Barry White woos the lady sharks

The sharks were played Barry White's hits

A shark is thought to have fallen pregnant - after marine experts played Barry White records into her tank.

Staff at the Great Yarmouth Sea Life Centre thought it was just a bit of fun when they had Barry White serenade their tropical sharks.

Now, 12 months on, it seems the romantic music did the trick.

The Centre's big female Nurse Shark Aphrodite has a tell-tale bulge and vets plan to confirm their suspicions on Wednesday by giving her an ultra-sound scan.

'Sexy hits'

Chris Brown, displays supervisor, said: "We played our sharks some of Barry's sexy hits to see if it would stir them to passion - but we never seriously expected it to work."

Now staff have the somewhat tricky task of carrying out the scan.

Mr Brown said: "It will be a difficult operation, as she will have to be brought to the surface in a sling to allow the vet to reach her with the scanning device, but were confident it can be done."

Aphrodite, who moved to Great Yarmouth Sea Life Centre from the sister attraction in Blackpool four years ago, is thought to be at least 13 years old, and is one of the biggest sharks in Britain.

Mr Brown added: "We'll never know, of course, whether Barry White has anything to do with her condition or not.

"If Aphrodite is expecting, however, that would be a very rare event in captivity - and it would certainly be a remarkable coincidence."

Researchers at the Rowland Institute in Massachusetts showed that fish process music in a similar way to humans and can even appreciate different tunes and melodies.