Shark Eggs Rescued From Fish Market Grow Into Pups

Three baby sharks swimming off the coast of Malta got there in incredible fashion. Members of the conservation group Sharklab Malta came across dead nursehound sharks being sold at a local fish market, and got permission from vendors to remove the eggs, reports Malta Today. They brought the eggs to the Malta National Aquarium, where three successfully hatched. After six months, the pups were released into the sea last weekend.

Nursehounds pose no threat to humans, given that they feed on small sea creatures and plankton. The reverse doesn't hold true, however, and the sharks are sold at markets throughout Europe. That has resulted in stocks declining in the Mediterranean and the shark's classification as "near threatened," reports GrindTV. It notes, via the aquarium's Facebook page, that four more nursehound pups hatched last week. (Click to read about a less happy shark story, at least from the sharks' perspective.)