Applebee’s Aquarium Massacre: One Shark, Multiple Fish, Die In Coney Island

The aquarium at the Coney Island Applebee’s was filled with red water this weekend after the restaurant added a few sharks to the tank.

According to the New York Observer, the restaurant thought that it would be fun to add a few sharks to the 5,000 gallon “Wonders Of the Sea” tank at its Coney Island location. Fun, however, would not be the word most used to describe the exhibit.

The two sharks, one whitetip and one blacktip, went on a feeding frenzy after being introduced to the tank. The whitetip shark also met its demise in the tank after it crashed into an underwater Ferris wheel.

The New York Daily News reports that the blacktip shark was removed from the tank after it’s “shocking killing spree.”

Applebee’s owner, Zane Tankel, said: “They went from being in an ocean to being in a tank. They were all disoriented. One of them attacked one of the other fish – one of the tropical fish – and bit him literally in half.”

Despite living through the Applebee’s aquarium massacre once, Zane said that he was ready to give it another try in a few days. The shark was taken to a nearby town where they will be fed for a few days. After that, they will try and introduce the shark to the tank.

Zane said that the shark’s were hunger after being transported the first time, and he’s confident that he won’t run into a similar problem this weekend.

Zane said: “Ordinarily, a shark will not attack the other fish. But the fact he was deprived of food during the transport from the West Coast to here, he was hungry, and in essence, the interpretation is he acclimatized pretty well because he had his appetite back.”

It has not been a good month for fast food restaurants. Taco Bell has been dealing with taco lickers, Wendy’s has had to punish frosty chuggers, and now Applebee’s has a major shark problem on its hands.