Hi, Jamie Pollack here, Executive Director here. I want to share some amazing and rare footage captured while diving during a Shark Angels & Seasick Productions trip in the Maldives this January. During the week, we had seen some mind blowing things like whale sharks and mantas at night right off the back of our liveaboard, schooling sharks in crazy currents and a beautiful octo changing colors right before my eyes.
But this, well, this was the epitome of mind blown. Two nurse sharks mating! I mean WOW!!! I had never seen anything like it in all the years I’ve been diving with sharks.
So for Valentines Day, I am sharing this special video shot and edited by me, photos taken by our friend Chuck Wade and the interesting nurse shark facts by Cheryl McCarron, Education and Outreach Director.
The whole process took about 4 mins and I captured 3 minutes 22 seconds of the mating ritual. The video below has been edited to 2mins 39secs with adult titles. So this video is not meant for children.
The visibility gets pretty bad at some point but keep watching because nurse shark dad is still hanging on (literally by biting mom’s pectoral fin).
– Jamie Pollack, Executive Director
P.S. Hope you like it as much as we did!
Video shot and edited by Shark Angels while on our Maldives Liveaboard Trip. Captions not suitable for children.
Full unedited version here on youtube
At-A-Glance
- How long is the gestation period? About 6 months.
- How do nurse sharks mate? When a female shark is ready to make, she emits a species-specific hormone to attract males. This species-specific hormone is why you rarely see hybrid sharks. Hybrids have been found among species of the same genus, but never with different genus. When the female is ready, the male swims alongside her and bites her pectoral fin, attempting to flip her over to mate. But while the female may be emitting hormones, she may not always be in the mood. Females may resist attempts to flip them over and may bite back, doing their best to escape. Clearly, the Me-Too Movement has not reached the shark world.
- What is their size at birth? Pups are 1.3 to 2 ft [40 to 60 cm] in length. They reach maturity at approximately 8.2 ft [250 cm], and may reach a maximum length of 10 ft [3 m].
- Where is their habitat? Found on or near the bottom in sheltered areas including lagoons, sandy areas near the edge of reefs and along the edges of coral and rocky reefs. They range from intertidal areas to depths of 230 ft (70 m).
- Where do they live? These sharks are wide-ranging in the tropical Indo-Pacific Ocean from South Africa to the Red Sea and Gulf, East Asia north to Japan, Australia to Marshall Islands, and Tahiti.
- What do they eat? Includes a wide range of small fish and invertebrates including cephalopods, crustaceans and sea urchins. To search for prey, the nurse shark will swim along the bottom exploring holes and crevices along the reef. Once it has found prey, it uses the powerful suction ability of its mouth to draw out hard to reach prey.
- How do these sharks give birth? A placental viviparous (ovoviviparous) – the embryos feed off the yolk case in which they grow and hatch inside the uterus. Hatched embryos then feed off of unfertilized eggs, known as oophagy. Litters are thought to be 1-2 pups every 2-3 years. This species may practice adelphophagy which literally translates to “eating one’s brother”. In one study, researchers found 4 embryos in utero, but only two were birthed.
- IUCN Listing? Vulnerable due to targeted fishing and bycatch.
- Protection Status? No conservation measures in place.
Three Fun Facts
- Ultrasound data of tawny nurse sharks has revealed that the embryos will swim from one uterus to the other (sharks have two uteruses!), sometimes even taking a peek outside through the mother’s cervix before heading back in. (Ethology, vol. 125, Issue 2, Feb. 2019)
- Nurse sharks are nicknamed the couch potatoes of the sea due to their docile nature. While docile in nature, nurse sharks are actually rank fourth in shark bites recorded on humans. This is because divers are more likely to harass or interfere with them. When undisturbed, nurse sharks do not bite humans.
- A nurse sharks’ cruising speed is only about 1.5 mph but they can reach up to 25 mph in short bursts.