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Born
and raised in New Orleans,

I've fished along Louisiana's
bayous my whole life.

These historic waterways
are a sportsman's paradise.

It's the fun, the
adrenaline rush when you feel

the fish hit your line.

Did he stay on your line?
Did he get off your line?

You never know
what's gonna happen.

Playing a
super hero is one thing,

but fishing here is
where it feels real.

You never know what's
gonna bite your line.

So, you have to stay focused,
you have to stay in the moment.

But even in the
calm waters of New Orleans,

there are predators
just below the surface.

Bull sharks
in fresh water miles inland,

in my home town.

We've all heard
that there are sharks swimming

in the Lake.

Maybe closer
to the shore than you think.

.

From
the Gulf of Mexico...

.

To
the Atlantic Coast,

sharks are targeting
fishing boats and taking fish.

No!

Right off the line.

I
think a shark got it.

.

As an avid fisherman,

raising a family
along these waters,

I wanna know what's behind this.

Right there.

So, I'm on a quest to find
out why these apex predators

are swiping fishermen's
hard earned catches.

Oh! You saw that?

Go, go, go.

Careful, she's gonna go.

And,
see how bold new research...

Grab that dorsal fin.

Could help
prevent these frequent run ins.

That's a big fish.

That's amazing.

With sharks and fishermen
both depending on these waters

to survive, the
stakes couldn't be higher.

You know,
New Orleans is different.

Our vibe is different.

Some people think
Louisiana's soul comes from

its music or food.

But I think it's the waters
that shape our culture and

spawns my love for fishing.

This right here is
where I grew up and

honed in my
skills as a fisherman.

I was out here,
damn near every day.

I mean, that's when
I wasn't in trouble,

that was the one thing
that kept me out of trouble.

But I remember
once when I was a kid,

somebody took a hot dog
and caught a 70 pound catfish

out of that lagoon.

.

It was the thing of legend.

He was on the news.

.

So, this right
here is Bayou St. John.

And this was my
bridge where I would fish.

This was kinda
like my playground.

It was so hot, you could
sit in the water and fish.

So, being in the
middle of the city,

it was just a easy
place to catch dinner

'cause my mom loved perch.

So, I would come
out and catch 'em and

she would clean
'em and cook 'em.

Growing up here, I didn't
hear much about sharks swimming

in these waters, but since I
moved back to New Orleans to

raise my family,
that's all changed.

To find out why, I'm
headed to another one of

my childhood fishing spots.

Southeast of the
city is Venice, Louisiana,

also known as Tuna Town.

I've spent a lot of
time on these wharfs with

the fresh smell of fish
coming in after a day's catch.

In recent years,
business has boomed here.

A lot of these boats run
charter trips while others are

commercial vessels with
crews that make a living on

their daily catch.

But these days, Tuna Town
sounds more like Shark City.

Good Lord,
the sharks just eat you up.

If you hook
five fish maybe get one.

That's a lot
of money out of our pocket.

It makes our job harder.

Dam!
Look at that!

Out
in the Gulf of Mexico,

sharks are tracking trawlers,

taking tuna and even
tearing open shrimp nets.

This is a
shark feeding frenzy.

Some boats
are losing half of their catch,

costing them
thousands of dollars a week.

You lose a lot
of fish to sharks, big sharks,

small sharks,
they're everywhere.

Lose a lot of equipment,
a lot of money.

Scientists
refer to this act as,

"Depredation."

To see it for myself, I'm
headed out to the Gulf with

Captain Brett Ryan
to do a little fishing.

All right.

You wanna hop
aboard and we'll get this day

going and come catch some fish.

- Let's do it.
Hop in right there.

Wow!

- Welcome aboard.
- Thank you.

To understand
what's driving this conflict,

I also recruited a
bona fide shark expert.

Good morning.

Anthony.
Jasmine, nice to meet you.

Nice to meet you.

- Can I come aboard?
Absolutely!

- Yes, please.
All right.

Marine biologist Jasmin Graham

studies shark ecology
and evolution and is here

to decode any
shark behavior we might see.

We're
gonna head out to West Delta

this afternoon.

We've noticed there is a lot of
issues with shark depredation.

And it's becoming
more and more prevalent.

I have a friend,

he hit a pretty got sized fish.

Shark came and grabbed it.

And now, instead of
him letting the fish go,

he doubled down.

So, the sharks' dragging
him across the Gulf of Mexico.

Mm-hmm.

Five minutes
later, he pops his head up,

he has a half a fish.

- Hmm.
- I would have let that go.

We'll, you'd let it go!

Was it
worth the half a fish?

Right.

We're headed to a fishing spot
where the battle between anglers

and sharks is no joke.

A few miles off shore, the
rigs of the West Delta oil field

provide some of the best
fishing in the Gulf of Mexico.

I've experienced this
and Jasmin knows why.

So,
it's a big aggregation of

a lot of different species.

It's why it's a
great fishing spot.

Hmm.

And it's just
as much biodiversity as we have

on coral reefs, we have
on these artificial reefs.

Right.

Under water, these steel
skeletons are a sanctuary for

a wide array of fish species.

Over time, algae and other
life forms grow on these rigs,

forming a complex ecosystem.

It's an angler's paradise and
a pretty good place to hang out,

if you're a hungry shark.

So, the chances of witnessing
depredation firsthand are good.

- You ready?
- Yep.

Grab your weight.

Let it rip, tater chip.

Here we go.

This is my first time
being out here in a long time.

My uncle and I, we
would come out to the rigs.

It's great, it
brings up my childhood.

So, it's just fun to be here
as an adult and do it again.

You don't know what
you're gonna catch out here.

Oh,
that was a little nibble.

Yeah.
Been nibbling for a minute.

There goes
a shark right by the boat.

Y'all keep an eye out.

Uh-oh!

Got a fish on.

It's a good size one.

Uh-oh.
That was a shark.

He
came right under the boat.

Foof! Right there.

Well, the hook is gone.

And so is my fish.

And although I got a
quick look at the shark,

I couldn't say for
sure what the species was.

Luckily, Jasmin came prepared.

I'm just
gonna swab it and hopefully get

some bit of that
shark's DNA on it.

The good thing is, that
we did see it at the surface,

and I was able to
identify that it was a blacktip,

Carcharhinus limbatus, so.

Carcharhinus limbatus.

Yeah.
So, if you're ever on Jeopardy.

- I got it.
- You got it.

I'll never forget it.

- Yes.
- Yes.

So,
most identifying feature,

obviously black tips
on its fins.

So, if it comes back
and says that it is,

in fact, a blacktip,
we know that it worked.

Recent DNA
research proves that at least

15 different shark species are
stealing fishermen's catches

out here in the Gulf.

One of the biggest culprits,
the bull shark is responsible

for over one third
of the fish heists.

Other species include close
relative the sandbar shark,

along with blacktips,
spinners and makos.

- Shark on the line!
- Shark on the line.

As soon
as we cast another line,

they're back for more.

Oh, there it goes.

- Yeah.
- There it goes.

It's got it.

We
aren't the only boat load of

anglers out here.

What's the word?

We're
getting murdered by sharks!

It
feels like a losing battle.

Whoa!

Even if you hook a fish.

That is a
shark eating that snapper.

The
sharks think it's a free meal.

He's coming up.

Looks like a blacktip.

Got him.

He took my fish.

For sharks, gabbing a fish
already struggling on a line

is easy pickings.

But for me, I wouldn't call
this a relaxing fishing trip.

So why has shark
depredation become such

a big problem in these waters?

We're
fishing in the same spot

that the sharks are fishing in.

Yeah.

I mean, look,
there's nothing else out here.

This is the structure.

This is it, yeah.

So, that's
where they're all gonna go.

Right.

Sharks
learn really, really quickly.

So, they learn,
you know, engine means food.

So, they start coming
straight for the boats.

So, now we're in direct
competition with them for

the same fish.

And that's why
you get depredation.

Right.

'Cause
they gotta eat, we gotta eat.

We gotta figure
out how we both eat.

Where's the helping hand?

It's like, we
opened a, a buffet.

Yeah.

And
they're just sitting around

waiting for a snack.

- Yeah.
- Yeah.

These
sharks are smart and they know

an easy meal when they see one.

And this is a phenomenon
that seems to be spreading.

In New Orleans, away from
the Gulf's artificial reefs,

frustrated fishermen
say bull sharks are taking

their fish too.

To see for myself, I'm headed
back to the Big Easy to actually

try to catch a
shark in the city.

New Orleans.

I love this city, man.

And apart from a
few years in New York,

I've lived here my whole life.

New Orleans is one
of those cities where

people enjoy life, you know?

And that's what
makes it so great.

It's the home of jazz,
gumbo and Mardi Gras.

And these days, a
growing shark population.

To get a handle on why
their numbers are rising,

I'm headed to a spot
on the edge of town.

The lake is
five minutes up here.

Where the sharks are
swimming pretty close to home.

We fish under this
bridge down by the pillars,

'cause the pillars
have become an ecosystem.

At 630 square miles,
Lake Pontchartrain is

the largest inland
body of water in Louisiana.

The lake is
actually a tidal lagoon,

connected by channels
to the Gulf of Mexico.

That means sharks can enter
the lake directly from the Gulf.

There are sharks
swimming in Lake Pontchartrain.

One local fisherman,

he caught a nearly
six foot bull shark

right along the sea wall.

I'd
fished in Lake Pontchartrain.

It's literally in my backyard.

I take my boat out, I take my
kids out on Lake Pontchartrain.

'Cause we're so naive
to what's around us, like,

"Oh, there's
nothing in the lake,"

but the lake's full of sharks.

To get to the bottom of this,
I'm fishing with a guy who knows

what these
predators are doing here,

so far from the sea.

You got dinner or bait?

This is local shark
scientist, Marcus Drymon.

Now
when you think back to fishing

when you were a kid,

do you ever hear of people
catching bull sharks in here?

- Yeah.
- Okay.

Every now and
then my uncle would come back in

with a shark, but
they were smaller sharks.

They weren't massive predators.

What I'm after here today

are bull sharks
and bull sharks can live

in completely fresh water.

And anything in
between fresh and saltwater.

So, it's inherent to
bull sharks in general.

- Oh wow.
- Yeah.

For bull sharks
it's like a super power.

Their ability to swim in
fresh water is nearly unique.

Which is great for them
but not so wonderful for

all the fishermen.

So, Marcus is keeping tabs
on them and looking for ways

to keep the conflict between
sharks and anglers to a minimum.

So, what is the goal as
far as the bull sharks?

In this part of the world,

a lot of folks are attributing
depredation to bull sharks.

They're saying,
"Hey, what's going on?

If the sharks are
biting my fish that often,

there must be a lot
more sharks in the water."

Hmm.

And
in the past 30 years,

especially in the United States,
we've done a really good job of

protecting sharks and so
the populations are increasing.

Mm-hmm.

But the thing is, we don't

have a great feel
for which parts of

Lake Pontchartrain
they like the best.

Yeah.

What
are the inlets where they

might be coming in?

Where are the areas
where the water is just right

for a bull shark?

But that's exactly what
we'll be trying to figure out.

If we catch one, is we'll
put in a little transmitter.

For more than 15 years,

Marcus has been catching,
tagging and releasing sharks.

To date, he's tagged
more than 10,000 in the Gulf

and Lake Pontchartrain.

- Oh!
- Fish on.

Oh, you son of a...

So, maybe I can help
him by tagging my first.

Oh, this side.

Please be a shark.

Please.

That's one.

Ooh! That's one.

Oh boy!
That's a baby bull shark.

That's a baby?

That's as small as they get.

Wait.

That's as small as they get.

So,
they're in the womb that big?

Yeah.

Just gently lift it up
and I'm gonna grab it right

when it gets here.

- Yep.
- One, two, three, go.

Go. Ahh.

Perfect. Look at that.

That's amazing.

It's crazy.

Pop this hook out, see?

Yeah.

When
you see a little belly button,

you know it was just born.

It's called the umbilical scar.

- And you see how it's open?
- Yeah, yeah, yeah.

- Born in July.
- So, he's just born.

So, he was just born, like,

two months ago.

Wow.

That's crazy, man.

So, check this out.

That's a female.

To track
our baby as she grows up,

we're gonna need to
implant a transmitter.

All right. Let's do it then.

And, amazingly,
turning most sharks upside down

puts them in a
trance-like state.

It's called tonic immobility,

like a natural
state of paralysis.

This way, Marcus can get to work
without adding to her stress.

So, you say that this shark
is about a month or two old.

Yeah, that's right.

And, at 30 inches.

Yeah.

You know, it's,

it's a good
distance to the Gulf.

So, you ask yourself,

what's a little shark like
this doing all the way up here?

Yeah,
what's a girl like this doing

in a neighborhood like this?

That's exactly right.

And the answer is, it's
the perfect neighborhood for

this shark to be in right now.

I mean, it's, it's
perfect in terms of protection,

it's a safe neighborhood.

It's a neighborhood
with lots of food.

And it's a
neighborhood where there's

not a lot of bad guys, so.

Right.

This is what
we could call a primary nursery.

So, you know, if you think
about the big mothers, you know,

it's like humans,
they have birth, basically,

once a year.

and then she comes into an area
like this and she drops 'em off.

Right.

Right here, in
Lake Pontchartrain.

So, it turns out that many
of the sharks causing havoc

in my backyard are just kids.

Well, close.

And growing up near New Orleans,
these trainee predators realize

that a fish on the hook
is there for the taking.

It's shocking to me because
I grew up so close to here.

And I would fish literally
right outside this inlet.

The idea of a shark
being in my backyard is crazy,

and to catch a baby
still with the umbilical cord,

it's mind blowing.

People are coming through
here with their boats to go have

lunch on the lake and there's
sharks outside their house.

So,
that's all she needs.

Do you wanna be the
one to put her back?

I would love to.

I
just hold 'em just like that.

There you go, you got it.

You're
not going to take my finger.

And just drop her in?

Just drop
her in whenever you're ready.

It's a beautiful fish.

It's a
beautiful, beautiful fish.

All right, little lady.

I'll see you in a few years.

Gone.

Completing the circle.

Wow.

Come on. Come on.

By
tracking baby bull sharks,

identifying which areas they
prefer and sharing that data

with anglers, Marcus
hopes to reduce depredation

in these waters.

Well done, that's awesome.

That's amazing.

And now that I know baby
sharks shelter here in the lake

as they mature, I'm hoping
other fishermen can learn to

accept them in our neighborhood.

But when these sharks grow up
and swim out to deeper waters...

.

They're bigger
and even more intimidating.

And research shows bull sharks
can really get around.

Some even travel to the Gulf all
the way from Southern Florida,

where I'm about to see for
myself that depredation is

also on the rise.

I've come to Florida,

the self-styled fishing
capital of the world,

to get a different
viewpoint on the problem.

Just caught us
some fresh shark bait.

There are now more than a
million boats registered here

in the Sunshine State,

putting more and more anglers
in direct conflict with sharks.

There it is!

Oh, that's a bull shark.

I
think a shark got it.

A shark
came by and nabbed him,

split him right in half.

Anglers say
bull shark numbers have surged

and shark fishing tournaments,

which already killed
tens of thousands a year,

are pushing for more.

Save our sharks!

Meanwhile,
conservationists point out that

bull sharks are a
vulnerable species that

deserve continued protection.

I'm interested to
see 'em down there.

Sharks in the movies,

they're portrayed as
these mindless, man-eaters.

But actually sharks
are really afraid of us

because we're scary, right?

Right.

We kill a
hundred million sharks a year.

Sharks kill one or
two people a year.

Shark biologist, Jasmin Graham,

thinks protecting sharks is
in everyone's best interests.

Even the fishermen.

To help me understand,
we're at a spot off

the east coast of
Florida near Jupiter.

It's called Deep Ledge.

Out here, four miles offshore,

the cold waters of the Atlantic

are split by a warmer current
coming in from the south.

The Gulf Stream.

This conveyor belt of
nutrients and plankton

attracts a huge range of
fish species, including sharks.

And Jasmin wants us both to
get in the water with them.

Now you're
going into their territory.

How you feeling?

Uh, I'm a
little, I'm a little nervous.

I'm interested to
see how they react.

'Cause I've never seen
them in their habitat,

I've only seen them being
pulled out of their habitat.

But, my problem is,
I'm not the best swimmer.

So, I don't wanna be the
bait that brings the sharks in.

All you have to do,

I recommend what
we call star fish.

Get as flat as possible.

The more surface area you have,
the more buoyant you are.

So, if
the shark gets too close,

I should hit it
in the nose, right?

Well,
you don't need to hit it.

You just need to, like...

Where I'm from,
we punch 'em in the nose.

Well, don't punch.

We don't need to punch 'em.

All you have to do
is just gently like, no.

Just guide 'em and then,

and they'll be like,
"Oh, all right."

So, it's like dating.

Please continue.

I'm just saying.

"Oh, no, sir, thank you."

Once you see 'em,

you'll have a appreciation.

I think anyone that
swims with sharks has

a much better understanding
and respect for them.

Right.

All right.
So, you ready to get in?

- I'm ready.
- Let's do it.

Don't punch in the nose.

Don't punch the shark.

Don't punch in the nose.

Do
not punch the shark.

Don't do it.
I got it, I got it.

All right,
you guys, let's get ready.

Let's do it.

All right.

Alrighty.
Three, two, one.

We're in.

And I'm just gonna hold
on to my home girl, Jasmin,

you know, to
make sure she's okay.

And out of nowhere, the
biggest shark I've ever seen

comes out of the blue.

Oh! What?

You saw that?

Yeah. That was so cool.

There
really is a shark down there.

It is a, a shark.

And it's not alone.

They swim so close.

Yeah.

It's wild, they're so pretty.

They
really are so terrifyingly

graceful and majestic.

In fact, coming face to face
with these incredible creatures

is nothing like I expected.

They seem so chill.

Yeah. I told you.

They're not worried about us.

So, you gotta respect them,
you gotta respect their space.

Yeah. Okay.

You leave them alone,

they'll leave you alone.

You cool.

Realizing
they don't want a piece of me,

it's time to let go of my
fear and enjoy the spectacle.

Female
sandbar right down there.

Ah, that's crazy.

Up to eight feet long
and more than 200 pounds

of calm, agile shark.

A little deeper,
fully grown bull sharks

along with duskies
and silky sharks too.

All of them just
minding their own business.

Woo! You did it.

I swam with sharks.

You
did it, it's happened.

Oh my God.

No, that was great.

You really looked out
for me, I appreciate that.

No problem.

The
first time I had to grab you.

- Yeah.
- You know?

Yeah.

Then I
worked my way up to it.

And you stayed calm.

- Stayed calm.
- I was impressed.

It
was pretty amazing.

They kept coming up and swimming
around us and through us.

I mean, they
were four feet away.

Yeah.

But I always say, if I'm
diving and I don't see a shark,

I'm actually concerned,
'cause that means that

the ecosystem isn't healthy.

So, we have some fish that
eat coral, they eat algae.

Right.

And, if
there were no predators,

they would stay in the same
spot and they'd just eat all of

the vegetation in the area.

Yeah.

But,
if you have sharks,

just them being
present is controlling fish,

so they're kind
of policing them,

herding them, making
them eat at different areas.

It's impressive.

It's really impressive.

As apex predators, sharks
play a vital role in preserving

delicately balanced ecosystems.

Without them, fishermen
could have nothing to catch.

So, it's beneficial for all
of us to find ways of reducing

depredation without turning
sharks into the bad guys.

Here in Florida, there's a
team of scientists going to

new depths to do just that.

Off the
coast of West Palm Beach,

one scientist is
hopeful that fishermen and

sharks can get along.

We're above one of our

wreck sites where we
have the listening stations.

We're gonna be listening
for tagged bull sharks.

Dr. Yannis Papastamatiou has

been studying shark
behavior for 25 years.

His team is monitoring
bull sharks at a group of

ship wrecks about
100 feet below the surface.

Like the oil rigs in the Gulf,

these wrecks
became artificial reefs,

making them popular
with anglers and sharks.

And as a result, the area
is now a depredation hot spot.

So,
it's creating animosity between

fishers and, and sharks.

So, we wanna try and help
alleviate that in a way that

doesn't require
killing the animals.

Instead,
Yannis wants to uncover

the secrets of the
sharks' movements.

Figure out where
they go and when.

And learn which parts of the
shipwrecks the sharks favor.

So, he's tracking them
with a underwater network

of acoustic receivers.

Oh,
there's a few sharks below us.

There are
bull sharks still here.

To
trace their movements,

Yannis needs to fit as
many sharks as he can with

an acoustic transmitter.

And today, he's calling on
my angling skills to bring

another one to the boat.

The only trouble is, I
don't see any fishing rods.

So, what's the process
today for catching a shark?

We're just gonna basically drop

the line into the
water and hopefully

hook one up pretty quickly.

And that's when the kind of
the fight is on because these

are really,
really strong animals.

And
we're pulling 'em in by hand?

We're pulling 'em in by hand.

So
here it is in a nutshell.

To catch and tag a bull shark,
we have to pull it in by hand,

collect some vitals, implant
the transmitter and let it go.

Easy, right?

So,
if you wanna take the bait.

Yeah.

Drop that over the side.

The big danger here is
with one of these big animals,

if you get wrapped up,

then there's that danger
of you going over the side.

You're going over, right.

We also have, at the end of

that line, we have that float.

So, we've had really
big sharks like tigers,

if it gets to the point
where it's not controllable,

just throw the whole thing
over the side and just follow

the float, 'cause they're
just gonna be towing the float

and they tie themselves up.

- Oh.
- Like, Jaws.

Like, Jaws.
Yeah, yeah, yeah,

I didn't wanna bring up, Jaws.

No.

It was a, it has a
big influence on me,

so that's part of
the reason I'm here.

There's one here.

Yep, see one right down there.

Right
after the bait goes down,

three huge bull sharks
come to check it out.

Oh, that's a big shark.

Careful with the shark.

- It's coming in.
- Keep looking at it.

There we go, there we go.

He took it, whoa.

Whoa.

They're following him.

Yeah.

They get a lot bolder
when they're in groups.

When they're solo,
they're really cautious.

So, now we play the game.

Start bringing it in.

The
game is like a tug of war.

To win, we need to pull
the shark up high enough to

safely secure it
alongside the boat.

It's coming up.

Ah, man.

But this fish
isn't ready to give in.

How many pounds would
you say this fish weighs?

I'm
gonna guess 700, 800 pounds.

800?

That's my guess.

Yeah. Definitely.

There we go.

Coming, it's
coming up, coming up.

There we go.

Okay, slow ahead, slow ahead.

Whoa, whoa.

Okay guys. Get it on.

Get it, careful,
careful, careful.

This is a big animal; that can
cause a really serious bite.

So, obviously I
don't wanna get bit,

and I don't want
anybody else to get bit.

That's a big fish.

Don't, careful, she's gonna go.

Okay, here she comes,
here she comes.

Grab that dorsal fin.

Grab dorsal.

Got it? Got it?

Hold it tight.

Okay, pull in the slack,
pull in the slack.

Okay. That's good for now.

Look at that. Look at that.

All right, first bull shark.

That was not easy.

But there's no time to rest.

So,
bull sharks are quite hardy,

but we still wanna get
her processed and released

as quickly as possible.

Wow.

This shark has
never been tagged.

It's a perfect
addition to Yannis' project.

It's 83.

183?

- Two meters, six.
- 206.

- 47.
- King 47.

Over
eight feet from nose to tail,

this is an adult female.

Like many sharks,
flipped on her back,

she enters a trance-like state
and will be less stressed out,

which is lucky
because now I have a pretty,

let's say, delicate job to do.

All the way in?

Yeah.

Yeah, all the
way in, then you rotate it.

Yannis wants
me to swab the shark's anus,

so we can test her
feces for fish DNA.

- Oh boy.
- Thank you very much.

There you go.

The sample will show whether
she's eating the same prey

the fishermen are after.

When I woke up this morning, I
didn't think I would be giving

a shark a anal swab.

What a lucky guy.

Finally,
just like our baby shark

in Louisiana,

the team surgically
implants a transmitter.

Once this shark is released,
Yannis will be able to track

her movements for
up to five years.

We're
really interested in knowing

where they're
exactly hanging out.

Where they're
moving to and when.

Right.

But
what we've noticed is that some

of these wrecks can have
a lot of sharks on them,

whereas other wrecks don't.

So, what makes a wreck
attractive to bull sharks

versus unattractive?

So then if we
can figure that out,

then we can perhaps
design artificial reefs where

you're not gonna get
them colonized by sharks.

And so, we can try and
reduced that depredation

without viscous, you know,

feeling the need to
go and kill the animals.

That's amazing.

It's a radical idea.

Build sharkless reef
for fishing and eliminate

the conflict zones,
not the sharks.

Just the sheer amount of
power and strength that this

animal exhibits, to be
able to hold her and tag her,

and like, get this close
to her, it's really humbling.

It's really humbling.

All right. So we're ready to

release her.

All right.
How does that work?

Okay, so.

Go, push her away.

And just give her a push off.

There you go. There she goes.

Hopefully,
shark free reefs could cut

depredation here in Florida,

but in Louisiana,

protecting the interest
of sharks and fishermen is

even harder,

because the entire
coastline is under threat.

In New Orleans,
fishermen are forced to share

the city's waterways these
days with young bull sharks.

But, as I know all too well,
there's another problem that's

making all of our
lives more precarious.

It's no secret the city
is uniquely vulnerable to

hurricanes and storm surges.

We're in a very
special part of town for me,

this is the, the Seventh Ward.

This was my old stomping ground.

This was my neighborhood,

that was wildly
devastated with Katrina.

Today, almost
two decades after Katrina,

the Louisiana
coastline continues to

change and fracture.

And the impacts for my city are
still potentially devastating.

My dad built this house
and it was my mom, my dad,

my five siblings and I, and
we used to play on this levy.

We used to go down to
the end of the canal here,

and dig worms to go
on the bayou and fish.

In 2005, when Hurricane Katrina
roared through New Orleans,

countless levies were breached,

including this one,

breaking directly behind our
house and into our backyard.

The flooding here is
getting worse after waters from

Lake Pontchartrain
broke through a levy.

Authorities are
focused on search and rescue

before it's too late.

You know,
August 29th will always be

etched in my mind
because so many people,

so many friends, so many
family members were, um,

were affected by it.

You know, they were a bunch
of people I know that were

trapped in their attics.

You know, I had family
members that were airlifted out.

So, there's no,

there's no way to explain
or describe that experience.

It was very difficult to
think that I didn't have

a home to go to.

It literally
washed away my youth.

And that's what brought me back.

That's why I moved back home.

You know, I wanted to
build my future here.

I wanted to have my family here.

The floods here took
many people by surprise.

But scientists understand
why they were so destructive.

The wetlands that shelter our
young bull sharks should also

protect the city and the
coast against a storm surge.

But in my lifetime, so much of
that natural buffer has eroded.

Re-engineering the
Mississippi River,

the oil industry,
carving through wetlands

and rising seas.

The combined effect is
that Louisiana is vanishing

into the Gulf.

An area the size of
Manhattan is lost every year.

There's been an intense amount
of erosion around New Orleans.

You'll see it when
you fly into the airport.

The entire wetland
is slowly going away.

The Cyprus trees are going away.

And everybody's aware of it.

But we haven't
done anything about it.

The loss of our wetlands
leaves us wide open to storms

like Katrina.

But, how does affect
the young bull sharks that

call these areas home?

Hey Marcus.
How you doing?

- Hey Brad, how's it going?
- Good to see you.

- Good to see you.
- Yeah.

- Thanks for taking me.
- Yeah. Absolutely.

What we
got going on today?

Let's put up a hydrophone.

To find out,
my new fishing buddy,

Dr. Marcus Drymon, is
expanding a coastal network of

underwater receivers, like
the one Yannis uses in Florida.

By
putting a hydrophone here,

we're in the first step of
gathering the data we need to be

able to determine habitat use.

And that'll help us in the
future to know if changes to

the coastal landscape are
altering the movements of

bull sharks in this area.

With a
network of these hydrophones in

and around Lake Pontchartrain,
Marcus can get a clear picture

of the bull sharks movements
and ever changing habitat.

As
coastal erosion is increasing,

those habitats are destroyed
for these young bull sharks,

so they have to
go somewhere else.

And if that coastal erosion is
moving these suitable habitats

further and further inland,
closer and closer to areas of

high human development,

then naturally, that's
where those bull sharks

are going to be going.

That could mean
city anglers losing more fish to

even more sharks.

But armed with the knowledge
of juvenile bull sharks

migration patterns,

anglers might be
able to fish at times and

in places that have
fewer sharks around.

That maybe one answer.

But, as Louisiana's
coastline continues to change,

sharks are
losing vital habitats.

So, I'm going to team up
with some real home town heroes

who are working
hard to change that.

East of New Orleans,

there's a band of ecowarriors,

working to put the
brakes on coastal erosion.

Possibly saving the
sharks and the city.

New Orleans is a bowl and
that bowl keeps getting deeper

and deeper the more
coastal erosion we have,

the more soil we lose,
the more the city sinks.

For the sharks and
the people who live here,

the stakes are incredibly high.

The marsh and the canals are
our lines of defense against

flooding and hurricanes.

So, it's important
that we realize that,

you know, we're a
ticking time bomb.

It's all fun and games
to go the Quarter until

the Quarter's under
six feet of water.

Fortunately, the
French Quarter stayed

relatively dry during Katrina.

But, as sea levels rise, the
city's man-made defenses will be

pushed to their limits.

Instead of building more levies,

one group has a
different plan of attack.

Good morning, everyone.

Morning.

These
volunteers are foot soldiers in

the battle against erosion.

And they're fighting to
bring back our lost wetlands.

Today, the team and I are
headed out east of New Orleans,

to plant some grass along a
section of eroding marshland.

Without the tree roots
to hold them together and

a protective grass barrier,
the banks are washing away.

To put things right, the
volunteers and I will have to

get a little muddy.

I've fished these waters,

I never thought I
would walk in 'em.

I didn't know the mud
was this, uh, this juicy.

We
have some cut grass that

we harvested from a canal.

And so now we're ready to
roll and start planting it.

So, everyone's ready
to get dirty and wet.

- All right.
- Let's go.

Oh-oh,
yeah, that's the soot, baby.

That's the soot, baby.

This is the definition of gumbo.

That's what this is.

Man, I really liked these shoes.

Not anymore!

Each clump of grass has
to individually planted

in the muck.

So, it's tiring.

It's hard work.

So how many have you all, this
is your first time doing this?

So y'all knew what to expect!

And
we still came out.

Nobody said, "Get ready."

I should have
asked more questions.

So, right here, right here.

Gardner's group hopes
to plant 30,000 trees and

33,000 grass plugs
along the central wetlands.

When
you think about the value

of wetlands, it
being nursery ground,

this grass is gonna play
that role beautifully, right?

It's gonna stop that
wave action on the shore,

provide vital habitat,
migratory birds, also fish

and crabs coming here
using it for spawning grounds

as a nursery.

And, of course, it is
the last line of defense

against hurricane.

Get
your back in there, buddy.

It's the ultimate win-win.

We're protecting New Orleans
against flooding and restoring

habitat for all kinds
of valuable wildlife,

including bull sharks.

I grew up in
these waters, you know,

and to see the coastal
erosion and where it was and

where it is now,
just in my lifetime is,

is really substantial.

I want my sons to be able to
come out here and be able to

enjoy this area the way I did.

But it's amazing to see
how much work goes into

rectifying what we destroy.

Have to make better decisions
to correct our bad decisions,

which is a good thing, right?

America deserves more Louisiana.

Like most fishermen,
sharks used to terrify me.

But now I see them in a new way.

These apex predators are
crucial to the balance of life

in our oceans.

To make a living here, our
fishing industry needs them.

And by working with scientists,

we can find new ways
to avoid conflict,

protect our sharks and
restore our fragile coastline.

And that's the Louisiana I want.

Let the
good times roll, y'all!