounds.
Sand Tiger Sharks, Misunderstood Icons
Social hunting is unusual among sharks, yet sand tiger sharks often hang out with their own kind—sometimes dozens stacking near wrecks or cave mouths. They can gulp air at the surface and store it in their stomachs to fine-tune buoyancy, a neat trick for slow cruising.
But their PR is a mess. With long snouts, icy stares, and dagger-like protruding teeth, they look meaner than they are. For decades, people blamed them for attacks without evidence—fueling culls so aggressive that parts of southeast Australia wiped out local populations, sand tigers included.
