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A fisherman who hooked a pregnant dead shark performed an impromptu caesarean section and released nearly 100 pups into the wild.

Mathew Orlov, 56, caught the 8ft 8ins sevengill shark off the coast of Barwon Heads in Victoria, Australia, earlier this week.

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He said the shark had been fatally attacked by another predator after he hooked it and was dead by the time he reeled it in.

But he saw the shark’s stomach was moving so cut it open to release the shark pups.


It took nine minutes to deliver all 98 pups, however it is feared that it is unlikely they will have survived with out their mother.

In total 98 shark pups were released into the wild, but it is feared that they won’t survive (Picture: Caters)

Mathew, who cooked and ate the dead shark, said: ‘As soon as she was on the boat we saw the seven bite marks from another shark.



‘I could feel through the line when she was being attacked. As soon as we pulled it up I knew was mauled by another shark.

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‘When I saw the belly moving, instinct kicked in. I’ve never done anything like this before, but I’ve fishing long enough to know we needed to get the pups out as quickly as possible.

‘It was a very overwhelming feeling when they started popping out, I got this adrenaline rush. I was just dumbfounded there was so many, we counted 98.’

Mathew said he had never performed a shark c-section before but knew what to do from hearing the tales of fellow fisherman.

Mathew Orlov performed a C-section on the shark which he believes was killed by another predator before he reeled it in (Picture: Caters)

Mathew, who initially thought he had rescued 76 pups in total before discovering more, said: ‘As a fisherman, I catch fish to eat. The meat from this shark fed lots of my family members.

‘I love the ocean and respect they’re an important part of the ecosystem. I think the pups’ chance of survival are high – they swam off quite healthily.

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‘Some people online have said I should have just thrown it back, but they don’t understand how sharks work.’

Sevengill sharks generally give birth to 70 to 90 live pups after a pregnancy lasting approximately 12 months.

The babies’ chances of survival rests largely on how close their mother was to full term.

Mathew took the body of the mother shark back to shore where he cooked and ate it (Picture: Caters)

But shark expert Jane Williamson, associate professor at Macquarie University in Sydney, cast doubt over whether the premature pups would have survived on their own.

Jane said: ‘It is difficult to see what developmental stage the pups are at – I can’t tell if they are developed enough to cope alone.

‘But I can see the pups don’t have a yolk sac, which is a good sign and indicates that they have a chance of survival.’

Barbara Wueringer, director at Sharks And Rays Australia, added: ‘Sharks and rays are known to sometimes abort upon capture, with the abortion likely induced by the stress of capture.

‘So it is likely that this shark, if she had not been bitten by other sharks while hooked, might have aborted her embryos anyway.’