Two baby Zebra sharks on display at Aquarium of Pacific

Two zebra sharks, which the Aquarium of the Pacific describes as the first born as a result of artificial insemination, will go on public display at the facility Tuesday.

Being able to artificially inseminate large sharks such as the zebra shark could help scientists boost dwindling shark populations in the wild, according to experts at the aquarium.

The pups’ mother, Fern, is 20 years old, weighs 140 pounds and stretches 7 feet in length. She has lived at the Aquarium of the Pacific’s Shark Lagoon exhibit since 1997 and was inseminated in September 2013. Both babies hatched from their eggs in late March 2014.

After spending time in the aquarium’s behind-the-scenes nursery, Fern’s babies are each nearly 3 feet long and could grow to be up to 11.5 feet in length. If they had been born in the wild, they would be found in the Indo-West Pacific, where they would live in brackish water and live as nocturnal foragers of snails, bivalves, crabs, shrimp and small fish.

Zebra sharks can live 25 to 30 years, but face many threats in the wild. The species is listed as vulnerable to extinction under the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List mainly because of human activities. Overfishing poses a big threat, as these sharks are sold for human consumption or fish meal, according to a release from the Aquarium of the Pacific. Livers are processed for vitamins, and there is a large market for their fins.

Agencies/Canadajournal