Original subtitles

This 16.5-foot 3,500-pound great white

was harpooned by a fisherman.

In June 1959,

Robert L. Pamperin was swallowed whole

by a great white shark off La Jolla, California.

In August 1967,

Robert Bartle was bitten in two

by a great white shark at Jurien Bay, Western Australia.

In April 1969, a movie crew arrives in South Africa,

determined to find the great white shark

and to film it underwater.

Okay. All right. Whoa.

TheTerrier VIII is loaded at Durban, South Africa.

The expedition will spend the next five months aboard

this 158-foot steamship.

Leader of the expedition, Peter Gimbel.

The buoyancy chamber of the diver's elevator

with the choke installed inside it.

Gimbel is one of the five diver photographers.

He was the first man to photograph the sunkenAndrea Doria.

Sure. That's gonna really work.

Yeah. That gets...

That gets treatment like eggs.

Diver Stan Waterman with the captain of the port.

Stan is an underwater photographer and lecturer.

How many of these were in the fleet?

We went out into the Coral Sea, actually.

And when we'd finished there, we came to Africa

to work for Americans.

It seems strange. Yes, it does.

Valerie Taylor,

three-time Australian ladies spearfishing champion

and one of two Australian divers on the expedition.

The film came out very well.

This is Tom Chapin, a member of the surface crew.

Tom is a folk singer.

A press conference just before sailing.

Now I wanna tell you very quickly

what we're trying to do off Durban.

We're looking for the animal

that I think is considered to be

the most dangerous predator still living in the world.

The great white shark,

which attacks the carcasses of the killed whales

in the Indian Ocean,

on the whaling grounds off here.

And in the last 10 days

has taken five sperm whales over 40 feet in length

and removed from them all the meat down to the spine

in a matter of six or seven hours.

Right, see you later.

And...

Peter Lake, still photographer.

We'll be protecting ourselves

with these fragile little bird cages.

And I don't have anything else to say,

so I would like to answer questions,

or let my colleagues answer them.

I would never consider going in the water

outside of this cage with them. Ever.

Phil Clarkson, diving coordinator.

Now, if you see a 20-foot shark...

Ron Taylor, the only one of the divers

who has actually seen a great white shark.

It ran its teeth along,

and you could hear in the water...

My head was in the water, and I could hear

the teeth grating along the mesh.

And it just didn't put any pressure on it at all.

Ron was World Spearfishing Champion in 1965.

Ron and Valerie are married and work as a team.

The same as if a shark bites onto a hook.

If he actually bites on to a hook, he'll spit it out,

because he can feel the metal in it.I see.

If it's steel, he doesn't like it.

But if it's a bone or something that he's used to,

I think he may.

This is aluminum. It's not steel.

It may have a different effect on the shark.

I hope not.

Of course not.

But he has the biting power to get through it.

I'd say so, yeah.

Those big triangular teeth could cut through that.

'Cause that's tubular, isn't it? Right.

Look here.

All full there.

And beyond, on the other side,

under the, uh, boat deck, same thing.

Are you pleased with your boat?

Yeah, I like it. Really?

We thought it was absolutely super.Yeah.

The search begins

on the whaling grounds 100 miles off Durban.

Sharks attracted by harpooned whales

infest these waters.

TheTerrier follows the whaling fleet.

How far ahead of us are the whaling ships now?

Pardon? How far ahead of us are the other ships now?

Oh, they're about, uh, 25...

25 miles, I think.

But on this bearing, east of us.

They are east of us. Yeah.

The No. 29 up there,

she chasing?

Yeah. She's chasing.

Well, let's follow him.

There's whales. Up there!

There again. Look at them go.

Yeah, three or four of them up there.

There, there!

Oh, yes. Yeah, I see it.

He ought to get a shot at him soon

if the whale's big enough to shoot at.

He's in range now.

All set? All set.

They shot him!

They shot him!

Did they get him?

Yeah.

They got that one in the lungs, forward.

Watch when he spouts. He's spouting blood, even.

Look at that, ooh.

Now what are they gonna do?

Are they gonna pump air in him now, or...

Yeah. Yeah.

They have got the air hose in...

They've got the air hose in there now...

and then they'll buoy it, huh?Right.

Pick it up tonight and tow it ashore to the whaling station.

Well, that one ought to attract sharks, with all that blood.

You know, they're extraordinary creatures.

Marvelously intelligent.

The rate they're being hunted now,

they'll be extinct before we really come to understand them.

There's a shark.

White tip, right under the bow.

Coming along the stern.

There's the other one.

There's another one. There's another one.

There are four down here now.

Four sharks.

Now I've lost the... Like trying to count chickens.

No, there's definitely four.

The water has become teeming.There are four sharks.

And inside this mechanism, there's a firing pin.

And if any sharks come too close or look dangerous,

you simply pull the safety catch out

and ram the head against the shark.

What size cartridge is that?

Twenty-gauge.

It's really deadly.

Don't you find, sir...

that a punch right on the nose with your bare fist...

Yes.

Those brutes can't stand that kind of rough treatment.

How do you do that while holding a camera?

Well, you're going to use the far cylinder first...

You turn this one off, you turn this one on.Yeah.

Uh, we have to keep it fended off the side of the boat

and keep it from swinging.

You got the hook there. Okay.

All right.

Two, four, six...

Stan's gonna need more.

What's he got? He's got three threes.

Nine... So, 12.

No.

Hey, Matthiessen. Is that camera latched in?

I had a knife once

and it was so stuck in its sheath,

it would have taken me 10 minutes to get it out

if the big fella had come nosing around.

And that would have been just too late.

Late?

And what do you suppose you would have done

with that butter knife?

Which camera's going, Ron?

Uh, this one here.

Greedy albatrosses.

Ron can go in with, uh, Stan.

And I'll go in the other side.

Okay, Ron? Okay.

Our first dive.

A hundred miles at sea.

Six thousand feet to the bottom.

These sharks are eight to twelve feet long,

and weigh up to 1,200 pounds.

We look around for a great white.

Here, a dusky shark.

A great blue.

A white-tipped oceanic surrounded by pilot fish.

Sound travels four and a half times faster underwater than in air.

And it carries far.

The death throe vibrations of the whales

attract sharks from miles away.

These cages don't need connections to the surface.

They can be controlled from inside

to descend or rise or to hover at any depth.

There she goes.

We descend.

As the shark's approach,

they pick up the blood scent and follow that to its source,

where finally, they're guided by sight.

Sharks of the open sea like these

have no air bladder to buoy them,

and they must keep moving all their lives or sink.

Those brutes can't stand that kind of rough treatment.

Sharks are a very successful form of life.

They've changed little in 100 million years.

They always seem to bump before they bite.

It looks like a test to see

how much resistance they're going to run into.

With this amount of food in the water,

we expect the great white.

But he doesn't come.

No great white.

Mostly white-tipped oceanics,

a few great blues,

and one shark that I have never seen anything like in my life.

It's got a sort of a sickle dorsal fin.

Like a female killer whale.

I don't... I don't know what the hell it is.

I have no idea.

You can't count them, because there are that many around.

But you gotta watch out

you don't put your arms or legs through the side of the cage.

They were really bumping the cages, weren't they?

I reckon if the cage wasn't there, they'd get you for sure.

Strong southeast winds are forecast tonight and tomorrow.

Let's run back to Durban and get some rest

and give it another try when the weather breaks.

There are lots of ways to find adventure and excitement in the ocean.

I think that Peter and

Ron, and myself, and Valerie,

of course working hand in glove with Ron, as she does,

have gradually found our courses

narrowing down onto sharks.

This charisma that they have

making them the last of the great predators,

makes them the big...

the big thing in the sea.

The big challenge.

The day's catch is towed to Durban.

No whales have been sighted today.

They're never gonna be able

to spot whales with these white caps.

Is there anything we can do without the whale, Peter?

I mean, deep drips at all or...

Oh, God! If we had the underwater noise generator,

I suppose we could. But we don't.

But how would it be if we went down in the cages,

and just made some noise, rattling the bars, or something like this,

to see if those white tips will come around

or if any other shark will come around.We could do that.

It'd be better than nothing, wouldn't it?

Two weeks of discouragement,

rough seas, no whales.

Finally, a break in the weather.

This one ought to bring sharks.

Yes. Oh, yes.

Oh, yes. There's a lot of blood around that one.

For the first time in two weeks,

we got everything going for us, right?Yeah.

Weather, water clarity, sharks,

and the right whale.

Let's start getting the underwater lights ready right away.

We'll figure on a dive tonight.

We can't afford any light failures.

Hey, Peter? Yeah?

Uh, they started feeding already.

Yeah, I know.

The great white shark had not appeared by day.

Night may be the time.

I'm going where them Chilly winds don't blow

Gonna find my true love

That's where I wanna go

Out where them Chilly winds don't blow

Out where them Chilly winds don't blow

Wish I was a headlight

On a westbound train

I'd shine my light on

Cool Colorado rain

Out where them Chilly winds don't blow

Out where them Chilly winds don't blow

I'm going where Them chilly winds Don't blow

Gonna find my true love

That's where I wanna go

Out where them Chilly winds don't blow

Out where them Chilly winds don't blow

Look at that!

There's fish in that. Wow.

Mother of Jesus! Will you look at that action?

This certainly beats the decadent nightclub life.

In what way?

I mean, the ill-health that accompanies

dancing, drinking and dicing until late at night.

Here we are spot diving.

Spot diving at two o'clock in the morning.

This keeps you fit as a fiddle.

Hey, the lights went out.

Bring it over here. Cages.

God damn. It shorted out again.

They're gonna have to come up.

Hey, Stuart.

Both cages are out.

Stuart, what are we gonna do?

How come the lights are out this time?

Oh, my God! They're in trouble now.

They'll have to come up. They'll have to come up.

Better bring a light.

Get that cable over here.

Bring that set of lights.

How deep are they?

Shine it around the whale.

By the whale. That's it. Over by the whale.

Shine the light over there.

Keep an eye on them. Make sure they don't drift away.

Make sure they can see the--There! There they are.

Where? Out there. Right there.

Very unfriendly, down there in the dark.

There must be 20 tons of sharks down there.

How many? Could you count 'em?

There's no way to count them. No way.

They were in crisscross layers down below.200, 300, 400...

I don't have any idea.

That blue shark was on the other side

taking great mouthfuls of them.

White tips were on the other side.

His head was about halfway in through the window,

and I was looking for something to...

to bat him with.

And, I finally...

I finally just held up a flipper.

Put my foot up and pushed his nose.

Man, geez.

Stan, if there's a great white anywhere around,

don't you think he'll be here by tomorrow?

I think...

You know this is gonna be the only whale in the area tomorrow morning.

I think he'll be here. I really do.

I'm only worried that they eat the whole thing tonight.

Hey, listen, kiddo.

Don't you think that we could get out of these cages

and go among the sharks?

If they're just two or three,

if we had it, we might. But--

If we're leaving the cages just to get better pictures

of the sharks,

couldn't we just tie the cages closer to the whales?

If there's many as there are around today,

I think it would be a bit risky.

Well, I'll tell you.

I've been watching the pattern and

I think that we can do it,

and I don't think that it's a wild risk.

And we're never gonna get the pictures

by tying up close to the whale that we'll get if we...

if we go out and swim with them.

What do you think, Ron?

Yeah, I think we could get out.

Seems to me the crucial thing

is that when those sharks bump into us

and we know they will,

that we react strongly.

Because, if they take you for...

for something in distress or dead,

if you don't react, they're gonna bite.

We know that. We've seen it.

We ought to swing it a little more out.

Let's go.

Are we ready here?

Run it out just a little.

Run it out. All the way out.

Easy, Phil. They're pretty edgy.

Let's go, Peter.

Let's get this in the water.

Let's move!

Takes time. Okay, Back up.

Now bring the line up this way.

Hold onto it.

Not yet. Not yet.

Is that camera slated?

I don't know. Is that camera slated?

You'll have to ask Peter Lake. I don't know.

Looks like we're not...

We don't even know what camera it was.

Uh, well, we can work it out.

Well, we know... We know what that is

and we know what the one is that I was using...

this morning.

I wouldn't give you a damn for this hustling, you know?

No.

You lose more bloody time

than anybody can afford to lose.

Gotta hurry.

That's right. This... this hustle up.

Those sharks are gonna be there

till we're all dead and gone.

A lot of time it will save if the cage sinks.

Has that cage been checked out?

This morning it was ready.

They've always got to be checked out

before they go in the water.

Well, neither one of them was this morning, then.

Right.

Phil, I can't hustle like that.

I can't make it like that.Okay.

We're going in the water with two cages

that haven't been checked out.

Want me to bring it over? You want to take it out?

That's what we ought to do.

That's really what we ought to do.

But, we won't.

We're going in like that.

Okay.

All right? Okay.

Can you hear what I'm saying?

No.

Do you?

None of the divers nor anyone they know

has ever been outside of a cage

among feeding sharks.

Ah, you wouldn't believe.

You couldn't believe.

It was fantastic.

Everything happened.

I hit the whale and blood went everywhere.

Stan and Peter were miles away.

They were just surrounded by sharks.

Look, there must have been a dozen sharks

charging in on them all at once and then,

as Peter said, he just kept his finger on the button

and spun in circles.

That's all he could do.

The thing is, you can't...

You can't possibly keep an eye on what's happening.

And so they're just all over you.

You know what I mean now, Stan?Coming up behind,

over your shoulders, turning in back of you and...

You got to have a sense of well-being.

What makes you think I have a sense of well-being?

Because you did, we both had it stacked...

True standard. You couldn't stand it otherwise.

Yeah.

I was watching for whitey.

I was, too.

I thought with that day's activity,

If he was gonna come, he would.Yeah.

Yeah.

Well, I think we'll get him in the Mozambique Channel.

I really do. Well, next stop.

So the rendezvous is delayed, that's all.

Someone keeps calling my name

Someone keeps calling my name

Or is it just The rustling of the wind?

Or is it just That I need a friend?

When I was filming blue sharks in the Atlantic,

you could, uh... You could watch the blue sharks,

and they always eventually worked into a pattern...

that... that we've seen on this trip.

Um, they'd bump

whatever it was that they were gonna take,

whatever the bait was, if the bait was big.

And then they'd bite.

But they're not nearly as heavy as shark.

Not nearly as rugged as the sharks we've seen here.

Not as well armed. But the behavior

was... It was very close to this.

They were open ocean sharks, and so are these.

I always thought the sharks would eat someone else

if they were going to eat somebody.

They weren't going to eat me.

I guess we all think like that, or we wouldn't go down.

If you thought you were going to be attacked and eaten...

you wouldn't go into the water.

In several cars that I've been in minor accidents,

I've had great fear.

But that same sort of fear doesn't come

underwater with sharks.

It's another type of apprehension or fear,

if you might... might call it fear.

You sort of convince yourself that, uh,

that there isn't any danger.

Sort of you...

on having done something like that, it's just...

Uh, you... you... you sort of

wonder how you got out of it alive.

Boy, you've seen me come out of the water,

uh, and say, "Look, I just didn't have it today.

"Uh, I was nervous. I didn't feel like diving.

"The sharks made me nervous.

"I couldn't concentrate on the... on the camera."

Uh, there's no shame in that.

Not... Not for me, there isn't.

I'm not interested in taking risks.

I'm interested in seeing whether all of us

can perform a tough job and calculate it so coolly

and so accurately,

uh, that we can bring it off.

That's all.

I know if the whale hadn't have been there

for the sharks to feed on, that'd have attacked us.

It was just that they had something bigger and better

to eat than us.

Can't be completely what protected us,

because I remember two distinctly

minutes and... and hours, even, when the sharks

seemed disinterested in the whale

and keenly interested in us.

The action, among other things,

is too fast

to indulge in philosophical thoughts about why am I here?

Nor would I, at any time, swap the...

the kind of activity that we're having, exposed to some risk,

but marvelous adventure with all.

I believe, it's human nature for someone to try

and achieve the ultimate.

Just like trying to climb the highest mountain,

or drive a motorcar the fastest,

or even to dive to the depths of the ocean.

And, uh, going out into the water with a shark that's feeding,

it's something that nobody else has ever done before,

and that's just about the ultimate.

I would hope that when the great white comes along,

we'll need to be in the cages or damn close to them.

Because I myself don't want to test theories on the great white

until I've had a, uh, good chance to look him over.

The Terrier steams north between Africa and Madagascar,

charting a course to the isolated islands

of the Mozambique Channel.

Europa, Juan de Nova, Astove,

Aldabra, St. Lazarus Bank,

Grande Comore.

I'm amazed that there's no, uh...

nobody there on the beach.

Do you suppose they're hiding their women?

Yes, from you.

Hello.

Look, something on here that says made in Japan.

I claim this land in the name of John Lindsay.

Watch. You're through.

After three weeks in the islands without a sign of the great white shark

theTerrier approaches Grand Comore.

Vailheu Shoal lies 10 miles to the west.

The only people that I know of that have ever

dived this place are a few French guys

over there on French Comore.

It was a shark that put his head

out of the water and attacked.

Then attacked. Oh, my God.

That must have been a white.

The only one I could think of that would do that.

There were five Kerrocks with two men each.

Three men returned. The other seven were killed.

God, that's unprecedented.

Or drowned. Yeah.

But imagine one shark attacking, um, more than one boat.

Only a white could be that mean.

Stan,

with this current, how you got the safety lines rigged?

I put out an extra long one. 120 feet,

double the 60-foot length from the ladder.

Because when I lowered the 60-foot,

it went immediately under the boat

and it was taken out with the current.

I think we've got a hell of a current running today.

When we come up, we ought to crawl along the bottom

so that we're well up current.

'Cause once we leave the bottom,

we'll get swept down toward the boat.

Peter Lake, did you get that?

Current's like a river.

Good luck. Keep somebody on the look out here,

because I couldn't have gotten up without some help.

There's a real strong current down there.

I've got to go back down.

They're shooting a barracuda.

I only see three people.

Get us... Get Stan some help.

Yeah, help.

Where is everybody? They're supposed to help us.

Go get somebody for the cameras, please.

Where's the crew?

Thank you.

Current's very strong.

Peter's gonna need some help with his camera here.

There's a shocking current coming up.

You can barely swim against it.

Where's Lake?

Where's Lake? He missed the line.

We lose sight of him, we'll never find him.

Down current, and I saw Pete, like, start to swim in.

And I watched him 'cause he started to swim up

from down current, and that's a bad thing to do.

But I saw him reach the back of the boat.

And I thought, "He's all right."

When did he get carried away?

He didn't listen to what Peter said.

He came up from where we were down current.

And I saw him head to the boat.Way out there.

I got on and he wasn't there.

Ron, try to get that outboard started.

There! There's his flare.

His flare's out. Keep your eye on that spot.

I thought Peter Lake was onboard, and he wasn't.

They've picked him up. Yeah, they picked him up.

They picked him up. Yes, they're bringing him in.

I don't know how he got out there,

'cause he definitely was to the boat at one stage.

He wasn't on the ladder, but he was only a few feet away.

Always fun to get rescued at sea.

Those giant squid had me worried, though.

I really expected to find

that white line right under the prop.

And it was just hanging right by the ladder.

You mean straight down by the ladder?Yeah.

Where did you find it?

Well, it went... It angled under the hull.

If you bastards stand there with a camera again...Yes!

...when we're trying to get up that ladder and need help.

We're gonna pull you right down with us.

Camera and all! Camera and all.

Christ! That was frustrating.

Do you mean I was... We were so there.

And here they were,

"Tom, is your sound all right? Let me check my aperture."

"What you giving it?" "Help!"

You know, it's easy to be relaxed

when you're being swept out to sea.

There's nothing you can do.

It was a great island, kiddo.

Ron? But let's go.

The expedition arrives

at the village of Batticaloa on the east coast of Ceylon.

What's the biggest shark that they've ever gotten in this village, Rodney?

Rodney Jonklaas, Sinhalese diver and biologist.

He says between 3,000 and 4,000 pounds.

How long was he?

He said as big as his boat which is about, uh...

Sixteen feet.

Do they believe the moracomes in as close in

as the Hermesis? 5 miles out?

Quite possible.

Quite possible.

Here, Billy. Come on.

Billy. Billy.

Come on, Billy. Very good dog.

TheTerrier lies at anchor five miles east of Batticaloa,

over the wreck of the British aircraft carrier Hermes,

sunk by the Japanese in 1942.

All wrecks attract sea life,

and this one, resting at the edge of the continental shelf,

lures fish from the ocean deep.

Now, here's what we propose to do.

What we're trying to accomplish

is to get the heavy anchor chain

from the, uh, Terrier

shackled into a point as near the bow

of the Hermes as we possibly can.

You know that we've got a hell of a current running here on this wreck,

and we can't use the cages

until we've got our lines down.

I think our main problem is that we're going to 170 feet

to get these lines shackled in and...

We've got a problem on decompression here.

Problem with bends unless we're very careful.

Stan had the bends a few years back

and both his legs were paralyzed for several weeks.

So keep an eye on your time and your depth.

After a 20-minute dive to 170 feet,

we have to ascend in stages,

taking 22 minutes to reach the surface.

This decompression should eliminate

excess nitrogen in our bodies.

If too much nitrogen remains, bubbles may form

that force tissues apart

and can double a man over in pain.

Bent victims gave the condition its name.

The Bends.

It can cause paralysis and death.

What's happening? Well, Peter's in trouble.

He's, uh, I think...

He may be slightly bent. We don't know.

Can you get someone to send a tank over?

Where does it go? Get a tank!

Someone's got the bends.

Christ! You just threw it over?

Did he get it?

Well, I don't know, but I hope it doesn't sink.

Well, if it does, we'll throw another one.He got it.

There, I think Peter's coming up.

Tell the guys to break those lines off the compressor.

Get the chamber running.

Really? Compression chamber?

Yes! The chamber! The chamber!

Get the recompression chamber ready!

Valerie, what's happening?

Has Peter gone down again?

Yes. Valerie, who is it?

Well, he came up too quick.

I don't know. He must have run out--

I don't know why he just suddenly came up when he shouldn't have.

Who is it, Valerie, do we know?

It's Peter.

Is he gonna use the chamber,

or should we bring him more air?

Thirty feet for three minutes.

Twenty feet for 21 minutes, and 10 feet for 37 minutes.

That oughta do it. For what, Phil?

Huh? What's that for?

That's if they've been down to 180 feet

for longer than they should have been.

Now, why would Peter have it more than I should have?

I don't understand.

I really don't. Neither do I.

He didn't stay any longer the last dive, did he?

The first dive you took?

No, no, we came up at the same time.

He was down longer though, today.

It doesn't take much. That's right.

As a matter of fact, I was down the least long,

because I took so long to get down,

you see. Yeah, that's undoubtedly it.

My God, I bet that's the difference.

Send down another tank.

Is that the tank? Yeah.

He's pain-free at 30 feet.

We're gonna have to work him up awful slowly.

Here he comes.

All right.

Now just stay on the surface for another three minutes.

Long time coming.

Boy, I know what you mean.

Man, oh, man.

Are you chilled?

Yep.

It felt as if somebody had put a hypodermic needle

about as big around as your little finger

right into the middle of a joint

and was pumping it up as fast as possible.

Just exploding the whole thing, literally,

with pressure.

My God.

Same bloody way all the way to the bottom.

What do you think it was? 20 feet of visibility down there?

Oh, I don't know.

It was terrible.

I'm with you.

Just now.

How'd you like that one?

Oh, boy.

The damn cable's cut.

Yeah, I'll say. Right in half.

Really cut.

Okay, we're all set.

How many volts we got going through?

A hundred and fifteen volts through both cables.

It doesn't take a big cable to kill you.

No, it takes more... And if anybody down here gets a shot,

you'll have to bring him right up,

and then they'll get the bends.Yeah.

I mean, you're asking for it.

We've used up a week,

and what have we got?

The water clarity stinks.

The current is unworkable with the cages.

There aren't any sharks,

and things aren't gonna change.

We oughta get outta here.

Phil, I just can't predict it like that.

I'm sorry and I won't... I'm not willing to accept these predictions.

I still think we can attract

a great white shark to this wreck.

Here's what I thought would work very well this morning.

To take a big team down

to the shallowest surface of the wreck.

I presume Mr. Lake would like

to take pictures of the whole thing.

Yep. That accounts for six people

and no diver on the surface.

Yep. Which doesn't make me particularly happy.

Well, we don't have that problem,

since you're going to be on the surface.

Because none of us is going to dive if you dive.

When did you take that poll?

Shortly ago.

Weather conditions are so rotten here.

Peter, it's really time to give up on this one.

Well, where does that leave for us to try?

Well, like I said before,

I know a place where big-game fishermen

and abalone divers have seen them on many occasions,

and I've seen them there twice myself.

And I think if you want them,

you're going to have to go there.

And that's Dangerous Reef, South Australia.

Boy, that's a long way from here.

Yep, but I think if you want them

that's where you're going to have to go.

Hello, darling.

Hello, sweety. Yoo-hoo!

Hello, there. Hello, there.

Hello! Wake up!

Little seal, wake up. That's it.

It's all right. Oh, dear.

Oh, I'm gonna cry.

He got a fright, Valerie.

Oh, dear. It happens...

It's the worst nightmare he's ever had, Stan.

We can get old animals, farm animals,

horses or whatever... Yeah, yeah.

...sheep, goat. Yeah, yeah.

And we can get

as much whale oil as we want, right?

We can get a fair bit at this time.

And what we're talking about doing is, you know,

constructing in various ways a whale carcass.

That's right. We're getting the red meat,

we're putting the blubber over by dripping the oil...

I think we oughta also...

put in an order and even a man on the job

at the abattoirs here

to can up all their blood.

We've gotta lay it on a bit, right?Right.

So let's leave it that way

and just write the order the way you want it.

Yeah. All right.

Not for you, seagulls!

I can remember a picture vividly...

Rodney Fox, Australian diver.

One of the few people to survive

the attack of a great white shark.

My legs and arms dropped back along the shark's body,

and I just remember how leisurely

and easily his tail was just going through the water,

and yet there was a great swirling around my ears,

like I was doing a tremendous speed.

I tried as hard as I could

to find his eyes and gouge in them.

Did you reach his eyes?

I'm not too sure. It all happened in such a split second.

I was hitting and gouging not knowing exactly where they were

when he pulled off and let go.

I instinctively thrust out with my right hand

to push it off and get it away further,

and it disappeared about a foot into its mouth.

And I could feel the razor-sharp teeth

just tearing over the tendons and top

as it was pushed in.

So, I immediately dragged my arm out

and cut the whole underside of it

over the teeth, pulling it away again.

Good Lord. That's that one right there.

Yeah, that's the scars there.I hadn't noticed that.

There. Good Lord.

I've got dozens of little...

Do you know how many stitches they put into you?

Not exactly. I had 94 in my hand.

They stitched up a lot of the ribs together first,

and then all of the muscles.

And then, they pulled the skin over the whole lot

and covered it up as well.

And then, I realized straightaway

the next thing I needed to do.

So, I pushed off, went up to the surface,

got one breath of air,

looked down,

and I've got this pictured today

of the red blood

and this great, big black conical head

coming up towards me.

And that's when I thought I was really gone,

because I had...

It was coming up for attack again

and I had nothing to defend myself with.

And very luckily, it must have decided

to clean up the little bits first,

because then, I'd went to the float

that I was towing behind me.

Um, I remember floating up to the surface,

and immediately, I'm hitting the surface,

the boat saw all the blood in the water.

And before I even yelled out, "Shark," which I did twice,

they were on their way to pick me up.

I think the great white shark bites without hesitation.

You mean, they just would come in and...Yeah. Oh, yes, yes.

That's the scary part.

And this visibility here is nowhere near as good as in the Indian Ocean.

We will only have about 40-foot visibility here.

Whereas in Indian Ocean, we had over 100-foot.

So, one can come out of the gloom very quickly.

Well, we'll see.

You just want about two cups of whale oil in there.

Yeah. At any time, huh?

Yeah, just enough to keep that little drip,

consistent drip going in the water all the time.

It leaves a good slick that they can follow.

It's been a cold summer, Peter.

Water maybe too cold for 'em.

This is Adelaide radio.

Adelaide radio. Adelaide radio.

Forecast.

Northeast to northerly winds

reaching 20 to 30 knots in western parts...

Has anything hit it yet, Ron?

No. Not yet.

What about it, Stan?

Anything touch those baits?

No, they haven't been touched at all.

None of them? No.

Has anyone checked it?

Has anyone checked that bait?

Yes. Something took it.

Yeah, something has taken it, all right.

Have you looked at the line?

Is it cut?

Yeah, it's cut. Huh?

Did you see it, Peter?

Here it comes.

Here it comes in now.

Look at that fish!

Okay.

There he is!

The great white!

Somebody get Gimbel.

He's following it. He's feeling it.

Can we get in the water?

Going in there? No!

Get in there.

Holy smokes!

Have a little salt water.

Well, he's a 14-footer, I think.

Come on, let's get dressed. Come on.

Let's go. Come on. Come on.

Here we go!

Oh, you bet it's a shark.

Let's go. I forgot something.

Anyone care for a quick dip?

Rodney? Prep 2-7 seven down here.

Bring it real quick. Straight away, please.

Boy, he almost sunk the boat.

Yeah, he got jammed between the cages

and got frightened. Yeah.

Hey, look, if you get a picture,

I want to get in right away, okay?

What do you mean if we get a picture?

Well, I mean, leave some room for me.

To give him his first taste is a little bit scary.

We'll drop this out on the float.

And you reckon, once he's had a mouthful,

he'll get his nerve up, eh?

Generally, after they've had a taste,

they start really to tear into things

and really start to be active.

Then you'll let us get in the water?

I'll push you.

You may have to.

Well, I still haven't seen that Mr. Big.

Did you hear him? He's big all right.

I heard all of you yelling and howling.

And he also acts like no other shark.

On the surface. My gosh!

What'd he do? Well, he was halfway...

His back was heaved right up out of water.

Completely. And just wild thrashing.

Is he fat?

Oh, fat and thick and heavy.

He's long and fat.

How did you...

How come you were back here?

Because that's my job.

Come on, you were here photographing.

He was just beautiful.

You guys can see okay there?

Hey, do you see him?

Coming straight to you!

Here he comes!

It might be another one.

I wouldn't be surprised.

Pull, pull it. Slowly, slowly, slowly.

Oh, God!

Little one. "Little one"?

Are you kidding?

He's tagging banks.

He's gotta be better than 12.

Keep him going, fellas.

Keep it moving.

Here he comes.

Oh, man.

Pull it, pull it, pull it.

Oh, he's gotta be 12!

Oh, yeah, at least 12.

He's still here.

We gotta get the cage ready and rolling.

All right?

We better get the cage ready and rolling.

Oh, but he's more than 12.

He's 12 anyhow, right?

It's a big shark.

Who can I give a hand?

Phil's getting ready.

What's he doing, Rodney?

He's trolling it up the cage

for a real big lunch.

He's putting his nose right up against the bars,

and I think he's bending them out more.

Oh, be quiet, Rodney! Go away!

Go lift them cage, so it isn't too close to the other.

Who is going in first, Peter?

Yeah.

Yeah. Who?

Me! Don't get in my way.

I'm gonna start shooting right away.

But stop it as the water gets up to about here

because I wanna clean my mask and clean the camera.

All right.

Let it go! Let's get down there!

He's a big one. He must be 16 feet long!

Good luck, Stan.

There, he's down there!

Oh, he's got some scars on his head.

I bet Gimbel's demitted with joy in there.

Right up towards the cage!

That's Ron.

Get back in, Ron.

Silly fool. I don't know what he's doing out of the cage.

Where is he? There, look at him

sitting on top of the cage.

What's he doing that for?

They are both out of the cage by the look of it now.

He cut a line over here.

All right.

Your tank.

He's jumping for the shark.

Yes, we know. We're gonna get your line.

You had your chance to tell Ron.

Tell Ron!

Tell Ron he's gonna get taken

if keeps jumping out of that cage.

My line was bitten in two by the shark,

and we have no connection to the ship.

Will you throw us a line? Coming over now.

Okay.

There never was an animal like that. Never.

The power and the aggressiveness

of the thing is beyond belief.

He doesn't dash, he just comes and...

and bites. He took one of the static cylinders

of the cage, our cage,

and just took it in his mouth very methodically

and just raked it.

He's a wild show.

What a shark. That's worth every minute of the wait.

We were all sticking out the top, but,

you know, it's NG.

I got the liver scared out of me at one point.

What happened? I got my tank hooked in the harness,

and I thought the shark was going to attack me.

It was very damn scary, I'll tell you that.

Now, keep your hands inside that cage.

Get a move on, Lake, if you want to get some stills.

Hand him that yellow camera.

And if it looks like it's all bashed up,

I'll drop my little anchor down to you,

and hook it on and drive away

to the mortuary.

Cameras are out there. Be damn careful.

I will.

Attaboy, Peter.

Beautiful!

Oh, no way.

Jumped like a French knight.

Rodney, easy with that blood. It's our last can.

Cut the line!

Dragging it around and around.

Are you all right, kiddo?

There I was at 10,000 feet,

my parachute eaten by rats.

Sorry about your cage, fella. Wait till you see it.

How bad is it? What a mess!

What, has he bent the cage up, Stan?

Oh, wait till you see.

Looked like King Kong just tried to get out of jail.

He'll tow it for miles if he gets it loose.

Wow. Wow.

You know, that animal is more than anything I expected.

Just fantastic.

He is awesome.

Well, it took a long while.

Well, we made it.

That's very good.

Yeah. I said you'd get it.

I knew you'd get it.

I don't know, we were all freaked out.

Did he smile at you?

He came the other way.

Dangerous. He can't go by himself.

How can you laugh at anything like that?

All right, ready? Here you go.

Yes.

Oh, boy! Look at him. He's going to the cage.Yeah.

What's funny?

But if he comes at you, just go...

Until they what?

Now we know what size he is.