Three leopard sharks have been captured on camera mating in a “threesome” for the first time.
Dr Hugo Lassauce, a researcher at the University of the Sunshine Coast, recorded the interaction whilst snorkeling off the coast of Nouméa, New Caledonia.
He said he spotted the female with two males grasping her fins and decided to record the endangered animals as he knew “something was going to happen”.
The main event, in which each male took a turn to mate with the female, was over in just 110 seconds.
“It’s rare to witness sharks mating in the wild, but to see it with an endangered species – and film the event – was so exciting,” Lassauce said whilst explaining the encounter in Journal of Ethology.
