It's not even Father's Day yet, but one creature at the Georgia Aquarium is already bucking for Father of the Year honors.

Officials at the downtown Atlanta attraction say a weedy sea dragon is carrying the eggs for his mate. It's the first for the aquarium and a seldom-seen occurrence in captivity, aquarium officials said.

Marcus Yam/AJC (ENLARGE)

A weedy sea dragon is carrying eggs for his mate at the Georgia Aquarium, a rare occurrence in captivity.

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Only the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga and the Long Beach Aquarium of the Pacific have seen sea dragon births in captivity.

"I can't even put what I feel into words because it is so rare," said Kerry Gladish, a senior biologist at the Georgia Aquarium. She said officials noticed that the female sea dragon had transferred her eggs to her male mate on June 3. The two have been doing a mating dance of sorts with a swim from the bottom of the tank to the top, during which time the eggs were transferred.

Officials say there are about 70 eggs and that the male will carry them for about 4-6 weeks.

They expect the little ones to be here around mid-July.