The initiative is believed to be the world’s first effort to rewild sharks bred in captivity. Early tracking shows the released sharks are foraging successfully and remaining within the marine sanctuary, offering evidence that active rewilding could help depleted shark populations recover.

Credits: Unsplash; Author: Kele Project;

The programme brings together 60 aquariums across 15 countries, which send viable zebra shark eggs to specialist nurseries. Pups are raised by trained animal husbandry specialists before being released at around one metre long into a 46,000-square-kilometre sanctuary.

The sharks take between five and 12 years to reach sexual maturity, with researchers hoping to see evidence of wild reproduction from 2028.