Video of a lemon shark pup birthing has been filmed in the Bahamas.
PI Matt Smukall filmed the tagging of a pregnant lemon shark by the Bimini Biological Field Station Shark Lab located in South Bimini. After the shark lab finished tagging the shark it was released and began swimming away.
Mr. Smukall followed the shark and captured the moment a shark pup rocketed out from its mother. The little shark whips back and forth as it learns how to use its’ fins.
The experience coincides with a new paper by the previous Lab Manger Jill Brooks. The paper calculates the minimum longevity of lemon sharks as a ‘respectful’ 37 years old. The group was able to come to that calculation by using their genetic data base and their understanding of recaptured sharks.
The shark lab posted the following on their Facebook page. “Some females in Bimini have been returning to give birth since 1993, and sexual maturity in lemon sharks is ~14 years old. We are now in 2016, so any shark that first gave birth in 1993 and is still returning to give birth in Bimini, must be at least 37 years old!”
To read more about the breakthrough check out the full paper Using genetic inference to re-evaluate the minimum longevity of the lemon shark Negaprion brevirostris
Direct link to the video here.
