Man rescues live baby shark egg he found on the beach

It’s not every day you encounter a shark egg with a live baby shark still growing inside. So when de Beer found one on a beach by his home in South Africa, he decided to care for it in the hope of one day releasing it back into the ocean, provided it survives the rest of its incubation period. 

In a series of TikTok videos, de Beer shares updates on the shark egg’s progress, providing viewers with an illuminating science lesson.

The first clip opens with a close-up of de Beer holding a light brown, oblong-shaped pod with coils on each end. 

Many would not have known that the pod in de Beer’s hand was a shark egg if it weren’t for the video’s on-screen text. He holds the egg up toward the sun so viewers can catch a glimpse of the developing shark squirming inside. 

Viewers were surprised by what shark eggs look like

Viewers were stunned to learn that sharks can lay eggs, let alone ones that look like part of a keychain.

“Whoa! This is a whole science lesson for me. I had no idea,” one user commented. 

“I was over here trying to figure out how you put it in that [k]eychain,” mentioned one TikToker, who noted the unusual shape.

“That is the most altitude that shark will experience for its whole life,” one viewer joked.

To address TikTokers’ confusion surrounding shark eggs, de Beer shared a follow-up video. In it, he notes that some shark species lay eggs with tendrils that attach to rocks or kelp before hatching. 

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Showing viewers the egg’s anatomy, de Beer explains that the baby shark is connected to an umbilical sac. That serves as its food source. The sac decreases as the shark gets bigger and eventually occupies the entire egg before it hatches.

While de Beer plans to release the shark back into the ocean once it’s born, for now he’s providing a safe home for it to incubate. 

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