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 Cove 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 mating
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 with
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 it’s long lived we
can’t follow it we don’t have the
technology to do that but critter cam
does nurse sharks may be home bodies 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 him
and when the wrong guy shows up she
shows them to water as deep as we’re in
now so that he can’t get ahold of her
fins which is a vital first step don’t
win the right male shows up she allows
him to push her to slightly deeper water
to mate the male 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
mating minutes later the male 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 male
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 her cam has
shown us that for the males through 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
sponsored by National Geographic mission
programs taking science and exploration
into the new millennium
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 Cove 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 mating
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 with
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 it’s long lived we
can’t follow it we don’t have the
technology to do that but critter cam
does nurse sharks may be home bodies 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 him
and when the wrong guy shows up she
shows them to water as deep as we’re in
now so that he can’t get ahold of her
fins which is a vital first step don’t
win the right male shows up she allows
him to push her to slightly deeper water
to mate the male 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
mating minutes later the male 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 male
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 her cam has
shown us that for the males through 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
sponsored by National Geographic mission
programs taking science and exploration
into the new millennium
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