Shark performs surgery, saves baby sharks from disaster

Photo: Trodel/Flickr

Here's something you don't read everyday: A shark at a New Zealand aquarium helped another shark give birth by biting its abdomen, effectively resulting in a cesarean section. According to staff, such bites are known to happen from time to time — but never as anything that would aid another shark. "It had to bite a certain part to let them out and do it without killing them [the babies] or her [the mother]," said one staff member. 

 

The rare, possibly unprecedented sight, most likely saved the lives of the eight shark pups inside. Since the staff had no idea that the shark was pregnant, the mother probably would have given birth naturally at night; exposing the young babies to a likely fate of being eaten by adult sharks and stingrays before rescue could come. 

 

Thankfully, this odd event had a happy ending and the aquarium was able to save all of the newborns. They will now be raised in a "nursery" tank and released into the wild once mature. 

 

via New Zealand Herald