How does a whale shark reproduce?
In 1953 a shark egg case containing a 14.5-inch [36.8 cm] whale shark embryo was found in a trawl net in the Gulf of Mexico. The find created a controversy that lasted 42 years; some scientists speculated that whale sharks were oviparous (egg laying sharks), while others believed they were live-bearers and the egg resulted from a premature birth. In 1995 the controversy ended when a team of scientists from National Taiwan Ocean University examined a 35-ft [10.6 m] pregnant whale shark that had been harpooned by a Taiwanese fisherman. Her twin uteruses contained 300 embryos ranging in size from 16 to 25 inches in length [40 to 63 cm] – proof that the embryos emerge from egg cases while still inside the mother’s body and that whale sharks are live-bearers. Of the 300 embryos, 15 were alive, fully-developed and ready to be born.
