A small group of leopard sharks has been seen – and caught on film – engaging in a three-way bout of reproductive hanky-panky in the wild.

It's the first time scientists have documented this mating behavior in the animals, as first one male and then a second mated with a female leopard shark ( Stegostoma tigrinum ) in quick succession. The stunning observation, recorded from beginning to end, could shed light on the reproductive strategies of this endangered species.

"It's rare to witness sharks mating in the wild, but to see it with an endangered species – and film the event – was so exciting that we just started cheering," says marine biologist and ecologist Hugo Lassauce of the University of the Sunshine Coast in Australia.

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