World’s first hybrid shark found in Australia
January 4th, 2012 - 9:40 pm ICT by Aishwarya BhattSydney, Jan 4 (THAINDIAN NEWS) Scientists are anxiously monitoring the first hybrid shark found in the Australian waters. Marine scientists say the animal is a result of inbreeding between the Australian blacktip shark and the common blacktip shark.
The inbreeding presents a problem to the ocean lovers all over the world. The resultant creature will be stronger and will be able to move into warmer waters. Because of the stronger nature of the resultant creature, scientists fear that they will eventually replace the original species.
About 57 sharks were found along a 200 kilometer stretch of ocean which makes their population massive. The animals were found in the ocean between Queensland and New South Wales.
Dr Jess Morgan, of the University of Queensland explained that, “Sharks physically mate, which is usually a good way to make sure you don’t hybridize with the wrong species. We don’t know whether that’s the case here, but certainly we know that they are viable, they reproduce and that there are multiple generations of hybrids. Certainly it appears that they are fairly fit individuals”
The scientists admitted that with the finding of the study, they have realized that there is a lot to be learnt about sharks. Shark attacks are rare because they often avoid the shallow waters. Understanding the creatures will help to prevent encounter between the animals and humans.
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Tags: australia sydney, australian waters, blacktip shark, creatures, encounter, generations, hybrids, inbreeding, jess, kilometer stretch, marine scientists, new south wales, ocean lovers, original species, population, shallow waters, shark attacks, sharks, university of queensland, warmer waters