Shark Birth Caught on Camera

Photo Credit: Oliver and Kaszo

Check out this amazing picture! What looks like an extra fin on the belly of this mother shark is actually the head of her shark pup seconds into the birthing process.

Ok, so it’s not the most captivating image in the world, but its such a rare occurrence to be witnessed by we mere mortals. There’s a lot we still don’t know about shark reproduction, and this is first time a birth has been photographed.

The photo was taken in the Philippines where scientists from the University of Chester and the Thresher Shark Research and Conservation Project were monitoring shallow, undersea mountains.

Thresher sharks, their topic of research, have been spotted in this area for the past several years.

This shark pup was born before sunrise after scientists noticed this particular mother shark was swimming back and forth looking distressed.

Well, of course she was. Pregnancy is no walk in the park.

Lead scientist Dr. Simon Oliver told BBC News that this is the first documented case of any oceanic shark species giving birth. “It looks like this area is not just a cleaning station, which is already massively essential, it’s also serving as a pupping ground, We’ve seen lots of [pregnant] females there, so I don’t think this is a one-off.”

Dr. Oliver and his peers are working to have the shallow mountains declared a marine protected area because thresher sharks are classified as a vulnerable species. Thanks to fishing, their population is dwindling.

Get more info from BBC News and Coral Reefs.