The Preserved Shark Carcass That Has Captured the Hearts of the Internet

She’s kind of cute. . .in a really creepy, terrifying way

In November 2018, YouTuber Luke McPherson posted a video to his channel in which he explored the abandoned and decrepit Wildlife Wonderland, a former aquarium in South Australia. In the video, McPherson stumbles across a chilling sight: the silhouette of a shark encased in a glass tank, backlit by a greenish glow and mouth open as though poised to strike.

Don’t worry, though. This long-forgotten relic of the park isn’t alive and poses no threat to visitors.

It’s just Rosie.

Rosie, as she is affectionately called, was a five-meter great white shark who died in 1998 after being caught in the Lukin family’s tuna fishing net. The family then sold the carcass to Wildlife Wonderland. She was shipped to the park in a refrigerated truck and — following a short detour in which she was autopsied in an attempt to find the body of a missing woman — preserved with a formaldehyde solution. What makes her so unique is that she is not taxidermied like many displays at aquariums, zoos, and museums; she is fully intact, not gutted.

All in all, the preservation efforts cost the park about $500,000, with founder John Matthews describing the…