All language subtitles for When Sharks Attack - 6x03_track3_eng

Narrator: Sharks have patrolled
the oceans

for hundreds of millions
of years.

Hunting for fish,
marine mammals,

and even their own kind.

Humans are not part
of their normal diet.

But on June 14, 2012, in
myrtle beach, south carolina,

something changed.

Jordon: Bam!

It was gushing blood.

Narrator: Four separate attacks
in just ten minutes.

Connor fairburn: It was about
the worst amount of pain

that I think I've ever felt.

Narrator:
Could this be evidence

of a rogue shark
feeding on humans?

(screaming)

denny starr:
It was like this shark

was catching people
in succession.

Narrator: Experts are
desperate for answers.

Dan abel: When I first heard
that four bites

had occurred along
the same beach, I was shocked.

Narrator:
Until the mystery is solved,

america's east coast
may never be safe.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

jordon garofalo:
I feel like people

from all over
the east coast probably

come down to this beach.

Narrator:
Jordon garofalo last came

to myrtle beach
in south carolina in 2012.

This is the first time
he has ever returned.

Jordon: My whole family
would come down

and just stay
in a big huge condo

and enjoy some time off
for a week or so.

Narrator:
Jordon's family were among

more than 17 million tourists

who flock to these
sandy beaches each year.

But few realize
that these shimmering waters

conceal a vast array of sharks.

Bulls, tigers, blacktips,
and even hammerheads

are among more than a dozen
species that prowl the ocean.

Normally they steer clear
of the beachgoers.

But as jordon garofalo
knows all too well,

there was one day
that was far from normal.

Jordon: We used to
love the beach.

But that day

I think it definitely changed
drastically for my family.

Right about here-ish...

That it happened.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

(thunder)

it had rained and stormed
the night before,

and then it stopped,
and it was, like, really sunny.

It was a very crowded,
touristy middle of June day.

I was going into my sophomore
year of high school.

My brother and I
were the youngest ones

on that particular trip.

We had went into the water
at about noon, 12:30.

We were kind of trying to just,
you know, float a little bit.

♪ ♪

you know, I was laughing
with my brother,

very calm, and then...

♪ ♪

bam!

Like, immediately it just felt
like digging and pressure.

I thought it had to be a shark.

I just ripped my foot back
as quick as I could.

♪ ♪

narrator: Jordon's brother
rushes to his aid,

and the two of them
race for the shore.

Jordon: It was, like,
gushing blood, literally,

just like coming out
and out and out.

There was like a trail of blood
behind me basically,

and I could see that it was
coming out of my foot.

Of course, your mind
immediately goes

into the worst-case scenario.

Everybody starts going
into the panic

of like we got to get
a lifeguard,

but the lifeguard that we were
normally seated near

wasn't there.

Narrator: What jordon
doesn't realize

is that the lifeguard
isn't at his post

because there's been
another attack.

Lifeguard denny starr
is on duty.

Denny starr:
This is 77th avenue.

My chair sat right about here.

It was a normal day.

There's a lot of people
in the water,

there's a lot
of people on the beach.

Narrator: Little does he know,
it's a day he'll never forget.

(muffled screaming)

denny: The commotion started
down the beach a few blocks.

Narrator: A shark has sunk
its teeth into a young woman.

Denny: We don't see
a lot of shark bites.

It was scary.

And it's just something so rare
here, and, and, you know,

obviously the people were
getting kind of panicked.

Narrator:
Denny scans the ocean,

while his colleague
tends to the victim.

Denny: I went to his chair
on 76th,

you're trying
to kind of stay calm,

take care of the situation,

and make sure no one else's
life is in danger.

Narrator:
But he's already too late.

Denny: I saw two men
running from this way.

So anytime you see someone
running towards you,

I started running towards them.

Narrator: The two men
lead denny to jordon garofalo.

Denny: This was very abnormal,
and it hadn't happen before,

multiple people getting bit.

Narrator: And his day is
about to get even more bizarre.

Denny: By the time I started
putting some pressure

on his wound, I looked back

and I had two more guys
running towards me.

Narrator:
It's yet another attack

just a few hundred yards away.

Denny: Now it's starting
to get crazy

because now it's not
just a random bite.

Now there's two,
now there's three.

People are running
out of the water by now,

but then there was a fourth bite

probably about
four more blocks down.

Narrator: Four shark attacks
on the same stretch of beach

in just ten minutes.

Jordon: As they were
cleaning out my foot,

I heard somebody say three
other people were attacked.

And I was really confused.

What are the odds
that then four people

had that all occur on one day?

Narrator: Luckily,
all the victims survive.

Authorities are stunned.

Tony klimas: This is my beach.
This is my city.

I'm here to protect it.

I immediately got in my truck

and I exited the beach
and headed to the hospital,

and I was able to talk
to all four of the victims

and get photographs
of their injuries.

Four attacks could turn
into eight attacks, you know,

hopefully you get some answers.

Narrator: So how and why did
this quadruple attack occur?

The locals have
a chilling theory.

Denny: All the bites
kind of happened in sequence

from the south end moving north.

I think it might
have been one shark

just because of the way
it happened.

It was like this shark
was obviously hungry

and was catching people
in succession as he moved north.

Narrator: The bites began

around the 74th avenue block
of the beach

and continued north
one after the other.

It's a distance of less than
three quarters of a mile.

So, could the locals be right?

Could all four bites have been
the work of a single shark?

Scientists have debated
the existence

of such a creature for decades,

and it even has a name.

The rogue shark.

Dan huber: The rogue shark
theory is the idea

that a single shark
could be responsible

for multiple attacks.

And that this shark
has developed an interest

in hunting people.

Narrator:
The idea was first introduced

by an australian surgeon
named victor coppleson in 1933.

Coppleson theorized
that an injured shark,

unable to hunt its normal prey,

would turn
to a different food source.

Humans.

Huber: Coppleson had speculated
that an injured shark

would be more likely
to attack a person,

because an injured shark would
be looking for an easy meal.

And humans are pretty slow in
the water compared to most fish.

Narrator: So, could there be
an injured shark

targeting humans
on myrtle beach?

It sounds like something
straight out of a movie.

But investigators are
tipped off to an incident

just two weeks earlier that
could turn fiction into fact.

Paul nalepa works
at a local tackle shop

and spends the majority
of his time near the water.

Paul nalepa: I really remember
that day pretty well.

I was working
in the bait shop that day.

It was kind of
a little stormy out there.

It was kind of hard
to see in the water.

Narrator:
Among those braving the waves

is 25-year-old
ryan orellana-mocynski.

Paul: He was about somewhere
right around in that area.

Probably around waist deep,
boogie boarding.

It was starting to get dark,
and that's when it all happened.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

narrator: A shark sinks its
teeth into ryan's left foot.

Paul: And he started
fighting for his life

to get away from the shark.

Poke it in the eyes,
punch it in the nose.

Life or death.

It's you or the shark.

(muffled screaming)

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

(muffled screaming)

narrator:
A shark has sunk its teeth

into boogie boarder
ryan orellana-mocynski's

left foot.

Paul: He did whatever he can
to get away from the shark.

Narrator: In the struggle,

ryan strikes his attacker
in the eye.

Finally, the predator lets go.

Paul: Ryan's foot
was pretty torn up.

You could see the muscles
on his feet

and the tendons and all that.

He needed several surgeries
to fix his foot.

Narrator: Ryan believes
he went head-to-head

with one of the fiercest
predators in the ocean,

the tiger shark.

Named for its distinctive
dark stripes,

tiger sharks can grow to
as long as 18 feet in length

and weigh more than a ton.

Huber: Tiger sharks are
extremely dangerous animals.

They get very, very large.
They're very powerful.

They have teeth that are
extremely effective at cutting.

Narrator: Ryan's encounter
could help solve the riddle

of the quadruple shark attacks,

also on myrtle beach,
just a few weeks later.

Some suspect that the incident
could be the work

of a so-called "rogue" shark.

This theory states that
a single injured shark

might turn to humans for food.

And ryan did claim to have
damaged his assailant's eye

during the melee.

So is the shark that bit ryan

also responsible
for the other four attacks?

For that to be true,
there would need to be proof

that the animal
stayed in the area.

There may be evidence
to confirm that it did.

A month after the attacks,

authorities make
a stunning discovery.

Paul: It was one in a, probably,
I don't know, million chance,

but, like, I heard that somebody
caught a one-eyed shark.

Narrator: Could this be
the shark that ryan injured?

Abel: What you're seeing here

is one of the most magnificent
beasts in the sea.

This is a sandbar shark.

Narrator:
According to dr. Dan abel

from coastal carolina
university,

the answer lies in a unique
feature of a shark's eye.

Abel: One of the really
interesting aspects

of this particular animal

is that they have
a protective lower eyelid,

a third eyelid called
a nictitating membrane.

The nictitating membrane
will be deployed

when the animal is opening
its mouth to eat

or if it perceives
that it's in danger.

Narrator:
This evolutionary design means

that it's extremely difficult
to damage the eye of a shark.

The implication is stunning.

Abel: If somebody were to have
injured the eye of a shark

and a shark with an injury
to that same eye was caught,

the likelihood is
that it's the same shark.

Narrator: So is
this injured tiger shark

the rogue that terrorized
myrtle beach?

One way to find out is
to examine the victim's wounds.

If these bites match each other
and they're from a tiger shark,

it would be highly likely

that it's the very same
shark that bit ryan.

Huber: When we look at the bite
photos from the second victim,

the spacing of the tooth marks
near his toes would suggest

that it was something around
a four-foot shark approximately.

Narrator: Next, he analyzes the
injuries of the third victim.

Huber: When we look
at the outside of the leg,

we can tell that this is
the lower jaw of the shark.

The pointier teeth
of the lower jaw

create these
thinner lacerations,

and we can see that they
raked through the skin.

When we look at the inside
of his leg,

we can tell that this is where

the upper jaw
of the shark bit him.

Narrator: Based on the wounds,
dr. Huber reaches a conclusion.

Huber: The bite marks seem
to indicate that a tiger shark

was probably not responsible
for the attacks on June 14th.

Narrator:
The shark that bit ryan

is not responsible
for the other four attacks.

In fact, dr. Huber's analysis

turns the rogue shark theory
on its head.

Huber: One of the things
that we can tell about the shark

that bit the second victim was
that it was relatively small.

However, the spacing between the
tooth marks on the other victim

would seem to indicate
a larger shark.

So the bite photos indicate
that it's impossible

that a single shark was
associated with the attacks.

Narrator: It seems the attacks
are the work

of several different sharks.

But huber believes there is
at least one commonality

that can help experts
figure out what happened.

Each of the four bites
were from the same species.

Huber: It's highly likely
that this series of attacks

can be attributed
to blacktip sharks.

Narrator:
Named for the black tips

on their dorsal, pectoral,
and pelvic fins,

blacktip sharks often hunt
in shallow waters

and are one of the most
widely seen species

along the south carolina coast.

Their torpedo-shaped bodies

allow them to leap
from the water

at incredible speeds
of 10 to 15 miles per hour.

So, what would cause
multiple blacktip sharks

to suddenly begin
attacking people?

A clue might lie in the form
of a rarely seen predator

known to lurk the depths
of the ocean floor.

Narrator: On June 14, 2012,

in myrtle beach,
south carolina,

four people are attacked
on a small stretch of the coast

in just ten minutes.

It's an unprecedented event

that leaves tourists
and locals on edge.

Denny: Every week
the rest of the summer,

every new group that came in,

they all wanted to know
about the bites.

They all were worried,
should we get in the water.

The whole summer was
shark, shark, sharks.

Narrator: Experts have
concluded that the bites

were most likely the work
of multiple blacktip sharks.

But what caused them
to suddenly sink their teeth

into so many people?

On June 19th, five days
after the shocking incidents,

something happens
that could provide a clue.

It turns out sharks
aren't the only animals

haunting beachgoers
on myrtle beach.

Sixteen-year-old matthew breen
is swimming in the shallows

when he feels a sharp pain
in his foot.

But it's not a shark bite.

He's been attacked
by a stingray.

Breen is taken to grand strand
regional medical center

where he is treated by a team
led by dr. Jarratt lark.

Jarratt lark: We see a dramatic
number of stingray stings

in our area.

There's a very, very common
presentation.

It's not uncommon to see one or
two a day throughout the summer.

Narrator: In fact,
dr. Lark does reveal

what could be
an important observation

of the presence of stingrays
near the shoreline

on the day
of the quadruple attacks.

Lark: June 14, 2012,
sticks in my memory very well.

I was out on the beach
that morning.

And I noticed that there were
one or two rays

swimming just underneath
the surface along the beach,

very close, where people
would be enjoying the water.

Narrator: So how might
stingrays be connected?

Marine biologist shannon hughes
takes care of the stingrays

at ripley's aquarium
of myrtle beach.

According to hughes,
around that time of year,

a certain species of ray takes
part in an incredible event.

Shannon hughes: When the water
starts warming up, that's when

you'll see cownose stingrays
coming through.

They're migrating,
and they are in large schools.

Narrator:
The cownose ray migration.

It's one of the most incredible
oceanic spectacles

of the natural world.

Every year after spending
the winter months

off the shores of florida,

the rays head north up the
atlantic coast to give birth.

They travel in groups of up
to 10,000, known as a "fever."

dr. Dan abel
has been monitoring

the area's marine animals
for decades.

Abel: Well, speak of the devil.

That's a big stingray.

Narrator:
According to dr. Abel,

their epic journey
is treacherous.

The intrepid rays must evade
predators such as seals,

large fish, and most dangerous
of all, sharks.

Abel: A fast-swimming shark
like the blacktip shark,

they will follow
and eat cownose rays.

Narrator: So, could
the cownose ray migration

have drawn blacktips into
the shallows on June 14th

and caused
the quadruple attack?

According to dan huber,
it's all about timing.

Huber: Cownose stingrays migrate
in these enormous schools

up the atlantic coast
of the united states.

But the exact timing
can always fluctuate

because it's based
on water temperature.

Every animal has
a certain water temperature

at which its physiology
works ideally.

And the animals move back and
forth through the environment

to stay in waters that are
going to help with this.

Narrator: In winter months,
cownose rays are found

off the coast of florida

in waters around
70 degrees fahrenheit.

But as spring approaches,

the water temperatures
begin to rise,

and this triggers the rays
to head north,

past south carolina
toward the chesapeake bay.

So, in 2012, when did the
cownose ray migration occur?

Dan huber investigates.

Huber: What I'm looking at here
is water temperature data

off the coast of cape canaveral,
florida, in the spring of 2012.

And what we see is the water
temperature as of early March

getting above 70 degrees.

And as we move into mid-March,
warming quickly.

And this increase in temperature
is the kind of cue

that usually starts
an animal migration.

So if the stingrays had started
their migration at this time,

they would have been further
north than myrtle beach

by the time the attacks
had occurred in June of 2012.

Narrator: It seems that
the cownose ray migration

could not have been behind the
multiple attacks of June 14th.

But perhaps something else
lured the sharks

into the shallows that day.

And when investigators examine
the third attack,

it raises
a chilling possibility.

Connor fairburn: It was
right here in this area

where we were staying.

We all had just
graduated high school.

Class of 2012.

Just come down here just to cap
off our high school experience.

That brown house back there
looks familiar,

so I was somewhere
like right around in here.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

we were in the water.

It got to be about noon.

Everybody started getting
hungry, we were like no,

you know what, let's, let's
enjoy it for one more hour.

And, you know, that old famous
last words, just one more.

And that's when everything
kinda happened.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

just all of the sudden, I just
get rammed in my right calf,

and that was, it was violent.

It was a hard impact.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

(scream)

connor: It was about
the worst amount of pain

that I think I've ever felt.

Narrator: High school graduate
connor fairburn

is in the middle
of a shark attack.

Connor: I'm fighting it
off of my leg.

It was holding on for everything
that it could get.

Narrator:
Finally, the shark releases.

Connor: When it let go,
I looked down and I just,

I see blood coming out

and there's a piece of my leg
hanging off of it.

All I was thinking was
we got to get to the beach.

Narrator: Back on shore,

onlookers wave down
a lifeguard.

Connor is one of four people
to be attacked on myrtle beach

in the span of just 10 minutes.

The cause is a mystery.

But connor himself
offers a theory.

Connor: I think it was the blood

caused something within them to,
to be more on the attack.

Drawing them in.

Narrator:
Could it be that simple?

Might blood in the water from
the first attack that afternoon

have lured more sharks
to the area?

Sharks that then
sunk their teeth

into the other three swimmers?

Dr. Dan abel investigates.

Abel: So sharks are attracted
to blood in the water,

but it is far more complicated
than you might think

for a shark to detect it.

Narrator: For a shark
to find its prey,

it needs to come into contact

with a continuous string
of scent molecules

called an odor trail.

Abel: Let's say
a fish is bleeding,

the odorant hits
the shark's nostrils,

it would stimulate the part of
their brain that detects smells,

and they would then
swim towards it.

Narrator: The shark will start
to move in the direction

of the nostril that first came
into contact with the odor.

Then, the predator will sweep
its head from side to side.

Based on the concentration

of the molecules
entering its nostrils,

the shark can determine
in which direction to swim.

Abel: As the smell gets stronger
and stronger and stronger,

they can identify
where it comes from.

Narrator: It seems possible
that the blood

from the first victim
on June 14th

could have created
an odor trail

that then attracted
other sharks to the area.

But there is one other factor
to consider: Time.

The second attack occurred
just minutes after the first.

Could the odor trail
have developed that quickly?

According to dr. Abel,
it depends on the speed

at which molecules
move through the water.

And to demonstrate,
he conducts an experiment.

Abel: This will be a simulation
of how an odorant like blood

might be dispersed in the water.

Narrator: A fluorescent dye
is poured into the ocean.

The dye represents the blood
lost by the first victim.

Abel: It visually shows how,
for example,

blood might disperse.

Yeah, that would be
a lot of blood.

Narrator: Dr. Abel
analyzes the speed

at which the dye moves
through the water.

Abel: Sea water is heavy,
dense, we say it's viscous.

So, for an odor to be
dispersed in water,

it has to move very slowly.

Narrator: After two minutes,

the dye has only moved
about 25 feet from the boat.

Abel: People are, are,
are under the, the myth

that if you bleed in the ocean,

that instantaneously sharks
within miles around detect that,

and no, they, they need
to physically come in contact

with that odor.

And as we showed here,

the further you are away
from the source,

the lower the likelihood is

that a shark will come
in contact with it.

Narrator: It's clear that
on that fateful afternoon

in myrtle beach,

the blood from the first victim

wouldn't have traveled
quickly enough

to lure other sharks
into the area.

But that raises
a frightening possibility,

that the sharks
were already there

and they struck out at swimmers
for a different reason.

As experts begin to search
for other explanations,

they turn their attention
to a series

of disturbing discoveries
that occurred

in the months following
the June 2012 attacks.

Tony: We had some dolphins
that washed up already dead.

We weren't really sure
what it was,

but we did hear
from other states

that they were having
the same issue.

Narrator: In fact, it turns out
that over the course of 2013,

a total of 48 dolphins
are found dead

on south carolina beaches.

Researchers concluded
the dolphins were inflicted

with the morbillivirus.

This deadly disease suppresses
the dolphin's immune system

and causes inflammation
of the brain.

The result is a bizarre shift
in behavior.

Infected dolphins
have been witnessed

swimming in strange patterns,
almost like they are drunk.

And additional research
has shown

that brain inflammation
in zebra fish

caused them to become
more agitated.

So in 2012, could the sharks
of myrtle beach

have been inflicted
with a disease

that changed their behavior,

making them more likely
to bite swimmers?

According to dr. Dan huber,

it comes down
to a shark's immune system.

Huber: For animals, the skin
is the first line of defense

against any type
of an infection.

So the skin is part of
the immune system, essentially.

I'm looking at a section
of shark skin,

which shows what are called
dermal denticles,

which are basically little teeth

that makeup the scales
of a shark.

Narrator: The denticles perform
a unique function

in a shark's immune system.

Huber: Dermal denticle creates
a very uneven shape

that bacteria have
a hard time adhering to.

Because the bacteria
can't adhere to it,

they can't form colonies.

And this is something
that helps sharks

to resist bacterial infections.

Narrator: And there's
also another organ

that helps protects sharks
from disease.

Their liver.

The liver produces a chemical
compound called squalamine.

The squalamine is dispersed
inside the shark's cells.

If a virus invades the cells,

the squalamine prevents it
from multiplying.

So, the virus doesn't spread,

and the shark doesn't get sick.

Scientists are even
testing squalamine

to fight cancer in humans.

This remarkable immune system
means that sharks might be one

of the most disease-resistant
creatures on earth.

Huber: Any suggestion that
the sharks could've become ill

due to a virus or a bacterial
infection isn't very likely,

because sharks have
very strong immune systems.

Narrator: So disease
is not a factor

in the spike of attacks.

But just as experts appear
to have hit a dead end,

a piece of information
comes to light

that turns the investigation
on its head

and could reveal the truth
once and for all.

Erin o'hara: I saw that
deep gash, isaac screaming,

and knew I had to call 911.

Narrator: On June 14, 2012,

four swimmers are attacked
by sharks within ten minutes

on a small stretch of
myrtle beach, south carolina.

(screaming)

the cause of this unprecedented
event is a mystery.

To protect the future
of these beaches,

investigators turn to the past.

An incident from 2011
could crack the case.

(gulls squawking)

erin o'hara has vacationed
in myrtle beach for years.

Erin: We grew up coming here.

We love this end
of myrtle beach.

We can take a walk down
to the inlet down there.

When the tide is out,
it leaves all these big pools

where the kids can find
hermit crabs and starfish.

My husband and I
even honeymooned here,

so we love this area.

Narrator: In 2011,
erin came here on vacation

with her parents
and two children,

two-year-old eva
and five-year-old isaac.

Erin: Isaac was excited every
morning to go out in the water.

He loved to swim
from a very young age.

He loved to have fun.

And he was full of energy and...

Just a love of life.

So, this is probably where
I was sitting that morning.

Um, and, uh, then I, then...

Then I heard him screaming.

I can remember
that day very clearly.

I was sitting here.

I was looking at my dad
and son in the water.

Just, just thankful that my son
has his grandfather in his life

and that they love
to spend time together.

And so they were out there
jumping waves and playing.

That's when it happened.

Narrator: A shark tears through
the flesh of isaac's leg.

His grandfather wrestles him
out of the water

and races to the shore.

Erin: As dad gets closer,
I see this flesh wound open,

and then immediately I just see
the blood just coming.

I just start screaming,
"please, somebody call 911,

call 911, my son's been bit."

narrator: Eventually
the paramedics arrive,

and isaac is rushed
to the nearest hospital.

(squawking)

erin: The scariest part
was watching my five-year-old

go into major surgery.

You know, you, you, you,
you say goodbye to them.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

isaac: So, this is the bite.

You can see easily
on the other side of the leg

that there are
two rows of teeth.

If it wasn't there for my mom
that day, I might have died.

Narrator:
Isaac is lucky to be alive.

But the location of his attack
could help explain

the quadruple bites
of June 14, 2012.

The incident occurred
near a brackish inlet

called an estuary.

How might this
geographical feature

be linked to the attacks?

Dr. Dan abel investigates.

Abel: So what we're doing today
is research

in one of the most wondrous
ecosystems on the planet,

winyah bay
in coastal south carolina.

Narrator: Estuaries like this
surround myrtle beach.

It's here that sharks spend
a large amount of their time

feeding and even giving birth.

Dr. Abel and his team
are studying

under what circumstances sharks
enter these protected habitats

and, even more importantly,
why they leave.

Abel: Anchor's down.

Narrator: This research
could help solve the mystery

of the quadruple attacks.

Abel: It's a shark eat shark
eat shark world.

Narrator: On June 14, 2012,

residents and tourists
of myrtle beach are stunned

by four shark attacks
in just ten minutes.

Investigators believe the bites

are most likely the work
of blacktip sharks.

This species is known
to be abundant

in the brackish waters
of the region's estuaries.

Dr. Dan abel is researching
how the amount of salt

in the inlet,
known as the salinity,

can affect the movement
of coastal sharks.

Abel: One of the areas
we're interested in

is how the salinity, the amount
of salt in the water,

affects the kinds
of sharks we get

and the number of sharks we get.

Narrator: To do so,
the team takes water samples.

Narrator: And set fishing lines

to catch these
prodigious hunters.

Abel: So where we just set
our long line,

the salinity is
about 30 parts per thousand,

which is relatively high.

Narrator:
The team is able to assess

the population of sharks...

Abel: Anchor's down.

Narrator: ...By recording
the number and the species

of those they catch.

Abel: Okay. Got a little shark.

How big is it?

Okay.

Narrator:
The first catch of the day

is a small sandbar shark,

and it's just the beginning.

Abel: All right, I'm coming.

So we got two.
All right.

So let's go pick up the line,
second line.

We've got a big lemon shark.

Narrator: And their last find
of the day

is the most remarkable.

Man: All right.

Abel: This is
a 7 1/2 or 8-foot shark.

You can see we put a small shark
on the line for bait.

A small shark took the bait,

and then the bull shark
took the small shark

that ate the small shark
we had on as bait.

It's a shark eat shark
eat shark world.

Narrator: It's clear that
in periods of high salinity,

the estuary is inhabited
by a large number of sharks.

But what happens
when there is less salt?

Abel: Differences
in the salinity

can change the community
structure of the system

for days to weeks.

If the amount of salt
in the water is relatively low,

then that makes
for inhospitable conditions

for most of the sharks in here,

so the sharks typically then
will leave the estuary.

They will probably spread out
along the shoreline

for, you know, a period
from days to weeks.

Narrator: So what could have
caused the salinity

in the estuary
to suddenly drop?

An event just two weeks before
the attacks reveals the answer.

Reporter: Winds are increasing
towards the carolinas.

Beachgoers
in the southeast today

won't be so lucky tomorrow.

Narrator: Tropical storm beryl.

On may 30th, 45-mile-an-hour
winds battered the coastline

and heavy rainfall
flooded the region.

This sudden influx
of freshwater

could have lowered the salinity
in the estuary,

which in turn would make it
potentially inhospitable

for the blacktips.

Huber: It's also possible
that the storm system

churned up nutrients, which
would have fed the ecosystem,

potentially causing these sharks

to come closer into shore
than they normally do

and into the area
where people were swimming.

Narrator: And the final piece
of the puzzle lies

not in the shark's behavior,
but in the human's.

Two weeks before the attacks,

new direct flights were offered
to myrtle beach

from eight different
midwest cities.

Suddenly, the beaches were home

to thousands
of additional tourists.

But the weather didn't
cooperate at first.

Jordon: It had rained
and stormed the night before,

and then it stopped.

Connor: I think it rained
for one or two days,

and we just realized that we
didn't have a day at the beach.

It was basically one
of the last opportunities

that we were going
to actually have,

and on that Thursday,
I mean, everything,

it was just a perfect day.

Narrator: And so on June 14th,
not long after the blacktips

had likely begun to congregate
along the coast,

tourists, itching for some sun,

hit the beach
in unprecedented numbers.

The result was four shark bites
in just ten minutes.

Abel: This particular day,
there was a set of circumstances

that may have been the
perfect storm for shark bites.

Narrator:
But for those involved,

it's just another reason

to treat these
majestic predators

with caution and respect.

Tony: It was definitely
an eye opener for me.

You always got in the back
of your mind,

could, could something
be swimming around me

that is not too friendly?

Jordon: I definitely have more
of a respect for sharks now.

It is their ocean.

It is not our ocean.

So leave them alone,
they leave you alone

and go about your days.

Captioned by
side door media services