Life after death: how we hatched live shark pups from dead parents

Six years ago, researchers asked a radical question: could eggcases taken from trawler-caught sharks still hatch live, healthy young?Back in December 2012, I met up with Greg Nowell, co-founder of Sharklab-Malta, a non-profit NGO founded in 2008. Sharklab collaborates with shark researchers on a global and local scale, with an overall mission to highlight the current plight of sharks in our oceans whilst increasing awareness and education of the public.Greg was interested in my experience working with neonate small spotted catsharks (Scyliorhinus canicula) and the greater spotted catshark (Scyliorhinus stellaris); in the UK these are usually known as the lesser spotted dogfish and bull huss, respectively. At Macduff Marine Aquarium I'd worked with both species, as well as on the maintenance of viable eggcases, which resulted in successful hatching and rearing of shark pups. Continue reading...