Original subtitles

NARRATOR: A brutal way of life where every day is a test to survive.

[hiss]

[growl]

For Africa's apex predators,

staying on top means being the fastest,

biggest,

smartest,

or the most powerful.

These are the best equipped.

[growl]

These are...

Africa's sprawling coastline.

A boundary between life and death.

♪

Sharks, fast, powerful, and armed to the teeth.

In a word, awesome.

These ancient predators perfected their game

millions of years ago.

♪

They rarely attack people,

but as the ocean's apex predator,

this is their turf.

♪

With 374 reported cases,

the African coastline is no stranger to shark attacks.

♪

Of the more than 500 shark species,

the Big Three--

the great white,

the tiger,

and the bull shark--

spill the most blood.

And Africa has all three.

♪

The tiger shark.

Named for his stripes,

it also suits his ferocity

and his weaponry.

♪

This 16-foot shark follows a trail of blood.

As he homes in on the scent, he deploys other killer senses.

He is the whole predatory package.

♪

His large eyes rapidly adjust to the gloom,

making it easier to spot his target.

Today, a sea turtle.

♪

A healthy sea turtle can inflict a nasty bite.

This one, already dead, saves him some trouble.

With some of the most powerful jaws in the animal kingdom,

he can chew through its half-inch-thick, armored shell like a hard roll.

♪

His wide jaws exert 19 tons of pressure per square inch.

♪

While his mouth, like a knife rack,

is crammed with 48 teeth,

smooth and serrated for slicing and sawing.

When one wears down, another takes its place,

so he never misses a meal.

It's not just large prey he's after.

Smaller fish will do.

And hiding in the coral won't help them.

Like all sharks,

the tiger shark has an extra sense.

It's almost not fair.

Sweeping over the reef,

he picks up the tiny electrical fields

that every living thing generates.

Jelly-filled pores in his snout

can detect a millionth of a volt.

These pores, called the ampullae of Lorenzini,

can feel your heartbeat.

From snack-size crustaceans to large mammals and carrion,

almost anything's on the menu for this most adaptable shark.

♪

The tiger shark shares our human fondness for warm tropical seas,

often hunting close to the shoreline.

♪

He's the second largest predatory shark,

and he's searching for something big to fuel the tank,

almost anything.

♪

This trash can of the sea will swallow empty cans,

license plates, or even old car tires.

And that's not all.

♪

This ton of predatory prowess

has built a reputation as a man-eater.

The second most dangerous shark in the world

has logged 111 attacks on people.

It's not the tiger shark's fault.

In the stirred-up water of a breaking wave,

a surfer could look like a succulent seal

or a tasty turtle.

Their splashing and paddling resemble an injured animal,

irresistibly easy prey.

♪

And yet tiger sharks are in far more need of protection from humans

than we are from them.

♪

As their population drops,

scientists strive to learn all they can about the secret lives

of these enigmatic super-predators.

Off South Africa's eastern shore,

a tiger shark hot spot

draws scientists from around the world.

Their aim, to tag and follow individual sharks.

To attract the sharks, the teams lower bait drums

filled with fish and fish oils.

♪

The delectably fishy slick line

acts like catnip to the tiger sharks.

Tagging them means

the scientists must go eye-to-eye with them.

It takes experience and guts.

♪

Within an hour,

up to 20 tiger sharks surround them.

♪

The sharks remain calm despite the presence of divers.

♪

But the scientists don't take the bait.

They know the sharks are not their chums and vice versa.

♪

If he sees something he likes, he takes it.

No food here.

♪

The naturally nosy tiger sharks give the divers a chance

to watch them up close, on the sharks' terms.

♪

Suddenly, the electromagnetic field of the divers

and their cameras spark their curiosity.

♪

Sharks taste first,

ask questions never.

♪

As the tension builds,

the scientists know they'd better leave.

♪

But not before darting a passing shark with a tracker.

♪

They hope the information from this small device

will shed some light

on this magnificent creature's mysterious movements across the ocean.

♪

As the scientists observe the tigers,

another shark lurks here.

One with 350 reasons to get your heart racing.

Bull sharks curse the waters of southern Africa.

♪

He's not as large as the tiger shark

but almost as deadly.

♪

He's on the hunt,

cruising the shallows behind the surf line.

♪

He's alone but not for long.

Blood in the water draws them in.

♪

Circling around a glistening shoal of small fish.

♪

When fish fail to satisfy their rampant hunger,

they head for murky water close to shore.

Their favorite place to hunt.

Poor visibility, especially at dawn and dusk,

gives them an edge.

Prey can't see them coming.

They hunt in highly populated, shallow tropical waters,

often popular vacation spots

where bathers can look just like food.

♪

This fast and agile shark can stun his victim

by using his short, wide nose as an 11-mile-per-hour battering ram.

Pugnacious and territorial,

the bull-headed bull shark has no patience for provocation,

intentional or not.

Which is why many consider them the world's most dangerous sharks.

On average, sharks have up to 15 rows of teeth.

A bull shark is an oral overachiever.

He sports up to 50 rows and a grand total of 350 teeth,

each about one and a half inches long.

Talk about a killer smile.

♪

For his weight, he has the highest bite force among all cartilaginous fish.

This is not a shark you want to go head-to-head with.

Staying out of the ocean won't save you.

He has an unusual superpower.

When swollen rivers flow into the sea,

they open a passage of opportunity.

Bull sharks are one of the few sharks

that can troll freshwater lakes and rivers,

allowing them to hunt where most other sharks cannot.

Also called Zambezi sharks,

they're as mighty as the river they're named after.

They can cruise as far as 2,500 miles upstream from the ocean,

longer than the Mississippi River.

Because they need salt to survive,

their kidneys recycle it

to conserve salt in their bloodstream.

They can adjust to the salinity of the water they are in,

water they often share uneasily with fishermen and villagers.

- Along KwaZulu- - Natal, a coastline rich in river mouths,

over 100 people have been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The bull shark was implicated for most of these attacks.

♪

On rare occasions, the perfect storm of hunting conditions

creates a flurry of attacks and mass panic.

But if there's one shark out there

capable of causing terror on a global scale,

it's this one.

He even has his own theme music.

♪ [variation of Jaws theme]

The great white.

Everyone's favorite saltwater serial killer.

He owes his star power to his enormous size,

muscular jaws that can extend like an outreached hand,

rows of jagged, triangular teeth and jet-black eyes.

At 4,500 pounds and reaching an epic length of 20-plus feet,

the great white is the world's largest flesh-eating fish.

And he's always hungry.

♪

This apex predator makes his home around the globe,

though larger numbers hang out in certain hot spots.

And Africa's southern tip is the great white capital of the world.

Maligned as the White Death,

great whites have killed 80 people and attacked 314,

nearly triple that of the tiger shark,

who comes in at a distant second.

The rugged Atlantic shoreline of South Africa's Cape,

a mecca for surfers and spearfishers.

♪

Here's the bottom line.

If these, the greatest marine predators on the planet,

really targeted humans as food,

far fewer people would emerge from the sea.

♪

Accidents do happen,

but great whites come here for their actual favorite food.

Laid out like a big, blubbery platter.

Only a few miles offshore,

breeding colonies of Cape Fur seals

haul onto the islands off South Africa's tip.

Each year, thousands of seal pups

learn to navigate the treacherous water.

[barking]

They leave the safe, shallow pools to fish in the open ocean.

♪

Where one of the largest populations of great whites awaits them.

[seals bellowing]

♪

The smart and agile seals don't make an easy meal.

♪

But the great white has a killer strategy.

♪

The seals find temporary safety in the kelp forests.

♪

The shark circles,

waiting so patiently for them to return to the islands.

They make a break for it.

♪

The last few hundred yards around the islands

are known as the Ring of Death.

♪

Now the shark makes his move, diving deeper,

where his cryptic coloration makes him invisible from above.

♪

He can see the seals, they can't see him,

until it's too late.

♪

Target in range, he blasts upward at 40 miles an hour.

♪

The almost 3-inch serrated blades

of the lower jaw strike first.

The jaws slam shut, the teeth gnashing together perfectly

in about 0.99 of a second.

♪

This incredible ability to breach

is only displayed in a few places,

and people flock to South Africa to see it.

Baiting to entice sharks is controversial and illegal

in many parts of the world.

In South Africa,

it is regulated and requires a permit.

From these studies, we now know that these two-ton killers

can propel 10 feet out of the water

like vicious champagne corks.

♪

Shark cage diving, equally controversial,

can help researchers identify individual sharks

by the unique markings on their huge fins.

Built of soft cartilage, not hard bone,

sharks live and die by their powerful jaws.

A matrix of tiny calcium crystal blocks

gives their choppers the strength they need.

♪

The great white's jaw matrix is up to five times thicker

than most other sharks,

to deliver 17,000 Newtons of force.

For size, aggression, and predatory prowess,

almost nothing beats the great white shark.

Because his reputation precedes him,

people take precautions around this monster fish.

The same can't be said for his cousin,

who will bite the hand that feeds him.

Sharks invade South Africa's coastline.

♪

By day, schools of up to 40 ragged-tooth sharks circle,

mostly biding their time.

By gulping air on the surface,

storing it in their stomachs,

they can hover motionless,

conserving energy before the hunt.

No other shark can hover like this.

♪

For now, they float idly in the water column.

You might think these sharks are slow and lethargic.

You'd be wrong.

The time is coming.

They can almost taste it.

Like vampires, they usually hunt at night.

♪

Millions of tiny enamel-coated scales cover their skin,

reducing drag,

making them swift when they get to work.

Like 11-foot zombies, they emerge relentlessly

from every dark corner.

The hunt begins.

♪

Their buoyancy makes them silent as death,

causing hardly a ripple.

Their faces are the stuff of orthodontic nightmares,

but it's all part of the package.

No skate, ray or eel is safe.

♪

They gang up to drive shoals of fish together.

♪

Unlike most sharks,

raggies have no serrations on their needle-like teeth.

Optimized for gripping, not tearing.

Most of what they eat goes down whole.

And they're not above scavenging.

♪

These little cousins of the great white shark

don't share the notoriety of their kin,

but be warned.

Divers converge on Africa's southeast coast

to rub shoulders with them.

♪

The sharks take little notice,

mostly.

♪

Calmer than most sharks, but still sharks,

their mood can turn on a dime.

Touching or feeding a shark

only increases your chances of being bitten

and is never a good idea.

♪

Just ask the 29 human victims of ragged-tooth shark attacks.

No one died, but the scars left a hell of a souvenir.

♪

Raggies aren't the only winter visitors

to South Africa's eastern coast.

♪

As a seasonal finger of cold water swirls up

from the frigid Benguela Current,

it carries one of the largest biomass migrations on Earth.

And chasing it is an army.

Hundreds of sharks begin to seethe off Africa's coast.

The dusky shark army is gathering.

Their sixth sense, the ampullae of Lorenzini,

detect electromagnetic fields around their prey,

but only up close.

At greater distances, they deploy a seventh sense.

♪

Cells along their entire body, called a lateral line,

tune in to vibrations and changes in water pressure.

Once a year, their lateral lines are tripped

by billions of fish swimming for their lives.

♪

The dusky sharks deploy like 13-foot torpedoes.

♪

During the annual sardine run

they gather for one of the most frenzied

of all wildlife events.

♪

The shark brigade traps the fish

into ever-tightening, swirling balls of quicksilver.

The broad, serrated teeth in their upper jaws

meet the sharp and cusped lower teeth,

easily grasping and cutting through prey.

They don't dine alone for long.

Copper sharks, attracted by the feeding frenzy,

move in.

At over 650 pounds,

they're among the top 10 biggest sharks.

Also known as bronze whalers,

they once trailed whaling vessels,

circling like hyenas, snapping at scraps.

Copper sharks can gather in huge numbers,

in highly organized shivers.

♪

As the mass of sardines boils at the surface,

squadrons of gannets mount an aerial assault.

♪

[birds warbling]

♪

[dolphins squeaking]

While screeching pods of thousands of common dolphins

join the fray.

[squeaking]

[squeaking]

[squeaking]

Together they corral and conquer.

Each time a bladed mouth is filled,

the bait ball regroups, slowly shrinking.

The dusky sharks turn more aggressive,

seeing not only the marine hunters,

but the divers as competition.

♪

Dusky and copper sharks decimate a panicked ball of sardines.

Divers and camera crew beware.

In the fog of war, the sharks could confuse a diver's fin

and the flash of a fish in distress.

Blood in the water only feeds the frenzy.

And then the seasonal chaos vanishes into the blue.

But death trolls these waters year round.

♪

Blacktip sharks, in some parts of the world responsible for 20%

of all shark attacks on humans.

They gather in large, structured groups,

and yet females can impregnate themselves

without the help of a male.

Only around 8 feet long,

what they lack in size they make up for in power.

♪

They hunt together, targeting shoals of fish near the surface

and bag their catch

with 15 rows of narrowly cusped, serrated teeth.

♪

Blacktips mainly confine their reign

of terror to muddy bays, lagoons, and drop-offs near coral reefs,

less than 100 feet deep.

And because they can tolerate low salinity,

they prowl estuaries and mangrove swamps.

♪

Hunting near the shoreline puts them just feet away

from unsuspecting surfers and bathers.

Where crashing waves churn the surf,

blacktips can mistake people for prey.

♪

So far 29 swimmers have found themselves

at the wrong end of a blacktip.

One never lived to tell the tale.

♪

But along Africa's east coast,

blacktips prefer an easier catch,

schools of small fish, close to the surface.

♪

Reaching 21 feet per second, blacktips are fast,

but not compared to these guys.

Common dolphins,

swimming at more than twice that speed to the kill zone.

[squeaking]

They become the sharks' unwitting allies.

As the dolphins corral the fish into tight balls,

the oxygen in the water starts to dwindle.

As the fish slow down, the sharks pick them off.

Dolphin and shark both enjoy the spoils.

♪

Having swum the world's oceans for hundreds of millions of years,

sharks have become the perfect predator.

♪

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