'World first' action taken to save grey nurse shark

State of the Art technology has been developed by the NSW Government to help save the threatened grey nurse shark.

In a world first the Government has helped develop an artificial shark uterus to help save this endangered species.

This prototype will be a major weapon in the fight to save this endangered species.

This shark suffers from a condition known as intra-uterine cannibalism, which basically means that when the pups hatch out of their eggs, they eat each other while still inside the mother’s uterus. In the wild, female sharks produce a large number of eggs but this cannibalism means females only give birth to a maximum of two pups every two years (one from each uterus).

The NSW Government has provided more than $600,000 to fund the Department of Primary Industries’ Grey Nurse Shark Breeding Program, of which the artificial uterus is an integral component.

Initial tests of the technology are using non-threatened species of sharks like wobbegongs to prevent any further grey nurse shark mortality.

Once the technology has been thoroughly tested, grey nurse embryos will be harvested from the wild population.

This program will help NSW DPI scientists develop an intimate understanding of the reproductive cycle of female grey nurse sharks through ultrasound examinations and following the reproductive behaviour of these sharks in the wild.

More importantly, the end result of the program will help provide a massive boost to the wild population of this iconic species.