SeaWorld's First Ever C-Section on Shark Yields Four Healthy Pups

SeaWorld announced Tuesday that, for the first time in the park's history, veterinarians performed a Cesarean section on a shark after a team noticed complications with the mother shark's pregnancy.

According to the park officials, the whitetip reef shark located at the company's Discovery Cove resort park gave birth to four healthy pups, each weighing less than 3 pounds and measuring roughly 2 feet in length.

At this point, officials said both the Discovery Cove animal team and vets are monitoring the mom and pups in order to ensure they are eating well and behaving normally.

"While these sharks are currently behind the scenes at Discovery Cove, guests can see other whitetip reef shark through glass while snorkeling in the Grand Reef or when participating in SeaVenture, an underwater walking tour where guests wearing dive helmets are able to explore life under the sea," multiple news outlets report SeaWorld as saying.

SeaWorld has recently come under fire in regards to the treatment of animals, starting with the wide release of the documentary "Blackfish."

The film, first shown at the Sundance Film Festival in January, examines the events leading up to the death of SeaWorld trainer Dawn Brancheau after the orca she was working with pulled her under the water, drowning her.

While declared an accident by SeaWorld, a number of marine animal experts have taken to the news since the film's release to raise their doubts as to whether captivity and intense training played a part in the orca's deadly behavior.

Among the most vocal is Russ Rector, a Fort Lauderdale dolphin trainer who, according to The Palm Beach Post, said he he wrote to SeaWorld prior to the event warning that they were working their animals too hard in an effort wow audiences.

Then, on July 20, visitors to the park located in Orlando grew angry when a pilot whale appeared to become stuck on land, struggling to re-enter the water. While the trainer assured the crowds that the animal was simply playing, a video taken of the event shows another whale attempting to aid the landlocked animal back into the water.

"The crowd was really upset and panicking," visitor Carlo De Leonibus said, according to the New York Daily News. "My daughter was screaming."

To see pictures of the C-section and pups, click here.