Episode 3 Shark

Sharks are the ocean's top predators.

They have a reputation as being nothing more than ruthless,

mindless hunters.

-But that is about to change.

-You guys ready to go? Awesome.

Scientists are getting closer to sharks than ever before.

They're discovering that sharks are intelligent and sociable.

These are really, really charismatic animals if you give them a chance.

They're using extraordinary experiments to show their hidden

abilities to find food.

They just appear like ghosts behind the boat.

Inventing cameras to find sharks that glow in the dark...

It is pretty sci-fi.

..even unlocking the secrets of their skin,

to help us go faster and help cure deadly diseases.

I really think we're at a turning point.

This is a new dawn of discovery for sharks.

Sharks have some of the most powerful sensors in nature.

By studying how they work, scientists are making

important discoveries about how sharks survive.

They've learnt that sharks are so sensitive to electric fields,

they can detect the beating heart of their prey...

..that by picking up on pressure changes,

they can feel movement, rather than see it...

..and that sharks have highly sensitive ears

so they can hear dinner long before they smell it.

The ocean is a surprisingly noisy place.

Sharks can hear sounds from several miles away.

From a few fish...

..to a huge feeding frenzy.

Amidst the din,

they must focus only on the sounds that will lead to food.

Here in the Bahamas,

scientists are studying a shark that is the master at using its hearing.

Oceanic Whitetips live out in the open ocean.

It's one of the toughest places to be a shark.

In this big blue desert, food is patchy and hard to find.

Dr Demian Chapman thinks these sharks use their hearing

and their wits to survive.

The oceanic white tip, the key thing is finding food.

You're a constant clock.

You need food, your metabolic needs, need to be met

and there's not much food out there, so anything that gives them

the edge in finding a big meal is really important to them.

With Oceanic Whitetips, that edge is their hearing.

And the first people to witness their extraordinary skills

were not scientists, but sports fishermen.

The moment they got a bite,

Oceanic Whitetips would appear at their boat.

The Whitetips can hear the engines from miles away,

but somehow know only to arrive just when a fish has been caught.

Demian thinks it's all down to the way they use their hearing.

The sport fishing boat is just cruising like this.

You hear the motor going.

The sharks can hear that from a couple of miles.

They key in on this sound, because whenever a guy catches a fish,

that's the first the captain does, is drop out of gear

so that they can start fighting the fish.

So the sharks learn that when it goes from this...

..down, that there's something up and they'll come up and investigate.

They just appear like ghosts behind the boat.

The fishermen, then, has a limited time to get

the fish in before the sharks will get it.

Now, for the first time, the theory is being tested with an experiment.

This speaker plays a recording of a fishing boat in motion.

The sharks listen, but keep their distance.

Now it plays the sound of a motor dropping out of gear.

The dinner bell is ringing

The sharks instantly rush towards the speaker.

As Demian suspected, Oceanic Whitetips not only

have great hearing, they're smart about how they use it.

People think of sharks as very stupid and have narrow

repertoire of behaviour, but that is really not true.

They can adapt to new situations, they can learn,

they can surprise you.

Oceanic Whitetips are clever enough to use fishing to provide

a free meal.

You can see they'll take the fish right from the boat.

Whoa! Sorry, I just don't want it to swim on the platform plate with me.

Sharks have had to be smart to survive.

And the latest research is revealing that their brainpower could

help them do much more than just hunt.

This is a Giant Manta Ray.

The nomad of the shark family.

It has the biggest brain of any fish...

..yet manta rays appear to lead simple lives, following

and feeding on plankton.

So, why they need such big brains has baffled scientists for years.

Off the coast of a volcanic island,

Dr Andrea Marshall now thinks she has an answer.

One of the things that really stands out with manta rays

is their brain size.

They have the largest brain of any fish and for a long time,

people weren't really sure why.

It's not like they have to outwit plankton, you know, it is

not something that requires a lot of intelligence to eat and we found,

over time, that it really has probably nothing to do

with predation at all.

Like many species of ray, manta's spend most of their time

travelling solo.

But, for a few days every year,

key events like breeding can bring them together in their thousands.

Andrea thinks it is these social gatherings that could

explain their big brains.

Because when it comes to Giant Manta Rays,

far from following the crowd, they are all very much individuals.

To show why, she needs to jump in.

-You guys ready to go?

-Always.

-Awesome.

Manta rays are incredibly inquisitive.

They really engage you underwater.

Sometimes, they can be quite a long distance away

but they almost always seem to come in, approach and inspect you.

This is a completely wild animal and in a location this remote,

it could well be the first time it's seen a human.

-Yet it swims straight over for a closer look.

-Wow!

She's a very friendly manta.

We start to see that certain animals display the same

type of behaviours every time you encounter it.

You may encounter an individual that is always shy or hesitant to

approach you, or, you know, seems very wary.

Oh!

Other animals are very bold, almost cheeky, if you will,

and that is consistent throughout every single encounter.

So could a manta ray really have an individual character?

To find out, Andrea has created a profile for every single animal

she meets.

The first step is getting a good photograph.

This looks like a new manta that I haven't seen yet.

I'm going to take an ID shot of these beautiful spots.

There we go.

Very, very cool, she's very cooperative.

Every single manta ray has a unique spot pattern on its stomach, that

it has before it's born.

It doesn't change over the course of its lifetime,

so we can actually use it as a fingerprint to ID that animal.

Once she has the profile pictures,

she adds details of how the manta ray behaved.

It operates almost like Facebook, in that you're

putting in information from every single encounter, in a record,

so when you look back at it, you can see all

kinds of information about this animal, what its behaviour is like.

Does it have a specific character?

You start to realise, over time,

that they actually do have personalities.

It's very friendly. It's coming to say hello. Hi.

Andrea believes that manta ray gatherings could be far more

complex than previously realised.

It takes brains to have good social skills.

But there is something else that makes Andrea think

MANTA rays could be an Einstein of the ocean.

Just lets me approach.

I'll tickle her a little, just to let her know that I'm here. Hi.

They look at you from different angles.

They want to understand what you are and then, ultimately, they want to

figure out how they can interact with you and how they can play with you.

Playing with another member of a different species is a strong

sign of intelligence.

It's something that has never before been seen in a fish.

They love the bubbles.

She just loves the spa bath that I'm giving her, underneath her belly.

It's like tactile stimulation for her.

You see how she wants more, you know.

As soon as I leave her, she looks and then turns back to us.

This is an animal with brains and personality.

And scientists are now finding signs of personality

and complex social lives in many other species.

Lemon sharks make childhood friends.

By sticking together, they learn how to avoid danger.

When Great White's meet, they keep the peace using body language.

Swimming slow and holding their fins at this angle, means all's well.

The key to understanding sharks is spending time getting to know them.

And that is no easy matter.

One species in particular, shows just what scientists are up against.

Whale sharks are the biggest fish in the sea.

But in open water, even a 40 ft giant can be hard to find.

In some parts of the world, Whale sharks gather in huge numbers.

How they get there and where they go next, is a mystery.

Here in the Philippines, scientist, Alessandro Ponzo,

is out every day trying to follow these Whale sharks.

We don't know much yet about the Whale shark movement.

That's why we're here, right now.

They're trying to connect their dots to unravel the mysteries

around the life of the Whale shark.

While some of these animals are regular visitors,

others disappear for months or even years.

The only way to work out who's who, is to look at their DNA.

And that means taking a tissue sample.

They may be harmless filter feeders,

but catching up with a 20-tonne animal is no mean feat.

Using only a snorkel,

Alessandro must dive down to take a small sample from the skin.

To an animal of this size, it's a pinprick.

His skin was very, very tough. I shot it twice with maximum power.

It just cut the first two or three centimetres of the skin,

but for genetic, it is more than enough.

Analysis of the DNA reveals that this individual

is new to the Philippines.

Like many others, it's appeared from out of the blue.

It's led scientists to suspect that Whale sharks are making

huge migrations that can take several years to complete.

And there is other evidence to back up this theory.

A study done with satellite tagging, has shown that one animal from here,

it travelled all the way to Vietnam.

So, that is more than 3,500 km migration.

So, we know that this animal moved very far.

But to uncover the full picture of the whale shark's journey,

Alessandro can't just rely on technology.

Sometimes, going back to basics is just as important.

I've got all the tools I need. A plastic spoon and a net.

Sharks pick up parasites on their travels.

Alessandro's task is to try and collect them,

using just his small plastic spoon.

It's a delicate procedure.

It was pretty hard. It's super-exciting.

This is coming from a new shark.

New shark usually swim pretty deep,

so I have to go down five to six metres to be able to take it

from the upper lips of the animal.

Every area has its own distinct set of local parasites.

Like stamps in a passport,

they can tell Alessandro where the shark has been.

It's just one of the many techniques scientists are using to

unravel the mysteries of shark migration.

Already, they are making big breakthroughs.

They've discovered that Great Whites

can swim from Africa to Australia, then back again,

all in just nine months.

Even after ten years out at sea, pregnant Lemon sharks find their

way back to the exact same mangrove where they were born, to give birth.

Tiger sharks can also make huge international journeys, timing their

migrations to arrive at the same beach, at the same time, every year.

The very moment young albatross learning to fly

are at their most vulnerable.

Scientists are closer than ever to revealing the remarkable

abilities of sharks.

And their discoveries could have surprising benefits for us.

Many sharks are built for speed...

..with sleek curves and a powerful tail.

MUSIC PLAYS

But what really gives them the edge, is their skin.

It's covered in microscopic ridges that reduce drag.

Copying the texture creates the ultimate streamlined service.

And there's one area where that's been more successful than any other.

In the world of professional swimming,

sharks have helped smash Olympic records.

By wearing swimwear that mimics the texture of shark skin,

a swimmer creates less drag.

And that means more speed.

A huge advantage in a sport where every fraction of a second counts.

Shark skin clothing helped many athletes to win Olympic medals.

But it became seen as too big an advantage.

To keep the sport fair, the swimwear was banned from competitions.

But in other areas, sharks are still helping us speed things up.

Synthetic shark skin also reduces friction in the air.

Tests using it on planes and cars, have shown

it can save fuel and make journeys faster.

But their skin doesn't just give sharks speed.

It also helps them fight disease.

Almost nothing can stick to shark skin. Not even bacteria.

Scientists have now imitated the texture

and created their very own disease fighting material,

that's being trialled in hospitals and on touch screens.

It's over 18 times better at preventing

the spread of deadly superbugs like MRSA.

And off the coast of California,

scientists have found a shark with skin so extraordinary,

it can help fight some of the worst diseases of the 21st century.

Hidden amongst the kelp forests of Santa Barbara, is a shark that

could save human lives.

And the best way to study it, is to wait for dark.

Professor David Gruber, has created a camera

that gives him shark vision.

-And tonight, he's ready to put it to the test.

-It is pretty sci-fi.

It's almost surreal to be entering this alien

world in the middle of the night.

This is the first time David has attempted to film these

sharks in the wild.

This camera allows us

to get a little portal into the world of a very shy species of shark.

All he and his team need to do, is find them.

This is surface to divers, surface to divers. You guys OK?

Roger that, I'm happy.

At night, in murky water, spotting them is not easy.

It's time to turn on the camera.

The lights are the same wavelength as moonlight.

And the lens works like a shark's eye.

These are shy sharks.

They camouflage very nicely into the rock crevices,

so, you can be swimming over a shark and almost not even notice it.

But looking through the viewfinder, David now has shark vision.

INDISTINCT TALKING

This is the best chance he has of seeing the shark he's after.

INDISTINCT TALKING

This is it. A Swell shark.

A shark that glows in the dark.

It's known as bio-fluorescence.

To see it, you need the shark's highly specialised eyes...

..or this camera.

Without them, this is all you see.

Wow, amazing. This is super-exciting for us.

This is the first time that we've got this footage in the wild.

This is a world that these sharks have been seeing

for millions of years and we're finally just tuning in.

But why would a shark need to glow bright green?

In all honesty, we're not exactly sure why these sharks

are fluorescent.

One of the theories is, they are using this as a special secret

signal in which male and female Swell sharks can quickly be

able to find each other, mate and then go back into hiding.

It's like a plane flying into Las Vegas in the middle of the night,

you know, you can see it from miles away.

These small and timid sharks are vulnerable to predation.

Having a secret way to signal to each other, could be

the perfect way to stay safe.

But this shark is attracting the attention of scientists

for another reason.

Its skin could transform the treatment of life-threatening

diseases like cancer and Alzheimer's.

The chemical that makes the shark glow can be used to track

unhealthy cells.

By following how they spread around the body, it is

possible to study how diseases work...

..and see what drugs work best at stopping them.

So David's natural home is not out diving in kelp forests,

but in the lab.

Now, by finding this whole new reservoir of biological

fluorescence in sharks,

we're hoping this can be used as the new tool that can better understand

ourselves on an even deeper level and, perhaps, even save lives.

Researchers are now eager to find out how many other sharks glow...

..and see if they too have life-saving potential.

Unfortunately,

not everything scientists are discovering is good news.

Many sharks are in serious trouble.

Almost a quarter of all species are now facing extinction.

The main threat is commercial fishing.

These are animals with a high price on their heads.

In Asia, there is a huge appetite for their meat

and highly prized fins.

Shark fin soup is a popular Chinese delicacy.

Demand for the key ingredient has had a devastating

effect on shark numbers.

In an ocean full of lines, hooks and nets,

sharks and rays don't stand much chance.

A top predator has become prey.

100 million sharks are estimated to be killed every year.

The fear is that entire species will soon be gone.

In some cases, before we even knew they existed.

To date, we know of over 500 species of shark.

But this man thinks there could be many more still to find.

Dr David Ebert has dedicated his career to identifying every

single species of shark before it's too late.

It's an assignment that has taken him around the globe.

Most of us who are young children, usually get a book on dinosaurs

or sharks and we get really excited about it.

Most kids grow out of that phase, but people like myself,

you never grow out of it, it's a lifelong fascination.

So far, David has found 24 new species,

often in unexpected places.

Some of his most important discoveries have been

made on dry land, here, in the fish markets of Taiwan.

Over 180 different species of shark have been found off this coast,

more than anywhere else in the world.

Sharks are a big part of the local diet.

If you're looking for new sharks, this is the place to come.

You can understand how people might be appalled by what they see.

You're going to see a lot of dead fish,

so you just focus on the work you're here to do and do the best you can.

Any arrival could be something new.

You have to be moving all the time because something could show up

somewhere and they could be gone very quickly.

You hear the whistle in the background, that is

the auction going on, so fish will show up and fish will be gone.

You need to always be moving and looking constantly

to find what you're looking for.

It's almost like a CSI investigation,

trying to figure out what these different species are,

trying to identify them and see if there's something new.

New species are often found where nobody would think of looking.

These piles of trash fish like this are the best places to find

these little-known lost shark.

It might seem like a strange place

but it's, like, one of those dirty jobs.

You have to go looking where most people are not going to bother to go.

David is one of the few people looking out for these tiny sharks.

These are the kind of things that are actually species that are really

important to the ecosystem but no-one pays any attention to these things.

Years of searching for sharks mean David's expert eye is

quick to spot anything unusual.

And he's found a real rarity.

This is a Frilled shark.

Really very cool and interesting and a bizarre species to see.

It's the kind of thing that people don't often think

of as being a shark, just because it's so weird and so different.

It may look odd, but this shark is adapted for life in the deep sea.

Its appearance here is a worrying sign.

Coming back to this market repeatedly over the last 25 years,

I start seeing deep sea species we didn't see before.

It indicates they're fishing much deeper.

Speaking to some of my fishing contacts here, they tell me

they fish one to 200m 25 years ago.

Now, they are fishing down to 800, 900m.

The deep ocean is the most mysterious unexplored

habitat on the planet.

Scientists believe this is where many new shark

species could be found.

What we know about sharks is just the tip of the iceberg.

For many species, even the most basic information is still missing.

Scientists are racing to fill in the blanks.

One species they're most concerned about, is the Oceanic Whitetip.

They were once one of the most common sharks on the planet...

..until their distinctive large fins attracted

the attention of the shark fin trade.

It's amazing that we can take an animal that was super common

and just in the space of a few decades, fish them down to the point

where there's real great concern that they'll exist in the future.

By understanding more about their daily lives,

Demian and his team can come up with a strategy for their protection.

We learn something new about these sharks every time

we come out here, because that is how little we know about them.

It's coming towards us.

Here in the Bahamas, they've now banned shark fishing,

so it is one of the few places scientists can still find

and study Oceanic Whitetips.

First, one is lured in with bait.

Then, floats are attached to slow it down and tire it out.

They've got it.

Now it can be handled without being hurt.

There, you see the balls, just like Jaws.

So, this shark is going to have a lot of activity going on around it.

We're going to learn a lot about these sharks

just from looking at this one individual.

They just measured the shark and it's actually 285 cm, which is, I think,

the biggest male we've ever measured here, so this is really exciting.

It's like King Kong of the Oceanic Whitetips.

As soon as they have its vital stats,

the shark is turned upside down,

a position known to make sharks feel calm.

Blood and DNA samples or quickly taken, before, finally,

the shark is kitted out with the very latest technology.

He's like the Robocop of sharks right now.

It's got a couple of different tags.

It's actually carrying about 20,000 worth of tags.

In a few months, the gadgets will fall off,

leaving the shark none the wiser of the important mission it was on.

These instruments give us this window into a world

we know very little about, the world of the Oceanic Whitetip.

We're going to learn from these instruments where they go,

how far they travel, their swimming speed, their diving behaviour,

their feeding behaviour.

Demian needs to know where the sharks go

once they leave the safety of the Bahamas.

Like many sharks,

they undertake huge migrations that may take them through very

dangerous waters and their loss could have terrible consequences.

Sharks are important in the ocean ecosystem.

They're the top predators, like lions and tigers, wolves,

and we know when we have taken lions and tigers and wolves

out of the land ecosystems.

We've seen big changes.

We don't want those changes to happen in the ocean.

But it's hard to get people to care about sharks

if they're afraid of them.

To some, this is the stuff of nightmares.

But do sharks really deserve a deadly reputation?

There's no evidence to suggest sharks deliberately target humans.

They've little interest in anything other than their natural prey.

Most attacks are a case of mistaken identity,

which is why they're so rare.

You're over 50,000 times more likely to drown than be killed by a shark.

Despite their statistics,

some people still see sharks as the enemy.

Many countries go to great lengths to keep sharks

away from their beaches.

Nets and lines trap and kill animals that come in too close to shore.

Australia even resorted to shooting sharks,

culling 50 in a matter of months.

Scientists are now urgently looking for an alternative solution.

Here in Cape Town, they're close to finding it.

No other city has such a high concentration of sharks

right on its doorstep.

Every year, swimmers

and surfers share the water with up to 700 Great White sharks.

But thanks to science, they are learning how to live with them.

Shark shot.

Dr Alison Kock has spent her working life studying

the sharks in this bay.

They are the most incredible sharks.

They've got power, this raw power but this grace. Ah, gorgeous.

We get to know them really well.

We get to know their behaviour around the boat. It's very individual.

Now, by understanding what makes these sharks tick,

Alison is looking for ways to keep people safe.

-I'm ready.

-Coming in from the left.

Closer, closer. OK, here we go.

Got it.

By tagging and tracking the sharks,

she's been working out where these Great White's hunt.

I never ever feel nervous around the sharks like this, because more

than likely, if I fell in now,

the shark would probably get a fright and swim away,

so, it is more about trying to get the science done.

Her research has shown that where sharks hunt,

is far from random.

They use different parts of the bay depending on the time of year.

So, by making people aware of the danger zones...

..she's hoping to minimise the risk of attack.

Now, in winter, the sharks are focusing

all their attention on the offshore islands full of young seals.

By watching how the sharks hunt here,

Alison has learned what time of day an attack is most likely.

This is Frank. This is our seal decoy and he really helps us

to try and understand how the sharks are hunting here around the island.

He's already got a couple of war wounds heal from a small shark.

Good luck, Frank.

Frank plays the role of a vulnerable lone seal...

..just what the sharks are looking for.

Let's make one turn back down to the boat again.

But even after hours of towing, they show no signs of interest.

Alison thinks they're biding their time.

Seals are incredibly smart and incredibly agile, so the tactics

the White Sharks have to use are stealth, to ambush attack the seals.

If they don't do that,

they have very little chance of actually catching the seals.

In broad daylight, it is hard for a shark to make a surprise attack.

So, by day, Frank stays safe.

But when the sun is low, sharks use the darker water to stay hidden.

This is when seals, and Frank, are most at risk.

Brilliant! He got it pretty hard.

The shark cleared and re-entered the water in less than a second.

Ah, that is a massive shark. That's an over four metre shark,

and it really hit the decoy right in the middle there.

They come from below and behind.

Frank demonstrates how sharks use low light

and stealth tactics to their advantage,

behaviour that Alison thinks all swimmers

and surfers should understand.

We can say, look, this is a risky time,

you should rather avoid this time.

That's a really simple way to keep people

and sharks out of each other's way for a short amount of time.

By using science, sharks and humans can share the sea.

I think that what we're showing here in Cape Town,

is that there are other ways.

You can find ways to live with white sharks that doesn't involve

ruining the ecosystem and doesn't involve the killing of sharks.

It is a little bit easier to manage people,

than it is a big two tonne white shark.

What Alison and many other scientists hope, is that the more

people get to know sharks, the less reason they'll have to fear them.

With all the advances in science, with all of the things that

we're learning about these animals, I hope that science can show

people that these are not the animals

that they've been betrayed to be.

These are really, really special and incredibly, I think,

charismatic animals, if you give them a chance.

Changing attitudes towards sharks could play a big

role in their future.

There has been a lot of activity, just recently, that inspires me

with a lot of hope with starting to have the will from the people

wanting to see sharks protected.

For the first time,

people are queueing up to swim with sharks, not hunt them.

Shark tourism is becoming big business.

Countries like the Philippines and Fiji have realised

that sharks are worth more alive than dead.

And the more people are learning to love sharks,

the less interest they have in eating them.

The price of shark fins has dropped, as more

and more restaurants take shark fin soup off the menu.

In Australia, people came out in their masses to stand

up for sharks and protest against a cull.

At last, we could be at a turning point for sharks and rays.

Scientists are not only revealing their powerful sensors,

their intelligence and their complex social lives,

scientists are also changing attitudes

and convincing the world that our oceans need sharks.