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Environmental police in Brazil have become the unwitting “mothers” of a female shark trapped in an illegal fishing net.
A fascinating moment of nature was captured by a Brazilian environmental police officer, when a female angel shark gave birth right on the police force’s boat.
The incident occurred off the coast of Camburi, Sao Paulo state, Brazil. While on patrol, the environmental police detained a fishing boat for illegal fishing.
While collecting the net, the police force discovered an angel shark caught in the net. When the shark was pulled onto the boat, the animal unexpectedly gave birth to a baby, much to the officers’ surprise.
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Rare image: Shark gives birth right on a coast guard boat (Video: Newsflare).
After seeing the first baby shark emerge from the mother shark’s reproductive system, officers assisted the mother shark in giving birth. One officer gently pressed on the mother shark’s abdomen to help the babies emerge more easily.
A baby shark got stuck in the net after emerging, but the officer gently removed it, helping it return safely to the sea.
“A fascinating sight of life and resilience in the natural world,” said a representative of Brazil’s Maritime Environmental Police. “Officers discovered an illegal fishing network that threatens the balance of marine wildlife.”
“While removing the net from the water, the officers witnessed the interesting scene of a female angel shark giving birth right on the boat. They assisted the animal in giving birth before releasing it back into the wild,” a representative of the Brazilian maritime environmental police force added.
In addition to helping the angel shark give birth, the Brazilian environmental police also rescued three spotted rays, 20 mudskippers, and four angel sharks. These are all critically endangered species according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
Angel sharks are members of the shark family, making them more similar to rays than sharks. Their diet consists of bony fish such as rays, flatfish, and some invertebrates.
This fish species often lies motionless on the seabed, hidden in layers of mud and sediment, making it difficult to observe with the naked eye.
Angel sharks have flat bodies and colors that help them camouflage on the sea floor (Photo: AZAnimals).
Angel sharks are internal fertilizers, meaning the young hatch inside the uterus and are nourished by the yolk sac until birth. This is why the angel shark gave birth on the police boat.
Angel sharks are not aggressive towards humans, although they will bite hard if disturbed or if they feel threatened. Fishing for food has caused their numbers to decline dramatically. The IUCN has listed angel sharks as endangered.