Oceanic Whitetip Shark Shark Bites


Oceanic Whitetip Shark

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Transcript


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My name's Steve Backshall.

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Self-confessed shark obsessed.

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This is Shark Bites.

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This time, we meet an adventurer of the abyss - the oceanic whitetip.

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True to their name, they roam the vast open ocean.

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Reaching over 3.5 metres,

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these solitary sharks cruise the deep desolate seas,

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searching for food, diving to depths of 1,000 metres

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and travelling up to 100km each day.

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So in this vast waterworld,

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how do these apex predators even find their food?

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Hawaii's Pacific Ocean coast is where these sharks

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come into their own.

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The oceanic whitetip is a deep sea shark.

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It's what's known as a pelagic fish -

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one that sticks to the open ocean.

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They're mostly solitary so incredibly difficult to find.

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But after three days of searching, we're in luck.

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We have a shark!

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Our first oceanic whitetip.

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Finding food is tough out here.

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These sharks need to make the most of every opportunity

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so immediately investigate us.

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She seems really interested in the cameras and she's just testing

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them out, seeing if they might be something that's good to eat.

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So if they want to test something, if they want to feel what it's like,

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they have to do it with their teeth and with their snout.

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They're largely solitary but will come together

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if there's a good opportunity to feed.

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Two! There's two of them!

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It's a feast or famine existence out here,

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but these ocean explorers have evolved perfectly to

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take on their epic expedition while looking for food.

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Earning its name from the distinctive white tips to its fins,

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the oceanic whitetip uses these tools to cross the great oceans.

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The pectoral fins are stiff and rigid, composed of keratin,

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cartilage and muscle.

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They function very much like the wings of a plane,

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preventing the shark from sinking.

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The dorsal fin stabilises the animal,

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preventing it from rolling over onto its back.

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It's almost like the keel on a boat.

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And the tail fin - that's very much the engine room of this predator,

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propelling it forward to catch fast food.

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Armed with foolproof fins,

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they even cruise the abyss with bigger predators.

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Pilot whales dive over a kilometre deep, catching squid,

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but, waiting in the wings, these savvy sharks can

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pick off their scraps, scavenging their supper.

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The oceanic whitetip - equipped with an inquisitive nature,

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cunning enough to scavenge its prey and armed with fantastic fins.

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This is truly the ultimate adventurer of the abyss.

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