The first thing any of us expect to do with a leisurely afternoon is deliver 98 shark pups, because we're all ready for that. Aren't we?
Well, it looks like Mathew Orlov was as he performed an emergency c-section on a shark he had fished out of the ocean after it was fatally attacked by another predator.
The quick-thinking fisherman knew something was wrong when he reeled in the 2.7 metre (8ft 8in) sevengill shark in waters off the coast of Barwon Heads, Victoria in Australia, on Monday.
Advert
The experienced angler claims the shark was fatally attacked by another predator after he hooked it and it was already dead by the time he reeled it in.
But Mathew, from Geelong, Victoria, said he saw the shark's stomach was moving once he pulled it onto the boat so he cut it open in a desperate bid to save the babies.
Footage shows the 46-year-old removing each young shark from inside the mother and into the wild during the operation which lasted nine minutes.
Now experts have now said the babies sadly may not have survived.
Advert
Mathew said: "As soon as she was on the boat we saw the seven bite marks from another shark.
"I could feel threw the line when she was being attacked. As soon as we pulled it up I knew was mauled by another shark.
"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."
Advert
Mathew said he had never performed a shark c-section before but knew what to do from hearing the tales of fellow fisherman.
He has since eaten the shark and did not feel bad as the animal's body didn't go to waste.
Mathew, who initially thought he had rescued 76 pups in total before discovering 12 more, said: "As a fisherman, I catch fish to eat. The meat from this shark fed lots of my family members.
Advert
"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.
"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.
Advert
The babies' chances of survival rests largely on how close their mother was to full term.
But shark expert, Jane Williamson, associate professor at Macquarie University in Sydney, doubted 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."
Well we're going to stay optimistic for all 98 of the little guys.
Featured Image Credit: Caters News Agency