How the world's largest sharks courtship: scientists managed to shoot cute footage

For the first time, researchers have been able to watch whale sharks courting up close. Lovely footage of the mating games of the world's largest fish was captured off the coast of Western Australia.

Even though tiger sharks are safe to observe, as they feed on plankton and other small organisms, scientists know almost nothing about their reproductive behavior. After all, these giants keep their sex life away from prying eyes, writes IflScience.

The few records of mating contact between tiger sharks are based on observations in aquariums or chance encounters in the wild. According to scientists, whale shark reproduction is such a mystery that only one pregnant female has been documented in 1994.

"At Ningaloo Reef and other aggregation sites around the world, male whale sharks outnumber females by a ratio of 3 to 1," said study co-author Christine Barry, PhD, of Murdoch University's Harry Butler Institute and the Australian Institute of Marine Science.

"This may explain why female whale sharks may avoid congregation areas. Especially for young representatives of this species, the energy costs of unwanted attention from males are not conducive to reproduction," the scientist added.

At Ningaloo Reef, the researchers conducted several field expeditions that included identifying whale sharks by airplane as well as guiding a boat to the observation site. The team then dove into the water to make scientific observations and determine the sex of the whale sharks in the area.

During one of these dives, the researchers observed a 7-meter female. Until now, scientists believed that "girls" of the largest shark species in the world, who are less than 10 meters long, are not considered sexually mature. However, at some point, a male whale shark swam up to the female. He began to lunge at the tail fin of the "lady" and bite her tail. After a short courtship, the female dived deeper into the water, followed by the male.

The team believes that, based on their own research, observations of aquarium sharks, and stories from fishermen sailing around St. Helena Island, this behavior of the largest fish is courtship before mating.

"It is interesting that male zebra sharks (Stegostoma fasciatum), the closest living relative of the whale shark, also bite the tails of females before breeding," the scientists say.

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