--- description: Marine biologists say they've never seen anything like it: A snapshot of an elusive species of shark giving birth in the open ocean. title: Rare Photo of a Shark Birth Hailed by Marine Biologists image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Science](/section/science/) ## Science Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [animals](/tag/animals/) ## animals Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Marine Biologists Capture Rare Photo of a Shark Birth  by [Dan Kedmey](/author/dan-kedmey/)  ## Dan Kedmey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 12, 2015 8:08 PM CUT  by [Dan Kedmey](/author/dan-kedmey/)  ## Dan Kedmey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 12, 2015 8:08 PM CUT Marine biologists say they’ve never seen anything like it: Possibly the first known snapshot of an elusive species of shark giving birth in the open ocean. > [](https://twitter.com/redditpicsbot/status/554695402969374722) The image, which was [published](http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00338-014-1249-8/fulltext.html "undefined") in the December issue of the journal _Coral Reefs,_ was captured off of the Philippines coastline in 2013\. Scientists there, during a routine reef survey, noticed a “visibly” agitated thresher shark swimming nearby, trailed by several cleaner fish pecking at its pelvic region. One marine photographer snapped a photo, which later revealed the cause of the shark’s agitation: The head of a newborn pup jutting out head-first from the shark’s body. “I freaked out,” study author Simon Arthur [told](http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-30747971 "undefined") BBC News, adding that it was the first image of a shark birth he had encountered in his career. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3664148/shark-birth-photo/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3664148/shark-birth-photo/"},"headline":"Marine Biologists Capture Rare Photo of a Shark Birth","datePublished":"2015-01-12T20:08:36.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T03:30:04.752Z","description":"Scientists noticed a visibly \"agitated\" shark off of the Philippines coastline","url":"https://time.com/3664148/shark-birth-photo/","keywords":["animals","Sharks","birth","nature"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Dan Kedmey","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/dan-kedmey/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/animals/","name":"animals"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3664148/shark-birth-photo/","name":"Marine Biologists Capture Rare Photo of a Shark Birth"}}]}] ```