Nurse Shark

The nurse shark Ginglymostoma cirratum lives along the south-east coast of the USA and is a slow-swimming bottom feeder recognised by the two barbels on its snout. Adults grow to about 3 m (10 ft) long. Groups of them are frequently seen resting on the sea floor. In June each year, one population in the western Atlantic heads for the Florida Keys to court and mate. For a period of about five weeks, the sharks thrash about in the shallows, as gangs of males chase after females, with each member of a group trying to seize the pectoral fin of a female in order to mate with her. A successful pairing lasts for about two minutes, after which the male heads for deep water to recuperate briefly before heading back to the shallows to try again.