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♪ ♪

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HEMSWORTH (off-screen): There's nothing quite like the ocean

at first light.

It's a special place.

But you're always aware there may be bigger creatures

out there than you.

HEMSWORTH: I've spent a big part of my life in and around the ocean,

but I've never seen a shark when I've been surfing.

I've been called out of the water by the helicopters,

the shark spotters a couple of times.

Been in the water when other people have said

they've seen the shark.

But you definitely feel their presence.

I've had a couple of spooky moments where I'm

pretty certain that there was something

swimming underneath me.

HEMSWORTH (off-screen): For me, sharks are some of the planet's most elegant and

magnificent creatures.

Unfortunately when we humans enter the water,

they can present unique dangers.

In Australia, where I live,

we've just had the worst spate of fatal shark

encounters in a century.

REPORTER (over TV): The community is on edge this morning,

after a man was killed by a great white shark...

REPORTER 2 (over TV): A boy, just 15, dead after a shark attack...

HEMSWORTH (off-screen): As someone who loves sharks,

and being in the water,

I want to get beneath that reputation.

See what makes these creatures tick,

and maybe even meet one in person.

I want to find out if we can live together,

without doing each other harm.

DIRECTOR (off-screen): So if someone says the word sharks to you Chris...

HEMSWORTH: Yeah.

DIRECTOR (off-screen): What comes to mind?

HEMSWORTH: I have a very mixed kind of gut reaction

to sharks these days, you know.

Obviously I grew up watching Jaws and plenty of films like that,

that scare the hell out of you, and you know,

make you think twice about getting in the ocean.

But we need to figure out a way to work and

live in harmony with them, so you know,

we're protected but also so are they.

HEMSWORTH (off-screen): Growing up in paradise,

you learn about the beauty and importance of the natural

world pretty early on.

That's me, with my mum, dad and big brother.

I was always encouraged to appreciate the

wilderness around me.

It means generally I don't think twice about

getting in the water.

No matter what might be lurking out there.

Where, are you thinking, here or...

MICK: I'm thinking here, down this way.

HEMSWORTH (off-screen): My mate Mick Fanning shares a similar love of the ocean,

despite some troubling first-hand experience.

MICK: I don't know. HEMSWORTH: Yeah.

MICK: We'll figure it out once we get out there.

HEMSWORTH: Any sharks? MICK: Probably.

Yeah, we're in an area that is known for sharks.

HEMSWORTH: Yeah.

MICK: Been a bit more activity around lately.

HEMSWORTH: There has, hasn't there?

MICK: Maybe we'll go and do it before they show up.

HEMSWORTH: That's right. Shall we get out there?

MICK: Yeah, let's go do it.

HEMSWORTH (off-screen): Now I'm competitive by nature,

so I love to think I can keep up with Mick.

Just one problem.

He's a three time world champion.

MICK: Is it like a real heat?

HEMSWORTH: This is the world title.

MICK: Awesome.

HEMSWORTH (off-screen): Maybe intimidation is my best bet.

HEMSWORTH: We're friends now, but once we hit the water, we're enemies.

MICK: You're not riding that, are you?

HEMSWORTH: I am. Are you riding that?

(laughter).

HEMSWORTH: I hope you fall off.

(laughter).

HEMSWORTH (off-screen): Nope, that didn't work.

Maybe it's time to take up a different sport.

Bowling, cricket, tennis...

I think it's fair to say I'm obsessed with surfing.

I have been since the first time I tried it with my dad

and my brothers when I was six years old.

You get so wrapped up in the waves, it's easy to forget,

we're really just visitors.

Below us, a whole other world...

Where sharks have been feeding for hundreds of

millions of years.

And it's here our paths sometimes cross.

HEMSWORTH: You've probably talked about this about 500 times

since it happened...

MICK: A few.

HEMSWORTH: A few times.

Do you want to walk us through it?

MICK: It was a beautiful day.

It was extremely sunny, water was picture perfect clear.

And you know, we're in the middle of a surfing event.

You know, we had just started the final with Julian Wilson.

MAN (over TV): Beautiful carve to start from Wilson.

MICK: And I'd been sitting there for probably like four

or five minutes.

And I was just about to move and then I just heard this

splash behind me, and I was like, oh no.

And I try and jump on my board and then all of a sudden,

I just get hit from this side.

I just caught the tail straight to the face.

And I'm just like, I'm out of here.

It was...

But then I was like, hang on, if I just keep swimming,

this thing could just come and take my legs,

so I was just trying to get myself up as high as I

possibly could to see if it was coming up.

HEMSWORTH: Oh wow.

MICK: And luckily it didn't.

HEMSWORTH: What kind of shark was it?

MICK: It was a great white. HEMSWORTH: A great white?

MICK: Yeah.

HEMSWORTH: How long before the jet ski picked you up?

MICK: Oh it would have been probably like maybe 30 seconds.

HEMSWORTH: Oh, that's the longest 30 seconds of your life.

MICK: Yeah.

HEMSWORTH: After that happened,

did you find you have more trepidation,

hesitation getting in the water.

MICK: Definitely things have changed now.

Like, I see everything on the water now.

And I'm still scared of hearing splashes behind me.

It just, I jump.

And even if the waves are incredibly perfect,

if I just don't feel right, I just go in these days.

HEMSWORTH: Yeah, yeah.

MICK: It's just, you know, just...

It's not worth the risk.

HEMSWORTH (off-screen): Mick was extremely lucky,

because encounters like these can turn deadly.

Sharks can bite with such power and speed,

even if they don't intend to kill,

the outcome can be catastrophic.

REPORTER (over TV): Good evening, a surfer has been mauled and his

board obliterated by a five meter great white shark,

a predator that came out of nowhere.

HEMSWORTH (off-screen): In 2020 Australia suffered a record eight fatal

shark encounters, over half along the east coast,

where I live.

REPORTER (over TV): The hunt is on for the great white shark that

killed a 46 year old surfer at Greenmount Beach at

Coolangatta on the Gold Coast.

HEMSWORTH (off-screen): Every loss of life, devastating.

REPORTER (over TV): A loving father, husband and keen fisherman,

mauled by a shark off Fraser Island.

HEMSWORTH (off-screen): With huge repercussions in these coastal communities.

REPORTER (over radio): It's the second fatal shark attack

in the state's north in just over a month.

HEMSWORTH (off-screen): Despite these tragedies,

it remains highly unlikely that any of us in Australia

will be bitten by a shark.

But it does seem that human encounters with

them are increasing.

So what exactly is happening out there in our oceans that

can explain this?

PAUL: So if we're starting here on the top end of Queensland,

come down the east coast of Australia...

HEMSWORTH (off-screen): Paul Butcher is one of Australia's top shark scientists.

He's spent the last 20 years researching their changing

behavior and movements.

PAUL: For white sharks, the migration route is as

a group during April, May, up the east coast,

and we've got a location here called Fraser Island.

Once you get to October, November, December,

they're turning around and coming back down to Victorian

and Tasmanian waters.

The big thing is we've got this very heavy populated

coast line through here, so we've got large numbers of

people now using the east coast of Australia,

warm water, beautiful conditions, great waves.

HEMSWORTH: So it's just that there's more people in the water.

PAUL: More people, but we're definitely seeing more sharks

up against the coastline.

HEMSWORTH: So why do you think they're coming

closer to shore?

Is that the water temperatures?

PAUL: So we've got this warm current that comes down along

the east Australian coast.

That nearly runs the entire year now, where previously,

over decades and decades,

it just runs during summer and spring.

HEMSWORTH: And it runs the entire year,

you think because of...

PAUL: Global warming.

So we've now got those warm temperatures,

we're starting to see more animals along the coastline,

which is an increase in sharks as well.

So it's inevitable that we're going to see white sharks and

other sharks interacting with human users in the water.

HEMSWORTH (off-screen): It now seems like our altering of the climate

might be drawing an increasing number of sharks

closer to shore.

Our world, it seems, is having a big impact on theirs.

The best way to really get a handle on

what's going on down there...

HEMSWORTH (over radio): Oh wow.

HEMSWORTH (off-screen): Is to take a dip and see it for yourself.

HEMSWORTH: So we're about to go and see the legendary shark

conservationist Valerie Taylor,

and we're going to go diving,

hopefully see some sharks,

hopefully some friendly sharks.

HEMSWORTH (off-screen): Valerie Taylor started her career as a champion spear fisher.

But she soon fell in love with the ocean,

and dedicated her life to conservation.

She swapped her spear for a camera,

and started making marine documentaries with

her husband Ron.

VALERIE (off-screen): Great whites are most dangerous,

when they feel themselves to be trapped.

HEMSWORTH (off-screen): They specialized in filming sharks in their natural habitat.

VALERIE (off-screen): It was an extremely risky method of filming these big predators.

HEMSWORTH (off-screen): And even helped shoot the Hollywood blockbuster

Jaws.

I grew up watching Valerie's shows, and at 85,

she still cares deeply about the health of our oceans.

Hey Valerie.

VALERIE: G'day Chris.

HEMSWORTH: Good to see you. How's it going?

VALERIE: Fine. HEMSWORTH: Great.

So what's the plan today?

VALERIE: We're going out to Fish Rock, and if we're lucky,

we'll see grey nurse sharks.

HEMSWORTH: Fantastic.

So what's the temperament of a grey nurse shark?

VALERIE: It's a very easygoing shark.

HEMSWORTH: Easygoing, yeah.

VALERIE: Yeah. They will come close.

HEMSWORTH: Great.

VALERIE: Don't make sharp movements, you know,

like this.

Don't do that.

They'll thump your tail, you'll hear it.

HEMSWORTH: Yeah, right.

VALERIE: And they go away, it means they're cross.

HEMSWORTH: Okay.

VALERIE: But you're not going to do that.

HEMSWORTH: We're not going to do that.

Okay. Great.

VALERIE: Well let's go. HEMSWORTH: Let's go.

HEMSWORTH (off-screen): Fish Rock, off the coast of New South Wales,

is a very special place for Val,

and the story of shark conservation.

And today is going to be her first visit back in

over a decade.

VALERIE: You look like you're in the tropics.

I look like I'm in Antarctica.

(laughter).

HEMSWORTH (off-screen): 50 years ago it was thought that grey nurse sharks were killers,

so they were culled,

and almost became extinct in Australia.

But Val started campaigning, and thanks to her efforts,

the grey nurse was the first species of shark in the world

to gain protection.

I don't think there's anyone out there who knows these

creatures better than Val.

VALERIE: Sharks are the garbage men of the sea.

They eat the old, the sick and the unwary.

They don't eat people.

They bite them.

HEMSWORTH: And spit them out.

VALERIE: Spit them out.

Wrong thing, made a mistake.

They don't have hands, they can't go and say, ooh...

Oh nice.

(laughter).

VALERIE: They bite and they have to feel with their teeth.

You know, if I bit you, no, not me, if a shark

HEMSWORTH: You can bite me, it's alright.

VALERIE: Bit you with its teeth,

your first instinct would be to pull away,

but if you stay still, they'll let go.

But nobody can stay still.

HEMSWORTH (off-screen): Now I'm a total diving novice...

HEMSWORTH: Should I be nervous?

(laughter).

HEMSWORTH (off-screen): But I reckon I'm in safe hands.

Val's completed over 5,000 dives in the last 60 years,

and knows this place like the back of her hand.

VALERIE (over radio): It's a bit murky down here.

Chris, are you okay?

HEMSWORTH (over radio): Yep, all good.

HEMSWORTH (off-screen): Although 40 feet underwater, looking for giant sharks,

I do wish I could see a bit further.

Val says the grey nurses we're hoping to see can grow

up to 12 feet long,

and live for up to 40 years.

VALERIE (over radio): Oh, look, look.

HEMSWORTH (over radio): Oh wow.

VALERIE (over radio): That's a big female.

HEMSWORTH (over radio): Incredible.

HEMSWORTH (off-screen): Coming face to face with them,

it's hard to put into words the serene beauty

of these magnificent creatures.

Up close you see the grey nurse's jaws are filled with

over 100 needle-sharp teeth.

HEMSWORTH (over radio): Just amazing.

HEMSWORTH (off-screen): But luckily, they only eat small fish and

crustaceans from the sea floor.

It's such a privilege seeing these massive

creatures up close.

Being under the waves,

rather than surfing on top really does give you a new perspective.

VALERIE: How was it?

HEMSWORTH: It's amazing.

Well, it was amazing for me.

I saw one and then it kind of swam off pretty quick,

and we swam in a different direction and there were,

I don't know, three or four, or five, but...

VALERIE: One of them was huge.

HEMSWORTH: One really big one, yeah, yeah.

VALERIE: Yeah, biggest grey nurse I've ever seen actually.

HEMSWORTH: That was the biggest grey nurse shark you've seen?

VALERIE: Ever. HEMSWORTH: Oh wow.

The big female?

VALERIE: I think it might have been a female actually,

because usually you can see the...

male parts.

How do you say that on television?

HEMSWORTH: The male parts, that'll do.

Bits and pieces.

VALERIE: Oh God Valerie, shut up.

(laughter).

VALERIE: I'm glad you saw them.

HEMSWORTH (off-screen): It's believed there are now only 2,000 grey nurse sharks left in

the whole of eastern Australia...

making this, a pretty special encounter.

HEMSWORTH: So that was, you know, beyond my expectation.

You definitely feel like this is their space and their home,

and you are a guest.

It's certainly not something that you're in control of,

nor an environment that you're able to manipulate,

you know, take power over.

You, you feel completely at the mercy of what's around you

with those creatures and that situation,

but at peace too at the same time.

I had no idea that I would feel that way and have even

more respect for the ocean and its beautiful creatures

that we need to protect.

HEMSWORTH (off-screen): Like so many other species of shark,

the grey nurses have been pushed to the

brink of extinction.

The question is,

what can we do to turn this huge problem around?

And critically, for us ocean lovers,

are there ways we can protect humans without harming sharks?

HEMSWORTH: Here sharky-sharky- sharky sharky-sharky.

♪ ♪

HEMSWORTH (off-screen): Sharks are always on the move.

Their predatory instincts often draw them to the

coastline to feed on fish and marine life...

making encounters with us more likely.

So for many years,

some authorities have set nets to capture sharks,

to stop them reaching popular beaches.

But they've had devastating consequences.

Conservationist Val Taylor has seen the terrible impact

of shark nets first hand.

VALERIE: Although they do protect the beach to a certain extent,

what I dislike about them,

well I really loathe about them, is they bycatch.

HEMSWORTH: Yeah.

VALARIE: All that harmless, beautiful marine life that is killed.

HEMSWORTH: So these are some videos of animals

being caught in the nets.

VALERIE: Look at that, oh it's so sad, so sad.

HEMSWORTH: So sad, isn't it?

VALERIE: Look, it's alive.

HEMSWORTH: Yeah, isn't that awful?

VALERIE: It catches a lot of turtles.

HEMSWORTH: Yeah. Wow, that's awful.

VALERIE: Yeah, all sorts of creatures in there.

HEMSWORTH: Yeah.

So these animals, they get caught, and then they die, right?

VALERIE: With sharks, they have to keep moving to aerate.

They actually take oxygen out of the ocean water.

And when they're trapped like that they can't do it.

Ron and I made ourselves very unpopular in our day because

we'd go out and cut the living animals out.

HEMSWORTH: And free them. VALERIE: And free them.

I had a very good pair of scissors.

It's easier with the scissors than with a knife.

And I'd just cut them out and free them.

I've only ever seen one really dangerous shark caught in the net,

because they can swim under them and around them.

HEMSWORTH (off-screen): The impact of these nets really is heartbreaking,

and as Val points out,

sharks can often swim around them anyway.

Thankfully, less damaging solutions are now starting to be used.

To find out more, I'm going back to shark expert

Dr Paul Butcher.

HEMSWORTH: Hi boys.

PAUL: Hi Chris, welcome on board.

HEMSWORTH: Thank you.

HEMSWORTH (off-screen): Together with his team, he wants to show me a new

technique they're using to keep sharks and humans apart.

HAYDEN: Everyone holding on?

HEMSWORTH (off-screen): Alongside nets, parts of Australia have used

traps known as drumlines to control sharks.

Their fixed, baited hooks catch the animals,

which are then simply left to die.

But Paul's team is pioneering a new technology,

the smart drumline.

So when you say the smart drumlines versus the previous drumlines,

were the previous drumlines just set up to catch them?

PAUL: Yeah, they were designed to catch and kill.

They set them the day before, check them the next day,

so the sharks are always dead.

HEMSWORTH (off-screen): Over the last 50 years,

this method has killed over 20,000 sharks

in Australian waters.

PAUL: So we're just approaching the first line.

HEMSWORTH (off-screen): The smart drumline program is different.

PAUL: Do you want to cut a bait?

HEMSWORTH: Yeah, sure.

HEMSWORTH (off-screen): It's designed to catch sharks but then tag and release them,

unharmed, back to the wild.

PAUL: Nice.

This is what we call the smart unit.

When a shark takes the bait, it triggers this magnet here,

within 30 seconds it's sending a signal to satellite,

and then we get a message on our phones.

We get to those sharks as quickly as we can, then tag,

release and let that animal go.

Then we can just...

HEMSWORTH: Launch the old fish.

PAUL: Go for it.

HEMSWORTH: Boom.

HEMSWORTH (off-screen): Conservation like this requires a strong stomach,

which I may not have.

HEMSWORTH: Oh, my hands smell good.

HEMSWORTH (off-screen): But it's essential work.

The tags Paul and his team attach not only monitor

sharks' movements, they're also connected to a coastal alarm system.

That means surfers and swimmers can be quickly

alerted to any danger.

PAUL: We set them just far enough offshore,

which is 500 meters out,

which is pretty much just behind the beach break,

where we know the sharks are travelling up and down.

HEMSWORTH: So the smart drumline actually acts as

protection for the surfers.

PAUL: Yeah, our surfers and water uses know where they are,

and if they're in each day as well.

HEMSWORTH: Launch this out. PAUL: Yeah.

(whistles)

HEMSWORTH: Here, sharky-sharky-sharky sharky-sharky.

HEMSWORTH (off-screen): But as is often the case with marine research,

it's all a bit of a waiting game.

Hopefully we'll catch one before I throw up.

HEMSWORTH: Feeling good.

A little seasick and queasy for a minute there,

but job done.

What did we get, 23, 24 buoys in?

I feel confident, you know, that we've dropped enough

drums in the water so we'll be able to catch one

and tag one and...

fingers crossed.

Thanks boys.

I got the shark alert on my phone.

So looking forward to getting a shark and we'll

tag it and do our thing.

PAUL: Make sure that phone's on.

HEMSWORTH: I will. Thanks a lot.

PAUL: See you mate.

HEMSWORTH: See you guys.

HEMSWORTH (off-screen): The use of technology is encouraging.

But could there be other more traditional ways to live with sharks?

NICKOLLA: It's their domain, it's their home.

They've always been there.

HEMSWORTH: I couldn't agree with you more.

HEMSWORTH (off-screen): While I'm waiting for an alert,

I want to find out if there are simpler ways of

coexisting with sharks.

As a kid, my family and I lived in the Northern Territory,

in an indigenous Australian community.

Up there, wildlife was something to revere and respect.

Here on the east coast, those same values hold true.

NICKOLLA: I have an example of one of my artworks here,

which is all about country.

It was...

HEMSWORTH (off-screen): Local artist Nickolla Clark is an Arakwal

woman of the Bundjalung nation.

For over 20,000 years, her people have called the

area around Byron Bay their home, and have an intimate

understanding of both land and ocean.

HEMSWORTH: So we're here in Byron Bay,

I learned to dive at Julian Rocks.

It's beautiful out there.

Can you tell us the significance of Julian Rocks

to the Arakwal people?

NICKOLLA: It's a significant site to us, where our creator,

where he lays rest.

So we don't go on Julian Rocks,

we don't harm it,

we don't touch it, so it's pretty important.

HEMSWORTH: Yeah.

Do the Arakwal people have a big connection

the ocean specifically?

NICKOLLA: Yeah, so we're coastal people.

For us, living so close to the beach,

collecting bush foods and having the ocean to swim and

play, and we would live off the sea.

HEMSWORTH: Have you noticed more activity with

sharks in particular?

NICKOLLA: There's definitely been an increase in activity

between people and the ocean, and sharks in particular.

And a lot of the places people actually go here on country is

they go to these beautiful beaches,

right next to rocky outcrops where sharks nest.

It's their domain, it's their home.

They've always been there.

HEMSWORTH (off-screen): Over generations, the Arakwal people have gained

a detailed knowledge about when and where to avoid going in

the water to stay safe.

NICKOLLA: Here in Byron Bay,

it's really visible to see when they're feeding,

when there's feeding frenzies going on.

Traditionally in winter we wouldn't swim further than your knee height,

sharks are more active then.

That is a cultural signifier we'd have,

so coexisting is really important.

Like if we want to be here,

we're going to have to do that.

HEMSWORTH: Yeah, I couldn't agree with you more.

HEMSWORTH (off-screen): This ancient wisdom,

coupled with humane technologies,

offers a way to coexist with sharks,

close to our shores.

Unfortunately, the problems facing sharks around the world

are often more complex, and more serious.

Over the last 50 years,

there's been a 70% drop in the number of sharks

in the world's oceans.

The cause is our over-exploitation of the sea,

and the slaughter of tens of millions of sharks,

simply for their fins.

The reality is these beautiful animals have got more to fear

from us than we do from them.

I think like everybody who spends time in the ocean,

I've had the fear of sharks at times, and shark attacks,

and talking to people who have been very close or been

involved in an attack.

It certainly makes it even more real.

I think we should have a healthy respect for sharks,

and how dangerous they can be, but realize that we are in their environment,

and what's more scary is an ocean without sharks.

There's been an alert from one of the smart drumlines.

It means something's taken the bait.

Hopefully it'll be a chance to help with some shark conservation and also,

meet a great white face to face.

Is this exciting for you?

HAYDEN: It's always exciting for me.

It's the thrill of fishing and not knowing what's going

to be on the other end of the line.

HEMSWORTH: Yeah, right. It could be a jet ski.

HAYDEN: You'd hope not.

HEMSWORTH: It'll be my first time handling a shark.

PAUL: You're the number one man today, so yeah, shark 101,

you're going to be out there tagging.

HEMSWORTH: Put it in a headlock and I'll get the tail?

(laughter).

HEMSWORTH (off-screen): But as soon as we arrive,

it's clear something's not right.

HAYDEN: We just look for movement in the back bubble.

And when there's shark on,

they'll swim from side to side sometimes.

And to me, that's laying there with the wind.

PAUL: If you want to grab that bungee Chris and pull it in.

HEMSWORTH: Oh, where's my fish that I baited up?

PAUL: Bait's gone, so yeah, good signs but not what we wanted.

So to lose a full bait, we rarely have that happen.

HEMSWORTH: Do you reckon it might have something to do

with the person who baited it?

PAUL: Oh, not at all.

So let's get this baited up again.

HEMSWORTH (off-screen): It's disappointing.

But it's not yet game over.

PAUL: Throw it in there.

HEMSWORTH (off-screen): Hopefully we can tag one before the end of the day.

CHARLIE: Okay guys, the trial can start now.

HEMSWORTH (off-screen): In the meantime, I want to find out how we can

protect ourselves if a shark does attack.

I think it's fair to say,

however good we get at keeping humans and sharks apart in the ocean,

there will always be moments when we meet.

And in those worst case scenarios, when sharks bite,

is there anything that can be done?

Charlie Huveneers is a scientist who's thought more

about this than most.

Hey mate, how are you?

CHARLIE (over computer): Not too bad, thanks.

HEMSWORTH (off-screen): For several years he's been looking at ways of

deterring sharks that decide to attack.

Is your research and line of work due to your passion and

love for sharks, or passion and love for humans,

or who are you?

Who are you more invested in?

It's okay to say the sharks too.

CHARLIE (over computer): It depends in what situations, but yeah,

it's a combination.

It's really, I've always been interested in sharks,

since I was a kid.

But yeah, the fascination for sharks just changed into a

real interest in the science and understanding the sharks

better, so that we can actually help in providing a

safer environment, for people but also for sharks.

HEMSWORTH: Yeah, are you going into the field soon

to test any of those deterrents?

CHARLIE (over computer): Yeah, actually we're going next week.

HEMSWORTH: Well good luck with it.

CHARLIE (over computer): Thanks.

HEMSWORTH (off-screen): Charlie and his colleagues from Flinders University in Adelaide

are heading into the seas off south Australia.

On board they're testing the latest shark deterrent and

protection technologies.

CHARLIE: So what we've seen in that in recent years there has

been an increase in the number of shark bites globally,

including in Australia, and this has resulted in a lot of

interest in the devices to try to reduce those risks.

HEMSWORTH (off-screen): The team have sailed to the Neptune Islands,

a hot spot for great whites.

The sharks come here to prey on Australia's largest colony

of long-nosed fur seals.

So it's the perfect place to test products designed to take

advantage of sharks' very unusual senses.

CHARLIE: There's only a small number of animals that have

this ability to detect electric field,

and sharks have it through these black dots called

Ampullae of Lorenzini.

The idea behind these electric field based deterrents is that

they will produce such a strong pulse,

that it will overwhelm this sensory organ and make the

shark physically move away from the source.

HEMSWORTH (off-screen): The aim is to develop a safer surfboard,

with an electrical shark deterrent built into it.

CHARLIE: This produces an electric field through two

electrodes which are positioned just underneath the board,

and this is kind of a replica of a surfboard.

This has produced a field which is transmitted to these electrodes,

and creates a bit of a barrier around the surfboard,

which is theory should be deterring the sharks.

HEMSWORTH (off-screen): To test the theory,

the experiment compares a shark's reactions to a

board with the electrical device switched on,

to a board with it off.

But getting robust data means repeating the process

many times over.

Over hundreds of previous trials,

the team have captured remarkable footage

of sharks in action.

MAN: Oh!

HEMSWORTH (off-screen): First they recorded what happened to a

baited board with a device turned off.

CHARLIE: It's interesting that we do have a bait just

underneath that board.

MADDIE: It's swimming as we would expect to see it

swimming around a bait.

HEMSWORTH (off-screen): And then what happened to the sharks when

the device was turned on.

CHARLIE: Look at it.

MADDIE: So that was a pretty obvious flinch.

CHARLIE: He's coming back now.

That kind of flinch or reaction,

we didn't see that when the deterrent was turned off.

MADDIE: And you can see the really obvious flinching in

the gills as well, and the jaw gaping.

CHARLIE: Oh look at that one,

so that one came really from down below,

it was only within half a meter.

Overall there was a 60% reduction in the proportion of

bait being taken, so 60% reduction in shark bites.

HEMSWORTH (off-screen): If the eight people killed by sharks in Australia

in 2020 had been able to use an electric deterrent like this,

then five may still be alive.

Products like these are promising,

as we may be able to reduce fatalities in the future,

all without harming the sharks.

Meanwhile...

PAUL: Oh, there's something on there.

HEMSWORTH (off-screen): Will I finally get my chance to come face to face

with a great white?

Oh wow.

HEMSWORTH: Okay, I just got a text message, PVC 276,

I assume that's the buoy number or the coordinates,

and looks like we have a shark.

So let's go and check it out.

HEMSWORTH (off-screen): My journey to understand how sharks and humans

can live together has been eye-opening.

HEMSWORTH: Alright boys? Are we on or what?

PAUL: Yes, it looks like we're on.

Good?

HEMSWORTH: Do it.

HEMSWORTH (off-screen): But I still haven't seen a great white shark up close.

HEMSWORTH: Here we go.

So we obviously have no idea what kind of shark it is.

PAUL: No, but what we do know is that usually

those buoys that go off south of the river,

it's usually a white shark, so it's...

Yeah, we've got our fingers crossed.

HEMSWORTH (off-screen): We reach the smart drumline location.

And this time, the buoys don't seem to be just

drifting with the wind.

PAUL: Now we've got the buoys together, they're tangled,

the buoy's bouncing up and down.

Rest assured there's a shark on this one.

HAYDEN: Alright Paul, you alright Chris?

PAUL: Yeah, go ahead.

Well there's something on there.

Oh, it's a big white.

A huge white.

Big white.

Come in here Chris.

HEMSWORTH: Oh wow.

Wow.

HEMSWORTH (off-screen): To limit the stress on the shark,

the team must work as fast as possible.

PAUL: You can lift his head?

HEMSWORTH (off-screen): They need to turn the shark onto its back,

which puts it into a peaceful state.

The hook may look gruesome, but the team need to use it to

stabilize the shark's head alongside the boat.

HEMSWORTH: How big is that, two and a half meters?

PAUL: Yeah, 2.6, 2.8?

HEMSWORTH: 2.6, 2.8.

And this is safe and mostly harmless for the shark, right?

PAUL: That's right.

We've done a lot of research, especially with great white

sharks now, through a process of taking blood out of them.

So basically it doesn't stress the animal out.

HEMSWORTH: It's comforting to know it's not hurting the shark.

The guys have reassured me it's pretty docile at this

point and you know, very little harm,

and so I've seen plenty of movies and imagery of them,

but never this, up close in person and, yeah,

just amazing.

PAUL: Male.

HEMSWORTH (off-screen): We record as much information as possible in the time available.

PAUL: Alright, Hayden, 2-8-1.

HAYDEN: 2-8-1.

HEMSWORTH (off-screen): Each measurement revealing something different

about its life and history.

PAUL: The tiny little fin clip,

that'll get divided up into six different pieces,

one sample will go to one lab, another sample to another.

We want to know how many sharks there are in the

population, who their mums and dads are,

who their brothers and sisters are.

So next part of the process is working out

what they're eating.

We take a DNA sample from around its butt basically.

HEMSWORTH: And here we are,

about to take an anal swab from a shark.

All for science.

So let's dig in, shall we?

Where is its butt?

HEMSWORTH (off-screen): Knowing a shark's diet can give vital clues about

how and where it feeds,

helping us understand its life underwater.

Sorry about that mate.

To monitor this shark in real time,

an acoustic transmitter tag is then attached.

Are you alright there?

Everyone alright?

PAUL: Yeah.

HEMSWORTH (off-screen): Meaning its movements can be tracked for

up to 10 years.

PAUL: See, just a quick incision,

shark doesn't even know.

HEMSWORTH (off-screen): With the science wrapped up,

it's time to let the shark go.

Alright.

PAUL: Alright guys, let's do this.

HEMSWORTH: So you're going to hold the dorsal while you're doing it?

PAUL: Just hold that Chris.

HEMSWORTH: Yep.

PAUL: And I'm just going to let that go there,

and we're going to wait for him to kick.

And then we, when he goes the other way,

we'll let him go.

HAYDEN: There he goes, he wants to swim.

HEMSWORTH: Let him go?

PAUL: There he goes, out the front of the boat,

straight to New Zealand.

HEMSWORTH: He cruised off pretty gently, huh?

HEMSWORTH (off-screen): The great white is now one of over

400 in the monitoring program.

If any come within half a mile of the shore,

their tags will trigger an alarm,

allowing the water to be evacuated,

keeping swimmers and surfers safe.

What's more, having been tagged,

it turns out the shark's then likely to avoid this

spot for quite a while.

PAUL: We do know from our satellite tag work that the

next day its 15 to 30 kilometers offshore,

so not only have we taken it away from the direct beach,

you can see the waves breaking only 100 meters

away from us, so it's...

HEMSWORTH: I've surfed there a few times.

PAUL: Surfing in there, he's released, he's off,

so the smart drumlines have done their bit for the day.

HEMSWORTH: Great.

PAUL: Well done on your first shark.

HEMSWORTH: Success, thank you.

HAYDEN: Thank you. HEMSWORTH: Cheers guys.

HEMSWORTH (off-screen): Meeting the largest predatory shark in the ocean has been an

eye-opener for sure.

It's made me realize that despite their ability to harm,

these are deeply vulnerable creatures.

Thankfully, we're now learning how to better live together.

And I think when we're enjoying the ocean,

we should never forget that we are the visitors

to their home.

I think I have a greater understanding of how fragile

the ocean is, and the devastating effect we can have

on it, and also the positive effects we can have on it,

depending on what road we choose to take.

DIRECTOR (off-screen): Are you going to give up surfing?

HEMSWORTH: Definitely not.

♪ ♪

Captioned by Cotter Media Group.