Saving shark babies

Abstract

'II pick you up at 2.45: Greg says casually. 'AM?' 'Yes: he smiles. There is a one hour gap, between three and four in the morning, before the Pixkerija (fish market) in Marsa opens to the public. This is the time when fishermen arrive with their catch, but their clients, chefs and managers of Maltese restaurants, have yet to appear. It is also when Greg Nowell, founder of the Sharklab Malta elasmobranch conservation group, and a small crowd of volunteers inspect the shelves and boxes of fresh catch. They're looking for two local catshark species-nurse hounds and lesser spotted catsharks-so they can cut them open and save the viable eggs still inside the females in the hopes of releasing them back into the wild.