Despite sharks being one of the most common types of fish in our oceans, it turns out that not everyone is aware of how these sea creatures start out - and what they look like as eggs. This discovery comes after a man left viewers dumbfounded with a video online that documents him coming across a shark egg.
After the peculiar-looking item was washed up on a beach, a self-proclaimed "mad fisherman" took it upon himself to document the process as he saved the egg from drying out in the sunlight. Since posting the video to popular video-streaming service TikTok, it has raked in mass attention, having surpassed a whopping 24 million views to date.
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He captioned the post: "Found this little fella in his egg on the beach!
"Brought it home to put in in a tank with the hopes of it hatching and to release it again. He would’ve dried out and died on the beach!"
"Found a shark egg with a live baby shark inside," he added within the video.
Surprisingly, only 25 per cent of sharks lay eggs, and the video documents part of this process as the egg is encased in a "leathery pouch" - otherwise known as a "mermaid's purse".
This is designed to protect the embryo throughout its development.
Viewers were undoubtedly in shock over the discovery and on top of pleading for an update, several TikTokers admitted they didn't know what a shark egg looked like.
"I thought this was one of those key rings that get sold with live sea animals in them," one person joked.
Another added: "I thought it was one of those big jelly cola bottles."
"I genuinely thought this was an ad for jewellery pendants or something like that at first," a third admitted.
"Okay, am I the only one that had NO IDEA a shark egg looks like this? I literally just googled it. I'm 30 f***ing years old and never knew this," a fourth exclaimed.
After raking in over two million likes in the original clip alone, the fisherman shared an update of the little guy in a much-anticipated clip.
"Our little friend is still alive and well! Really hope this little sharks survives and we can see it hatch to safely return it to the ocean," he assured his viewers.
Sharing viewers a glimpse of his set up, the man placed the egg in a holding tank, which is acting as a temporary "ecosystem".
He said: "A lot of people asked me why I didn't just put it back into the ocean - if I put it back it would have just washed up and died in any case.
"It's only been a few days but he's growing really strong and really good, so hopefully it will survive and I can show the process to you guys," he added.
If you want to keep up with the shark egg journey, then you can do so on TikTok @zoo_look_fishing.
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