Why did Ralph bite the big one?

A day after the Georgia Aquarium released test results showing that Ralph, its famous whale shark, died of peritonitis earlier this year, questions remain about what caused a deadly perforation in his stomach, and critics again blasted the institution for trying to display the giant creatures in captivity.

"They blew it," said Naomi Rose, a marine mammal researcher with the Humane Society of the United States, based in Washington. "They took a huge gamble with a fish they knew little about, and now it's dead."

- Atlanta Journal Constitution