Scientists captured rare footage of whale shark courtship behaviors off Western Australia's Ningaloo Reef, offering new insights into the elusive sex lives of these giants. The video shows a male whale shark following and lunging at a female shark, with brief contact and biting.
Even the biggest fish in the sea have their secrets—but now, scientists have captured rare footage of whale shark courtship behaviors, offering new insights into the elusive sex lives of these giants.
The animal’s mating behaviors remains fairly enigmatic—courtship has only been observed off the Saint Helena Islands and at Ningaloo Reef. Sharks off Saint Helena have been observed positioning themselves in a belly-to-belly formation, though the recent encounter didn’t get that far. In the May 2024 event, the team observed the male shark follow and lunge multiple times at the female.
But the recent pair wasn’t made in heaven. The female turned away from the male and “rapidly descended to depth.” The team stated that the behaviors they observed “did not appear to result in successful mating,” though it’s possible the two sharks coupled in deep water. The team concluded that the female they observed may not have been sexually mature based on its size.. According to AMNH, the species’ population may have declined by 50% in the last 75 years.
Whalesharks Courtship Marine Life Ningaloo Reef Elasmobranchs
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