Complaint Fails to Hold Water: Sharks Stay

It may have been the overwhelming support of neighbors who visited the aquarium and ogled the eight sharks in it. Or it may have had something to do with the lucky penny in Kim Nalley’s pink high-heeled shoe.

For whatever reason, the Orange City Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to allow Mark Nalley to keep the sharks that occupy a 20,000-gallon aquarium in his backyard.

Nalley recently finished building the $80,000 saltwater aquarium, which is home for four species of harmless sharks six to 33 inches long. The issue went to the City Council after a neighbor complained about the danger of sharks in an uncovered aquarium in a residential area.

But City Council members, most of whom visited the aquarium, voiced strong support for it before rejecting an amendment to a city law that would have added sharks to the list of fish barred from the city. After the brief public hearing, during which there was no vocal opposition to the aquarium, friends and neighbors seemed more enthusiastic about the outcome than did Nalley himself.

“I really am surprised,” Nalley said unemotionally after the vote. “It went incredibly smooth.”

Friends and neighbors congratulated Nalley as he stood outside the council chambers with his beaming wife.

‘Fortunately, It’s Over’

“We didn’t plan on drawing this attention,” Nalley added. “Fortunately, it’s over.”

Mayor Jeff S. Perez set the tone for the meeting, saying the shark aquarium is the Nalleys’ “private property, and personally, I find no objection to their keeping sharks. I believe we are making much ado about nothing on this shark issue.”

Councilwoman Joanne Coontz, who said she had visited the aquarium, called the tank “beautiful.”

“The question is insignificant, I think,” she said. “Quite a conversation piece” was Councilman Gene Beyer’s assesment of the aquarium.

Before building the pool, Nalley said, he had received assurances from officials with the county and the state Department of Fish and Game--and the city--that it was legal and safe to keep the sharks in the pool. So he said he was surprised when city officials expressed skepticism after the pool was built.

Many neighbors who have seen the pool have said they like it, but a complaint from one neighbor drew the city into the picture.

Marine biologists had said the sharks are not ferocious types, although they may attack if provoked. To demonstrate the sharks’ harmless nature, Nalley’s attorney, Ferdie Franklin, dived into the pool during a press conference last month.

He emerged wet but untouched by the sharks.

Nalley said he became interested in sharks about six years ago, shortly after starting a physical fitness equipment business in Orange. A shark became his company logo, and he bought his first shark and a 250-gallon aquarium.

Later, he bought a 1,000-gallon aquarium. Then he had one installed next to his office at work. Since construction of the pool, he has dismantled the aquarium at work.

The uncovered aquarium in Nalley’s east Orange backyard cost $80,000 to build. It’s earthquake proof, made of 110 tons of concrete and has two large viewing panels. The aquarium juts from a hillside into the yard, which is landscaped with 50 tons of hewn granite.

Inside the pool, the sharks dart among varied tropical fish and aquatic flora. When the sharks reach four feet in length, Nalley trades them with professional aquariums for smaller sharks.

At mealtimes--two to three times a week--Nalley gives red snapper, mackerel and squid to his pets. He said his feed bill runs about $40 a month.