Marine experts on standby for potential shark birth at the Blue Planet Aquarium at Cheshire Oaks

Feb 11 2010 by Gary Porter, Chester Chronicle

MARINE experts at the Blue Planet Aquarium are on alert this Valentine’s weekend for the potential birth of more than 20 tropical sharks.

A giant three-metre-long nurse shark, named Sundance, is nearing the end of her six-month pregnancy in the aquarium’s giant 3.8 million-litre Caribbean Reef display.

The zoological team has been monitoring Sundance closely since she was observed mating last year.

Blue Planet’s exhibits manager Tom Cornwell said: “Although we can’t be 100% certain that she is pregnant the fact that she has definitely changed shape over recent months leads us to believe she may well be.

“Nurse sharks are ovoviviparous – which means the eggs develop and hatch within the female where the babies continue to grow before actually being born.

“They can give birth to up to 28 babies although numbers are usually less, the youngsters are born fully developed and around 30cms in length.”

The team plan to carefully transfer the babies out of the main display and into a special nursery area in their quarantine facility where they will be able to develop safely.

Reaching up to three metres in length and weighing more than 100kgs, nurse sharks are actually gentle giants who spend most of the day lying motionless on the seabed.

Despite their apparently harmless appearance, they do have a secret weapon in the shape of suction.

It has been estimated that in order to get to their favourite prey, which includes shellfish and sea urchins, the sharks exert the sucking power of up to 12 vacuum cleaners.

In some parts of the world nurse sharks are actually known as the ‘sucker shark’ due to the loud noises they make while hunting out their food.