Charlotte from North Carolina has found herself the talk of the town after getting knocked up. Far from being some fairly typical small-town gossip, the news is shocking because Charlotte is a stingray who hasn’t lived with a male stingray in eight years. Baby Jesus 2.0, underwater edition incoming?

@cbsmornings Replying to @CBS Mornings How did Charlotte, a stingray in North Carolina, get pregnant — even though she has not encountered a male stingray in years? An expert who studied stingrays weighed in on what she thinks happened. #news #northcarolina #stingray #aquarium ? original sound - CBS Mornings

Charlotte lives at the Aquarium and Shark Lab on Main Street in Hendersonville, North Carolina, and it was recently announced that she was pregnant with up to four pups and is expected to give birth in the next two weeks.

People around the world are enthralled by the mystery Charlotte presents: How did she get pregnant when she hasn’t so much as seen a male of her species in eight years? Some suggested she may have mated with one the sharks that share her tank, but marine biologists have explained that this is impossible.

@marineb1ologist Lets talk about the stringray news !! #marinebiology #oceantok #shark ? original sound - Skyler

One such expert is the TikTok famous Arlo, who assists his owner in her work as a marine biologist in the Northeast — he calls himself an assistant bi-paw-logist. In a recent video, he explained that sharks and rays cannot produce viable offspring together. Instead, he put forward the theory of asexual reproduction, or parthenogenesis, which is when an egg develops into an embryo without fertilization.

Arlo explains that parthenogenesis has occurred in fish, amphibians, reptiles and bugs, and while it is rare, it isn’t unprecedented. This means that while Charlotte’s news is certainly exciting for Charlotte and her caregivers, it’s unfortunately not an example of immaculate conception.