this is wild fun
the warm shallow waters off Florida
South Coast are home to a homebody the
nurse shark these large fish are bottom
feeders foraging usually at night and
can appear rather sluggish during the
day but most nurse sharks eat sleep and
reproduce in one area their entire lives
and that consistency is brought to
scientists back to the shallow co for
many years Jeff carrier in west pratt
first time we ever saw any of this
activity was almost almost 25 years ago
I couldn’t exactly tell what i was
looking at until I discovered that I was
looking at two sharks not one and that
they were made it ready Jeff and Wes are
here continuing the only long-term study
of shark mating in the wild these two
shark warriors had been up close and
very personal their subjects the team
gets the close-ups here in the lagoon
but what about the bigger picture how
much mating occurs in the places they
can observe in the vast area outside the
study site well that’s a job for critter
cam this is an animal that lives in
deeper water its long-lived we can’t
follow it we don’t have the technology
to do that but Crittercam does nurse
sharks may be homebodies but so far
they’re not cooperating it’s been a week
and the crew has yet to see a mating
event
but finally they see the signs they’ve
been looking for
these female sharks are choosing they’re
picky about which males mate with them
and when the wrong guy shows up she
Shoals into waters deep as we’re in now
so that he can’t get ahold of her fins
which is a vital first step but when the
right male shows up she allows him to
push her to slightly deeper water to
mate the mail can get hold of that
valuable pectoral fin because they don’t
have hands he can then curve his body
around the female and mate with her I
want to see mating events I want to see
and I want to see I’d love to see him
travel around in here and continue on
his way and if and when he goes outside
to prove that hypothesis of deep water
meeting minutes later the mail shark has
found a female and begins the pursuit
she moves quickly out of the area that
Wes and Jeff can study then she stops
and waits so does the man
then he makes his move biting her fin
the female arches her back and a
wrestling match begins
the male makes a total of three attempts
to mate with but he’s unsuccessful now
what the male moves into deeper water
alone he stops and seems to be resting
Crittercam has shown us that for the
male’s knew the deep water is the refuge
and it’s turning our thinking around and
maybe even upside down Wes and Jeff will
be back to these waters again next year
to discover more secrets about this
regal shark
check for wild connors on your local PBS
station sponsored by National Geographic
mission programs taking science and
exploration into the new millennium
the warm shallow waters off Florida
South Coast are home to a homebody the
nurse shark these large fish are bottom
feeders foraging usually at night and
can appear rather sluggish during the
day but most nurse sharks eat sleep and
reproduce in one area their entire lives
and that consistency is brought to
scientists back to the shallow co for
many years Jeff carrier in west pratt
first time we ever saw any of this
activity was almost almost 25 years ago
I couldn’t exactly tell what i was
looking at until I discovered that I was
looking at two sharks not one and that
they were made it ready Jeff and Wes are
here continuing the only long-term study
of shark mating in the wild these two
shark warriors had been up close and
very personal their subjects the team
gets the close-ups here in the lagoon
but what about the bigger picture how
much mating occurs in the places they
can observe in the vast area outside the
study site well that’s a job for critter
cam this is an animal that lives in
deeper water its long-lived we can’t
follow it we don’t have the technology
to do that but Crittercam does nurse
sharks may be homebodies but so far
they’re not cooperating it’s been a week
and the crew has yet to see a mating
event
but finally they see the signs they’ve
been looking for
these female sharks are choosing they’re
picky about which males mate with them
and when the wrong guy shows up she
Shoals into waters deep as we’re in now
so that he can’t get ahold of her fins
which is a vital first step but when the
right male shows up she allows him to
push her to slightly deeper water to
mate the mail can get hold of that
valuable pectoral fin because they don’t
have hands he can then curve his body
around the female and mate with her I
want to see mating events I want to see
and I want to see I’d love to see him
travel around in here and continue on
his way and if and when he goes outside
to prove that hypothesis of deep water
meeting minutes later the mail shark has
found a female and begins the pursuit
she moves quickly out of the area that
Wes and Jeff can study then she stops
and waits so does the man
then he makes his move biting her fin
the female arches her back and a
wrestling match begins
the male makes a total of three attempts
to mate with but he’s unsuccessful now
what the male moves into deeper water
alone he stops and seems to be resting
Crittercam has shown us that for the
male’s knew the deep water is the refuge
and it’s turning our thinking around and
maybe even upside down Wes and Jeff will
be back to these waters again next year
to discover more secrets about this
regal shark
check for wild connors on your local PBS
station sponsored by National Geographic
mission programs taking science and
exploration into the new millennium
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