Two zebra shark pups born out of artificial insemination made their public debut at the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, California.

According to aquarium scientists, Long Beach's aquarium is the first to successfully reproduce zebra sharks via artificial insemination. Being able to artificially inseminate large sharks such as the zebra shark, often also called leopard sharks, could help scientists boost dwindling shark populations in the wild.

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The shark pups spent their early days in the aquarium's nursery. The speckled creatures are now 10 months old. They are nearly three feet long and could grow to be up to 11.5 feet in length.

The pups' mother, Fern, is 20 years old, weighs 140 pounds and stretches several feet in length. She has lived at the Aquarium of the Pacific's Shark Lagoon exhibit since 1997 and was inseminated in September 2013. Both babies hatched from their eggs in late March 2014.

Zebra sharks can live 25 to 30 years, but face many threats in the wild. The species is listed as vulnerable to extinction under the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List mainly because of human activities such as overfishing.

Even though the zebra shark pups are a first for the aquarium, the facility has had previous success with artificial insemination in other shark species. Bamboo shark babies born from artificial insemination hatched for the first time a few years ago, according to Lance Adams, the aquarium's veterinarian.

He said that only two other countries have successfully attempted the method on sharks, Japan and Australia.

Tagszebra shark, artificial insemination, marine animals, Ocean, Aquarium of the Pacific, zebra shark pups born, shark population