Great Australian Bight Shelf is an important reproductive area for one shark species.

Fishing surveys, catch data, and tagging experiments have revealed the regular presence of pregnant Tope in the area since the 1940s (Olsen 1954, 1959; West & Stevens 2001; Walker 2005; Walker et al. 2008; Braccini et al. 2009; Rogers et al. 2017; McMillan et al. 2019). It has been hypothesised that pregnant females aggregate on the continental shelf, and that they remain there during the gestation period before moving to Bass Strait and Tasmania to give birth (Olsen 1954, 1959; Walker 2005). Between 1941–1956, large catches of pregnant females in the Great Australian Bight reportedly produced declines in the population. After those studies, the presence of pregnant females in the Great Australian Bight was reported from catch data and tagging experiments between the 1970s and 1990s (Walker et al. 1997; Walker 1999; Braccini et al. 2009).

Between 2007–2008, fishing surveys and monitoring of commercial fisheries conducted across southern Australia confirmed the presence of pregnant females in this area (Braccini et al. 2009). In October–November 2007, an aggregation of 291 females was caught in the area in a single set. Of these, 13% (n = 38) were pregnant with uterine eggs and 1% (n = 3) had near-term embryos. During this study, 583 individuals were recorded in the area, the largest number of individuals caught in southern Australia along with Bass Strait (n = 481). Catch rates for Tope >140 cm total length (TL) increased since the 1980s in the area compared to other sites. In Australia, size-at-maternity is reported at 142 cm TL (Walker 2005) indicating that mostly breeding females were caught in the area. Catch rate was higher for larger individuals in this area (mostly females; 2,957 individuals/1,000 km lift hours) compared to offshore areas of the Great Australian Bight and the rest of South Australian waters (27 individuals/1,000 km lift hours; Braccini et al. 2009). Given that parturition occurs every three years (Walker 2005), the low number of pregnant females with near-term embryos at this time is consistent with about a third of the pregnant females having departed for the nursery areas in Victoria, Bass Strait, and Tasmania by the end of November.

More recent tagging experiments showed the contemporary presence of pregnant females in the area (Rogers et al. 2017; McMillan et al. 2019). In January 2012, 32 Tope were tagged with satellite tags in the area (Rogers et al. 2017). Of these, ten were females measuring 147–170 cm TL caught at depths of 40–49 m. Another two females were dead when landed and dissection showed that they were pregnant (Knuckey et al. 2014). Sizes of pregnant females were similar to those of tagged individuals, suggesting that those were potentially pregnant. In addition, one neonate Tope with an open umbilical scar was caught. Five of the ten tagged females stayed in mid-shelf waters (50–100 m) inside the area while another four moved outside the area to the outer shelf in the Great Australian Bight (100–150 m depths). The largest tracking duration was 44 days and some of the sharks moved to eastern locations which coincides with the hypothesis that pregnant Tope move to parturition sites in Bass Strait and Tasmania (Rogers et al. 2017). In December 2015 and 2017, eight pregnant females were tagged with satellite transmitters in the area. Pregnancy was determined visually based on the triangular shape of late-term pregnant females and in-utero movements of embryos that could be felt externally. In addition, in 2017 pregnancy was validated with ultrasound.  All pregnant females stayed in the area up to one year after tagging (McMillan et al. 2018) which coincides with the 12-month gestation reported for the species (Walker 2005). Both studies suggest that some pregnant female may pup in the area while most of them move to the known pupping areas in the states of Victoria and Tasmania (McMillan et al. 2018, 2019).