{"id":155897,"date":"2025-09-23T17:25:07","date_gmt":"2025-09-23T17:25:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/155897\/"},"modified":"2025-09-23T17:25:07","modified_gmt":"2025-09-23T17:25:07","slug":"worlds-first-shark-threesome-caught-on-camera-by-excited-scientists-news-tech","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/155897\/","title":{"rendered":"‘World’s first’ shark threesome caught on camera by excited scientists | News Tech"},"content":{"rendered":"

To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tbrowser that
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tsupports HTML5
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tvideo<\/a><\/p>\n

Not sure how David Attenborough<\/a> would explain this one: a trio of sharks<\/a> have been filmed having a threesome for the first time.<\/p>\n

The large leopard sharks were filmed getting freaky in the Pacific between New Zealand and Australia by a marine biologist.<\/p>\n

After spotting them on the bottom, he waited on the surface until they decided the time had come to get to know one another better. <\/p>\n

Describing the mesmerising moment, Dr Hugo Lassauce said: \u2018I waited an hour, freezing in the water, but finally they started swimming up. <\/p>\n

\u2018It was over quickly for both males, one after the other. The first took 63 seconds, the other 47.\u2019 <\/p>\n

\t\t\"leopard
\n\t\tJust when you thought it was safe to go back in the water (Picture: Dr Hugo Lassauce)<\/p>\n

Despite being brief, the males were tired after the encounter, as they\u00a0\u2018lost all their energy and lay immobile on the bottom while the female swam away actively\u2019. <\/p>\n

The three sharks, seen in French territory New Caledonia, were all about 2.3 metres long, so they were no mere minnows.<\/p>\n

Their species is listed as endangered, and there is little information on their natural mating behaviour in the wild. <\/p>\n

For this reason, and for it being a unique behavioural observation, scientists were excited by the discovery (not for other reasons: get your mind from the gutter).<\/p>\n

They say it may help them learn how to better inseminate sharks artificially and \u2018rewild\u2019 the species in countries including Australia.<\/p>\n

\t\t\"leopard
\n\t\tThe wonder of nature (Picture: Dr Hugo Lassauce)<\/p>\n

Researchers from the University of the Sunshine Coast\u00a0in Australia said in an article in the\u00a0Journal of Ethology<\/a> that leopard sharks in captivity have been observed pentetrating females for up to five minutes, so this was significantly speedier.<\/p>\n

They added that the \u2018lack of interest from the male toward the female after copulation coupled with the female swimming to separate areas is common in many shark species\u2019. <\/p>\n

Senior Research Fellow Dr Christine Dudgeon, a co-author of the paper with Dr Lassauce, said: \u2018It\u2019s surprising and fascinating that two males were involved sequentially on this occasion.<\/p>\n

\u2018From a genetic diversity perspective, we want to find out how many fathers contribute to the batches of eggs laid each year by females.\u2019<\/p>\n

For more of a deep dive into the fascinating world of biology, you might want to read how gay sex between animals \u2018evolved for an important reason\u2019, <\/a>that most male macque monkeys are bisexual<\/a>, or perhaps about about the tarantulas recently found with \u2018massive penises\u2019<\/a> in the Horn of Africa. <\/p>\n

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk<\/a>.<\/p>\n

For more stories like this, check our news page<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Arrow
\nMORE: Beauty fans say this \u00a34 TikTok-viral lip balm is just as good as Summer Fridays<\/a><\/p>\n

Arrow
\nMORE: Ed Davey says Farage becoming PM would mean mass shooting drills in our schools<\/a><\/p>\n

Arrow
\nMORE: Council worker checking on camera pulled from ladder by man thinking he was removing Union Jack<\/a><\/p>\n


\n\t\t\tComment now<\/p>\n

\t\t\tComments
\n\t\t<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\tPuzzles Newsletter<\/p>\n

Get your favourite puzzles sent directly to you every day!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":155898,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[2851,2578,50,90,227,56,54,55,4407],"class_list":{"0":"post-155897","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-animals","9":"tag-metro-newspaper","10":"tag-news","11":"tag-science","12":"tag-tech","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom","15":"tag-unitedkingdom","16":"tag-wildlife"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155897","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=155897"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/155897\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/155898"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=155897"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=155897"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=155897"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}