There are sharks in Las Vegas feasting on hundreds of pounds of fish every week

LAS VEGAS (AP) — When Becky O’Brien dangles herring over a tank of over a dozen swimming sharks, it only takes seconds for a zebra shark to snatch the fish from her tongs.

The lead aquarist said she always knew she wanted to work with marine life; she just didn’t think she’d be a shark dietitian at a 1.3 million gallon tank and Las Vegas casino. O'Brien's team feeds 15 species of sharks three times a week at the Shark Reef Aquarium at the Mandalay Bay Resort, where they tend to over 3,400 animals.

“They eat, I would say, better than the tourists on the Strip,” O’Brien said, referring to the gourmet restaurants in Las Vegas' biggest tourism hub.

The aquarium is a major tourist attraction that has drawn over 21 million visitors to the resort and casino since it first opened in 2000, according to Mandalay Bay.

Sharks' diets consist of proteins and lipids in order to maintain their fatty livers, which allow them to move up and down in the water, said Samantha Leigh, a professor at California State University, Dominguez Hills, who focuses on marine animal nutritional physiology.

In the wild, sharks eat a diverse mix of prey across the food web, ranging from microscopic zooplankton to seals and even other sharks, Leigh said. In captivity, many sharks are fed restaurant-quality seafood, she said.

The sharks at Mandalay Bay are fed a mix of mackerel, herring, blue runner and sardines in an effort to give them a varied diet like they’d have in the wild, O’Brien said. Some of the fish are wild-caught, while others come from sustainable fisheries, she said.

In one week the aquarium goes through over 300 pounds (136 kilograms) of fish, O’Brien said.

The fish are stuffed with vitamins, and they need to be hidden in the food to ensure the animals won’t spit them out — the staff’s version of giving a dog its medicine covered in peanut butter, O’Brien said.

Also like dogs, the sharks are trained to be rewarded with food for specific behaviors. The zebra sharks touch a target in order to receive food, and animals learn to go to specific areas of the tank for their meals.

Lunchtime provides a chance for the staff to examine the animals. They can tell a lot about the sharks’ conditions based on how they’re eating. If they turn down food, they may have an illness, or they may be interested in mating, O’Brien said.

Sharks are ravenous before breeding season, but many of the male sharks will eat little during the season, which runs from March to June.

“Once you get to work with these guys on a daily basis, you do learn little nuances of how each one feeds a little bit differently,” O’Brien said. “Each species is a little bit different.”

The zebra sharks are one of the aquarium's endangered species whose population has declined drastically due to fishing and coral reef habitat loss. The aquarium partners with other organizations across the globe to transport zebra shark eggs to Indonesia for rewilding to restore wild populations.

O'Brien hopes people watching the feedings will raise future generations to “care about the ocean and then hopefully protect it, to love it as much as we do,” she said.

Many of the aquarium’s sharks are living well beyond the years they would in the wild, said Jack Jewell, the aquarium’s general curator.

Jewell pointed out an old sand tiger shark that was moving slowly. He estimated the shark is between 33 and 36 years old — around 10 years older than their typical max age in the wild.

As they get older, sharks have a harder time catching prey, Jewell said. He compared staff’s work at the resort to food delivery drivers who bring meals to people's doorsteps.

On a recent day, visitors watched the sharks, sea turtles and lookdown fish — silver fish cleverly named for where they look while they swim — meander around the decorative ship wreck in the 1.3 million gallon tank.

The bow mouth guitarfish, known for their bow-shaped mouths designed to crush crustaceans, swam up a vertical platform at the surface of the tank and plucked a fish from aquarist Lukas Seoane’s tongs. One of the guitarfish, a bossy female, ate over 4 pounds (1.8 kilograms) of fish in one feeding, while a young male guitarfish waited his turn.

“Every time I’m done feeding these guys, I think I want to go out and get some sushi,” Seoane said. “If it’s good enough for them, it’s good enough for me.”

Lead aquarist Becky O'Brien feeds a shark in the Shark Reef Aquarium at the Mandalay Bay hotel-casino in Las Vegas, Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (AP Photo/John Locher)

An aquarist feeds a shark in the Shark Reef Aquarium at the Mandalay Bay hotel-casino in Las Vegas, Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Aquarist Lukas Seoane feeds a shark in the Shark Reef Aquarium at the Mandalay Bay hotel-casino in Las Vegas, Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Aquarist Robert LeSage feeds a shark in the Shark Reef Aquarium at the Mandalay Bay hotel-casino in Las Vegas, Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Lead aquarist Becky O'Brien feeds a shark in the Shark Reef Aquarium at the Mandalay Bay hotel-casino in Las Vegas, Wednesday, March 11, 2026. (AP Photo/John Locher)

CHICAGO (AP) — Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton won Tuesday's Democratic primary for U.S. Senate, edging out two sitting members of the U.S. House to advance to a November general election against Republican nominee Don Tracy, the former state party chair.

The retirement of U.S. Sen Dick Durbin, the Senate’s longtime No. 2 Democrat, triggered a competitive campaign on the Democratic side, drawing as candidates Stratton and U.S. Reps. Raja Krishnamoorthi and Robin Kelly, among others. Furious fundraising and sharp elbows marked the race, which tested the influence of Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker. The governor, whose name has been floated as a 2028 presidential contender, backed Stratton.

The races were testing grounds for some of the biggest issues facing the Democratic Party, from support for Israel to immigration enforcement and the cryptocurrency and AI industries, as super PACs poured millions of dollars into the hotly contested primaries.

Most primary winners in the Democratic stronghold are expected to win in November, shaping a new generation of leadership in the state’s congressional delegation.

Stratton lagged in fundraising but had the powerful backing of Pritzker, who campaigned with her around the state.

He introduced her Tuesday night before her victory speech, in which she pledged to push for Medicare for all and higher wages, abolish U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and “bring this fight straight to Donald Trump’s door.”

“We are ready to take our democracy back into our own hands,” Stratton told supporters gathered in Chicago.

The race featuring 10 Democrats was expensive. Krishnamoorthi dominated fundraising and was the first on television with ads in July. He started 2026 with over $15 million on hand compared with Stratton's $1 million, according to campaign finance records. Late last year, Pritzker put $5 million into a super PAC aimed at electing her.

Stratton lit into Krishnamoorthi at debates, particularly on the five-term Democrat’s voting record and donations from an ICE contractor.

Krishnamoorthi, who has called to dismantle the agency, said he donated the money to immigrant rights groups. In a concession speech Tuesday, he brought up his roots as an immigrant who born in India and raised in central Illinois.

“Only in this country can a kid like me serve in the halls of Congress,” he said. “And now we must come together as Democrats and as Americans to make sure that we return to the principles that made us a beacon of freedom and opportunity for the world.”

Rochelle Brockenborough, 64, said she voted for Stratton at the Dr. Martin Luther King Community Service Center in Chicago.

“I wanted to make sure there was no AIPAC money. That’s important to me,” she said, adding that U.S. tax dollars shouldn’t be used to support Israel.

Candidates touted ties to iconic Chicagoans including former President Barack Obama and the late Rev. Jesse Jackson, who died last month. However, an endorsement touted posthumously by Stratton caused a snag as Jackson’s family withdrew it Monday, saying the draft was not meant for public release.

In the GOP primary, Tracy, an attorney who led the Illinois Republican Party from 2021 to 2024, bested five other candidates. The state last had a Republican in the Senate a decade ago, when Mark Kirk was defeated by current Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth.

Election officials hoped to see busy polls after statewide turnout in the 2024 primary was 19%, the lowest in more than five decades. Initial turnout estimates in Chicago were around 25%, according to the Chicago Board of Elections.

Dozens of candidates ran for five open seats in the Chicago area.

In Kelly’s 2nd district, which spans parts of the South Side and suburbs and dips into the central Illinois farmlands, Cook County Commissioner Donna Miller emerged as the winner of a crowded Democratic field that included former U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., son of the late civil rights leader. Miller will face off in November against Republican Michael Noack, who was unopposed.

Miller was backed by AIPAC, and that support prompted retiring U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky, of the 9th District, to withdraw her endorsement of Miller.

The open seat in Krishnamoorthi’s suburban 8th District attracted eight Democrats and four Republicans. Former U.S. Rep. Melissa Bean won the Democratic nomination and advances to face Republican Jennifer Davis.

“People are ready for change, they want to see a functional Congress,” Bean told The Associated Press. “We haven’t had one in quite some time.”

Two other House members are retiring after long careers.

The 7th District of Rep. Danny Davis, who was first elected in 1996, covers parts of downtown, the West Side and suburbs. The candidate he endorsed, state Rep. La Shawn Ford won the nomination over a pool of candidates that included Chicago City Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin. Chad Koppie won for the GOP.

The primary for Schakowsky's 9th District seat was the most crowded. Among the 15 Democrats, Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss edged out digital creator Kat Abughazaleh and state Sen. Laura Fine, who was also backed by AIPAC. Republican John Elleson won the party's nomination.

Speaking to supporters, Biss called Schakowsky, who endorsed him, his “political hero” and said the contest to replace her raised fundamental questions about Democratic Party priorities.

“Are we going to double down on our progressive values, or are we going to shrink away from protecting the most vulnerable?” Biss said. “We are going to stand up, we are going to fight.”

Another open Chicago area seat was that of Rep. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia, who announced that he would not seek reelection citing health and personal reasons. The Democratic primary for the 4th District was uncontested after Garcia quietly schemed to place his chief of staff, Patty Garcia, on the ballot without any Democratic competition.

Patty Garcia, who is not related to the congressman, will face Republican Lupe Castillo, who also ran unopposed, in November.

Pritzker, an heir to the Hyatt Hotel fortune who was unopposed in his primary, is the first governor to seek a third term since the 1980s.

One of President Donald Trump’s most vocal critics, Pritzker used his victory speech to tout his efforts to oppose the aggressive federal immigration crackdown in Chicago last year. He criticized Republicans' agenda, called Trump's presidency an “unmitigated disaster” and vowed to help Democrats across Illinois win in November.

“This is the fight of our lives,” he told supporters at a downtown Chicago hotel. “Everything we care about is under siege from Washington.”

Pritzker also made digs at Republican candidate Darren Bailey, a former state senator whom he handily defeated in 2022.

Bailey, who bested three other Republicans vying for the nomination, said he did things differently this time, including focusing more on Chicago voters.

On the campaign trail and in his victory speech, Bailey criticized Pritzker’s leadership, including blaming him for rising costs. Heading into November, he vowed to include Democrats “who felt left behind.”

“I want to work together to make Illinois government work again at all levels,” he said.

Associated Press journalists Mike Householder in Chicago and Hannah Fingerhut in Des Moines, Iowa, contributed.

U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., center, concedes as his wife, Priya Bala, looks on during an election night watch party after losing the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate, Tuesday, March 17, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton, left, hugs her daughter Cassidy during a primary election night watch party after winning the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate, Tuesday, March 17, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)

Supporters react as election results roll in during a primary election night watch party for Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton, a Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate Tuesday, March 17, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)

A pin reading "women for Juliana" is displayed during a primary election night watch party for Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton, a Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, Tuesday, March 17, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)

Illinois Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton waves during a primary election night watch party after winning the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate, Tuesday, March 17, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)

Democratic candidate for Congress, Kat Abughazaleh smiles as she walks to vote on Election Day at Chicago Park District Loyola field house in Chicago, Tuesday, March 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

U.S. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.), who is running in the Senate Democratic Primary Election, talks with election judges at Nerge Elementary School polling place in Schaumburg, Ill., Tuesday, March 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

Democratic candidate for Congress, Kat Abughazaleh, center, casts her vote in a primary election for the upcoming midterms, in Chicago, Tuesday, March 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

Patty García speaks during a news conference to announce her candidacy for the fourth district congressional race, Nov. 12, 2025, in Cicero, Ill. (Ashlee Rezin/Chicago Sun-Times via AP)