A young female blacktip reef shark has arrived from Holland to be lady friend to two males at Great Yarmouth Sea Life Centre.

Born in May 2014 at Emmen Zoo, she completes a breeding group which Sea Life hope will produce second generation captive bred blacktips for the first time ever, in two or three years’ time. Yarmouth Sea Life’s huge ocean tank was recently refurbished specifically to host the pioneering breeding project.

Blacktips are not endangered, but some localised populations have been decimated by shark-finners and young ones from the Sea Life project may one day be of assistance if a reintroduction programme is launched.

The new girl moved from Holland to Weymouth Sea Life Park in September last year, where she has been carefully nurtured until big enough to join the two males - themselves captive born at two different locations in Germany.

She went straight into the ocean display on arrival and has settled in well.

“We stayed all night to keep an eye on her and her new boyfriends, and so far they all seem to be playing it cool,” said shark expert Darren Gook.

“The boys were certainly intrigued by the new arrival, but there was no aggression and it looks like they’re going to get along fine.”

Blacktips grow to about five feet long and are not sexually mature until about five years of age, so the Sea Life team have a couple of years to wait before they can expect the splash of tiny fins.

“A second generation birth would confirm captive breeding as a viable option to help with reintroduction,” said Darren.