Australia hatches its first IVF shark

A 16-cm shark pup has become the first ever shark in Australia to be born via artificial insemination, raising hope that technology can help breed endangered species.
The brown banded bamboo shark is also the first in the world to be created using a live semen sample transported from one facility to another.
The shark pup was born in Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium on March 3 to a 1.5 metre female, believed to be around 10 years-old.
The insemination process started last year in September, when researchers collected a semen sample from a male brown banded bamboo shark at Underwater World Sea Life Mooloolaba and transported it to Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium via air freight.

The female shark was inseminated the same day.
Led by Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium Research Consultant Dr Jon Daly, together with The Aquarium Vet Dr Rob Jones, the artificial insemination is part of an ambitious nine year project into understanding the reproductive behaviours of sharks endemic to Australia and implementing captive breeding programmes.

"A labour of love for the past nine years, we're extremely proud and excited to see our hard work paying off with the birth of this Brown Banded Bamboo shark pup," said Daly.
Researchers hope to ultimately help manage threatened shark species in the wild - in particular, the critically endangered grey nurse shark.

The brown banded bamboo sharks are considered a surrogate species as they are more common and easier to work with than the Grey Nurse shark.
"With each insemination attempt, we continue to learn about the reproductive behaviours of Australian shark species," Daly said.
"Hopefully we can use this technology as a basis for breeding Grey Nurse sharks in captivity and, in years to come, boost the species' dwindling numbers in the wild," said Daly.