Parturition in progress

British biologist Simon Oliver of the University of Chester and his team were doing a survey at a seamount in the Philippines, where vulnerable thresher sharks often congregate to have smaller fish clean them of parasites. There was an added bonus in an image of one of the sharks (ABOVE) captured by photographer Attila Kaszo. Oliver remembers, "He took the picture of the shark, and when he processed the image and showed it to me, I freaked out." it was the first photographic record of a pelagic shark giving birth. While the scientists were excited, the shark was apparently unconcerned. The thresher was not thrashing and there were no signs of a midwife!

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