New Caledonia - September 22, 2025 Marine scientists have captured a remarkable first: a wild mating sequence of endangered leopard sharks involving two males and one female. The 110-second encounter was documented by University of the Sunshine Coast researcher Dr. Hugo Lassauce. The sharks, each about 2.3 meters long, were filmed 15 kilometers off the New Caledonian coast. Dr. Lassauce, collaborating with Aquarium des Lagons in Noumea, observed the female being grasped by both males on the sea floor. “I told my colleague to take the boat away to avoid disturbance and I started waiting on the surface, looking down at the sharks almost motionless on the sea floor,” he said. After about an hour, the males swam in quick succession: the first for 63 seconds, the second for 47 seconds, then collapsed while the female swam away. This is believed to be the first scientific record of two males copulating sequentially with a female of this Indo-Pacific species. The males had previously been seen at the site as far back as 2018. Listed as endangered by the IUCN, leopard sharks—also called zebra sharks—have mostly been studied in captivity. The footage offers crucial insight into their natural mating behaviors and identifies this New Caledonia site as a critical mating habitat. Dr. Christine Dudgeon, a co-author of the study, emphasized that the discovery could inform conservation strategies, population studies, and artificial insemination efforts aimed at rewilding the species. “This evidence suggests the site in New Caledonia is a critical mating habitat, which can inform management and conservation strategies,” she said. Understanding sequential mating may also shed light on genetic diversity in the species’ offspring.