World's Most Dangerous Shark (2021) Movie Script
NARRATOR: The great white.
The shark we're told
is the deadliest.
MAN (off-screen): Oh! He's...
NARRATOR: But what
if it wasn't true.
What if there was another shark
that could be even
more dangerous.
BROCQ: Guys, the
oceanic is here!
NARRATOR: It may be
responsible for more attacks
than all other sharks combined.
BROCQ: It's coming down.
NARRATOR: The
oceanic whitetip.
And it might be
expanding its range.
BROCQ: It's a big shark.
NARRATOR: Meet what could be
the world's most
dangerous shark?
The coastlines of the world
are ground zero for most
encounters between
humans and sharks.
The hunting grounds of
notorious predators like the
bull shark, tiger,
and great white.
But there's another shark,
that pound for pound maybe
more dangerous than
all other sharks.
The oceanic whitetip.
You probably never heard of it,
because its domain
is the deep seas.
But it's the shark,
the famed underwater explorer
Jacques Cousteau called,
the most dangerous
shark of them all.
MAN (over radio):
I'm in trouble,
mayday, mayday, mayday.
NARRATOR: When a plane crashes
or boat sinks in the open sea
the oceanics often show up.
Earning the name,
The Shipwreck Shark.
By some estimates over 1,000
survivors from plane crashes
and shipwrecks have been
killed by the oceanic.
More than the great white,
bull and tiger sharks combined.
One of the prime spots for
the oceanic is 16 kilometers
off the Bahamas.
Research scientists
Brendan Talwar and
Eric Schneider,
of the Cape Eleuthera Institute
are here to run
demonstrations to reveal why
the oceanic whitetip is as
formidable a predator as
the great white shark.
BRENDAN: This is a species that
was once referred to as the
most abundant predator
over 100 pounds on earth.
BRENDAN (off-screen):
They're basically very
inquisitive sharks.
You know, they live in a place
where food is scarce and
so when they get the chance
to investigate something and
figure out what it is,
they're usually
interested in that.
NARRATOR: The first
demonstration they'll run to
show the oceanics' skills is
how they react to sound.
Like most sharks,
oceanics have
exceptional hearing.
They don't have shoreline
buffets full of seals
like the great white
or reefs of fish like
tigers and bulls.
They survive in the
middle of nowhere.
ERIC: The ocean is
similar in a lot of ways
to a desert ecosystem,
but I think the connotation
with that is that
there's nothing out there.
ERIC (off-screen):
There's no life,
there's no nutrients.
There's actually a lot
out here it's just
really spread out.
NARRATOR: Sharks
usually respond to the
sound of splashes,
fish in distress.
But the oceanic will often
investigate new noises.
ERIC (off-screen):
These pelagic sharks
out in the open ocean,
they're using a number of
different senses to try to
find their prey.
NARRATOR: Hearing may be the
oceanics' longest-range sense,
better than sight or smell.
The sounds of boat engines or
loud crashes travel for miles
out at sea.
Can this be a cue that
attracts an oceanic shark?
Leading them to people?
To test this out Eric and
Brendan will try to bait an
oceanic with only the
sound of a boat engine.
BRENDAN (off-screen):
The sound wave is going
to reach the shark,
and they're going to pick
up on it using these little
things that are similar to ears.
Basically, we don't see them,
but they do have little holes.
NARRATOR: An oceanic's ear
uses vibrating minuscule hairs
called stereocilia to
signal the brain as sound.
They can pinpoint the location
of a noise in any direction.
An underwater loudspeaker
will broadcast the sound of a
propeller and its diesel rumble.
ERIC: Alright,
the speaker's in,
I'm going to get kitted
up with scuba gear,
and hop in and see
if we can see anything.
NARRATOR: Eric will enter
the water to observe if any
oceanics show up.
He's joined by cinematographer,
Brocq Maxey.
Brocq uses an
underwater coms system
to relay what's happening.
(oxygen blowing)
Brendan oversees the
dive from the surface.
BRENDAN: Get the
speaker on and hit play.
We've got the
speaker down there.
BRENDAN (off-screen): Brocq and
Eric are swimming around.
Hey, Brocq, can you hear me?
BROCQ: Everything looks good.
BRENDAN: These sharks are
living in a habitat that is
devoid of any kind of structure,
it pays to be very curious and
rely on things like sound
to investigate
potential food sources.
NARRATOR: Is this an
underwater dinner bell
for whitetips?
The team plays a
dangerous waiting game.
An ocean away, in Hawaii,
another team of researchers
are on a mission to
find oceanic whitetips.
Marine Biologist Dr. Yannis
Papastamatiou and
PHD candidate Sarah Luongo want
to discover how the oceanic
finds food away from the
fish-filled reefs.
YANNIS: Oceanic whitetip
sharks are actually my absolute
favorite shark.
YANNIS (off-screen): And to me,
what I admire the most about
them is that they live
in essentially the oceanic
equivalent of the desert.
They live in an environment
where there's not much food,
it's not easy to make a living.
SARAH: The oceanics are
something new for me,
being here in Hawaii,
it's a new experience.
I studied great white sharks
but being here and studying
this pelagic oceanic whitetip
is, is a new experience.
NARRATOR: Sarah is here to
help unravel a mystery.
Why do oceanic whitetips
follow pods of pilot whales?
They aren't feeding
on the whales,
they seem to be doing something
even more extraordinary.
Oceanics could be using pilot
whales to lead them to prey.
Enlisting the whales like
hunting dogs guiding them
to quarry.
No other shark,
not the tiger,
bull,
even the infamous great
white is known to do this.
YANNIS (off-screen): The
two explanations that make
the most sense to me
as to why they're following
these pilot whales is related
to foraging.
YANNIS (off-screen):
We know that pilot
whales are diving deep,
and they're diving
deep to catch prey.
And pilot whales,
they have echolocation.
So they're much more
efficient at hunting in deep,
dark waters.
So potentially, could the
sharks be following them,
going down deep and
trying to get a free meal?
NARRATOR: To gather
evidence if this unique
behavior is true,
the team will attach a
special camera tag called
a CATS Cam.
SARAH: The goal is to swim
down from behind the shark,
put the clamp on the dorsal fin,
nice and secure.
This will give us a great
point of view of what the
shark is seeing in front of it.
After about 24 hours,
these two links here
are gonna corrode,
only the tag is going
to pop off and that is gonna
float up to the surface.
And using this antenna,
we can listen to this rhythmic
pinging sound.
(pinging)
SARAH (off-screen): So,
that's going to allow us
to go out and hone in on
where exactly the tag is in
the water so we can recover it
and download the data.
NARRATOR: The tag will reveal
the oceanics depth, speed,
and hopefully the first ever
video footage of them hunting
deep with pilot whales.
It will be world-class
free-diver Deron Verbeck's job
to attach the camera tag.
He has firsthand experience
with the oceanics
"most dangerous" reputation.
DERON: I was out in the blue
one day and had an oceanic.
I started swimming
back towards the boat.
And, and as it was coming back,
it came at my stomach,
and I'm looking down
on the top of the head,
and I saw the jaw slide out
right in front of my stomach,
and it snapped, and it turned,
and then started
going after my thigh.
DERON (off-screen): When I
hopped up on the boat and
turned around and sat down
the tips of my fins were still
in the water and the shark
came up and snapped at my fins.
It was going to eat me
if I stayed in the water.
NARRATOR: The team joins
Colin Cornforth of the
Cascadia Research Collective.
They've been tracking
pilot whales in the area.
YANNIS: Okay, so
at 1,500 meters,
we're way off the reef.
YANNIS (off-screen): We're in
oceanic whitetip habitat now.
We know they like deep water.
Generally, the upper 200
meters in the water column.
So let's go find
some pilot whales
and then hopefully some sharks.
NARRATOR: Back in the Bahamas
researchers Brendan Talwar and
Eric Schneider try to lure in
an oceanic whitetip shark with
sound, not bait.
An underwater loudspeaker,
broadcasts a low rumble of
a diesel engine.
Eric is on alert.
Since the speaker broadcasts
in all directions,
the shark can come
from anywhere.
Brocq Maxey,
the underwater cinematographer
relays what happens
to the surface.
BROCQ: It's pretty calm.
The conditions are perfect.
NARRATOR: A familiar
airplane shape appears.
BROCQ: Guys, the
oceanic is here!
NARRATOR: The
"World's Most
Dangerous Shark"
might not be the tiger, bull,
or great white,
but the oceanic whitetip.
To find out what makes the
oceanic so remarkable,
shark researchers
Brendan Talwar,
Eric Schneider and
cinematographer Brocq Maxey
set up an experiment.
The team tries to lure in
an oceanic through the
low frequency sound
of a boat engine.
A noise not usually
known to attract sharks.
But the ability to key into
new noises makes the oceanic
a fearsome hunter.
Eric is there to observe.
Brocq uses an
underwater coms system
to relay what happens
to the surface.
BROCQ: Really great conditions.
BRENDAN: Awesome,
alright, we're gonna,
we're gonna hit play.
(engine noises over PA)
We know that the sharks are,
are really tuned into hearing
low-frequency irregular noise.
NARRATOR: Like a siren's song,
the broadcast boat engine
calls in the shark.
This oceanic might have heard
it from 1.6 kilometers away.
BROCQ: It's coming down.
We've got a nice
oceanic down here.
It's a big shark.
It's coming nice and close.
Really, really curious shark.
The oceanic immediately
took interest in Eric.
Checking him out, swimming
around him in circles.
The oceanic whitetip
is still here.
It's still very active, but
we're running low on air.
So Eric and I are gonna surface.
ERIC: It was awesome.
ERIC (off-screen): A nice
big oceanic down there,
there are not a lot of spots
in the world where you can
still reliably find them,
we got lucky today obviously,
but making noise got them here
pretty quick today.
BRENDAN (off-screen):
There's still a lot to
learn about sound in the
marine environment and what
effects humans are having on
changing that soundscape,
but sharks that live in
the open ocean
definitely need every
advantage that they can get
to locate prey in a place
where its hard to find food.
So sound is one way to
cue in on things from
a long distance away.
NARRATOR: The Bahamas team
has shown how oceanics will
investigate any new noises,
including the sound of a boat
engine and its propeller.
Back in Hawaii, Dr. Yannis
Papastamatiou and
PHD candidate Sarah Luongo
want to attach a camera on an
oceanic whitetip shark
that may be using pilot
whales to help them hunt.
Something no other
shark is known to do,
not even the great white.
But finding pilot whales
proves to be a struggle.
YANNIS: It's not that easy to
see them out here especially
when there's getting a little
bit of swell and the light's
getting low.
NARRATOR: No whales,
but there are reports
of oceanic whitetips near
an aquatic fish farm.
The team uses this discovery
to their advantage.
YANNIS (off-screen): You can
often see sharks around here.
So we're not going to tag
any oceanic whitetips
if there are any here.
This is more just exploratory
and just to take a look and
see if there's any sharks.
NARRATOR: The dive is a
great test run for Deron.
A chance to see how close he
can get to the shark when
he'll tag one with the whales.
It will also be a new
experience for Sarah,
she's dived with great whites
but this will be her first
time swimming with oceanics.
SARAH (off-screen):
It's definitely easy to
look at a shark and be
intimidated by it,
but when I look at a shark,
I just see, you know,
a beautiful incredible
predator that
is just trying to make
its way through life.
NARRATOR: Even so,
Sarah knows any
open water dive
with sharks can be dangerous,
she's aware of the warning
signs of an attack.
SARAH: Similar to cats,
they'll arch their backs.
SARAH (off-screen): They'll
curve their pectoral fins under.
Things like that you want
to keep an eye out for.
DERON: If you see a
shark and I don't see it,
I need you to do something,
I need you to yell 'shark'
through your snorkel.
SARAH: Okay.
DERON: As loud as you can.
And then point at it and don't
take your eye off of it.
COLIN: We just had an
oceanic whitetip come up
to our, our divers
in the water.
COLIN (off-screen): And it
seems to be showing some
bit of interest with the
divers right now.
NARRATOR: It's clear Deron
won't have to chase the
sharks to put on a tag.
The oceanic circles closer.
Sarah's dived with great whites,
but that was from
the safety of a cage,
out in the open water anything
can happen with an oceanic.
NARRATOR: The oceanic
whitetip has been called
"The World's Most
Dangerous Shark."
Divers all over the world
have felt its wrath.
It could be responsible for
over 1,000 human fatalities,
more than all other
sharks combined,
including the great white.
But little is known how this
apex predator hunts prey
in the open ocean,
far from fish filled reefs.
Biologist Dr. Yannis
Papastamatiou and
shark researcher
Sarah Luongo are in
Hawaii to discover if oceanics
use pilot whales to
help them find food.
Step one is an exploratory
dive with a pair of oceanics.
It's researcher Sarah Luongo's
first time swimming
with the oceanic.
SARAH (off-screen):
Right now, we are just
observing these sharks.
Watching their behavior and
getting an idea of what it's
going to be like in the water
when we're trying to tag the
sharks with the pilot whales.
DERON (off-screen): I'm
just watching for body
language of the sharks,
making sure there's not
aggressive activity,
if they're starting to
get territorial or, or
aggravated with us.
NARRATOR: The sharks realize
the team isn't food and
disappear into the blue.
The dive was a great test
for how close Deron can get.
It was also a memorable first
dive with oceanics for Sarah.
SARAH: It was incredible,
it was awesome to see
them in the water,
they're one of the most
beautiful sharks I've ever seen,
and it was great to
be face to face.
SARAH (off-screen):
One of them was
swimming with some pilot fish,
which is one of my
favorite things to see.
NARRATOR: They've
seen pilot fish,
now they need to find the
pilot whales and deploy a
camera tag on the shark.
It could provide evidence of
the oceanic whitetip doing
something no other
shark is known to do,
not even the great white,
use a whale to help
it find prey.
But they can't just
tag any oceanic,
Yannis needs to get one on
a shark following a pod.
SARAH: When we're out looking
for the whales in the water,
it can be very challenging.
SARAH (off-screen): We're
just trying to see any kind
of movement on the water
that could indicate
that there's whales
and sharks there.
NARRATOR: Hours pass.
The tedium outweighed only by
the drudgery of the search.
And then...
MAN (off-screen): Yeah! Nice!
MAN: So stoked. We got whales!
MAN: Yeah! Awesome.
COLIN: Really hoping that we
have oceanic whitetip sharks
following this resident
group right now.
DERON: So, plan here
is to find a group
of animals that are,
are fairly close together and
move up ahead of the animals.
Just off to the side of them,
we'll slide in,
hopefully there'll be a
shark trailing behind them.
NARRATOR: It sounds simple,
but oceanic whitetips change
their behavior
around pilot whales.
Making them even
more unpredictable.
DERON: Well, the oceanics can
act a little differently when
they're around structure
with pilot whales.
They tend to be a
little more curious,
they'll come in fast.
NARRATOR: This more aggressive
behavior was seen in 2019,
in Tahiti.
A group of tourists also set
out to follow pilot whales,
this time off the
coast of Moorea.
Swimmers enjoy the serene
French Polynesian seas
and the whales.
That's when the idyllic
holiday turned into everyone's
worst nightmare.
An oceanic whitetip attacks.
A 35-year-old woman narrowly
escapes with her life.
But the oceanic whitetip
claims both her hands before
bystanders pull her to safety.
Although shark attacks are rare,
the tragedy in Moorea is a
grim reminder that diving
with oceanic whitetips,
especially those
following pilot whales,
is incredibly dangerous.
YANNIS: Yeah, so Deron will be
the one to try to get the tag
on and you just always want
to make sure that someone's
watching his back because
of another shark that might be
coming up behind.
So that's going to be my job,
just to basically
provide safety.
SARAH: I'm excited to get in,
my adrenaline's going and
hopefully watch
Deron get a tag out.
DERON: If you see a shark,
don't take your eyes off it.
NARRATOR: They
have the whales,
the sound of their boat engine,
and their own splashing,
all calling cards for
the oceanic whitetip.
NARRATOR: The
oceanic whitetip,
what many consider the most
dangerous shark in the world,
could be using pilot whales
to lead them to food.
To discover if this
extraordinary behavior is true,
shark experts Dr.
Yannis Papastamatiou
and Sarah Luongo
are in Hawaii to place a
special camera on an oceanic.
They're joined by
world champion free
diver Deron Verbeck
on their quest.
(calls)
Finally, a large pod
of up to 20 whales.
A perfect chance
to spot an oceanic.
COLIN: He's doing
a surface interval.
Basically, oxygen enriching
his blood before he
potentially will go back
down diving underneath
to feed on squid.
NARRATOR: The pilot whales
swim to over 900 meters deep
to feed.
This is the aphotic
or midnight zone,
a world of perpetual darkness.
Most sharks that
hunt at the surface,
like tigers and bull sharks,
never travel to this abyss.
Great whites are one of the
few that can hunt down here
and so can the oceanic whitetip.
YANNIS (off-screen):
Oceanic whitetips we know
out here, for example,
they go 600 meters.
In other places, they'll
dive to 1,000 meters,
and down at those depths,
there's certainly no light.
So it's going to be complete
darkness for them.
YANNIS (off-screen):
So they're going to be
relying on other senses,
and it's also really cold,
even for the sharks.
NARRATOR: Luckily, this whale
pod is still on the surface.
The team is in the thick of it.
They have the whales,
but on this dive,
no oceanics.
YANNIS: So, we had a
nice pod of pilot whales.
They came right underneath us.
YANNIS (off-screen):
Unfortunately, there's
no sharks, which again,
you don't always see
sharks with these pods.
And actually, one of the things
we'd like to know is what
makes one pod attracted to
sharks and not another.
SARAH: I just got
out of the water;
it was incredible.
SARAH (off-screen):
There was a lot of
action going on down there.
We didn't see any oceanics
that decided to join this pod.
So, we're going to have to
keep searching and hopefully
the next pod we'll have some.
YANNIS: We'll just have
to come out tomorrow and
hopefully find them again.
NARRATOR: Off the Bahamas,
shark researchers Brendan Talwar
and Eric Schneider are
also in search of the oceanic.
They're joined by
cinematographer Brocq Maxey.
They want to explore what
makes the oceanic whitetip
shark as formidable a predator
as the legendary great white.
They've revealed the oceanic
will investigate new noises in
their environment,
not just the sound of fish but
even the whir of propellers,
and rumble of boat engines.
But to uncrown the great
white as the most dangerous,
the oceanic needs more
than great hearing.
It's often said...
speed kills.
And one look at a
great white shark
and you know what that means.
Their bullet shape and short
pectoral fins allow them to
shoot through the water
and launch attacks.
An oceanic whitetip
is the exact opposite.
A lanky drawn-out
body anchored by
enormous pectoral fins.
It's scientific name,
Carcharhinus longimanus,
meaning sharpened nose
with long fingers,
perfectly captures
this super shark.
Those "long fingers" allow
the oceanic to slow
cruise huge distances.
Like eagles of the sea,
they glide on the currents
in search of prey.
Slow and steady wins the race
for the oceanic whitetip.
They can swim over
48 kilometers a day
while on a hunt.
But the oceanic whitetip
have been known to kick it
up in gear.
Brendan and Eric want to
observe how fast the oceanic
can get by using a troll cam.
BRENDAN: Fishermen will often
throw cameras like this out
just to get an idea of what's
attacking their baits.
BRENDAN (off-screen):
Plus, it's just cool footage.
NARRATOR: It's dragged
behind the boat.
They rev up the speed
and see if the
oceanic can keep up.
The oceanic easily showcases
its sped-up nature.
At 16 kilometers per hour,
it's just under the
white shark's maximum speed.
BROCQ (off-screen): When it
comes to their flat-out speed,
we know, just, a
tuna for instance
is a fast fish,
and we know that they,
that's part of their prey.
NARRATOR: Tuna are one
of the fastest fish.
So, oceanics can become
speed demons when hungry.
Conserving their energy until
the fatal moment and then,
they're torpedoes with teeth.
Not only are the
oceanics nearly as
fast as a great white,
but just like their
famous cousins' superpower.
Oceanic whitetips
can go airborne too.
NARRATOR: The
oceanic whitetip,
sometimes called the world's
most dangerous shark has a
deadly array of weapons
to track and kill prey.
Shark researchers
Brendan Talwar,
Eric Schneider and cameraman
Brocq Maxey have shown how the
oceanic uses speed to
launch their attacks.
A special troll camera
highlights their incredible
burst velocity.
BROCQ (off-screen):
They're quick,
they're very maneuverable,
they are fast,
they obviously can
put on some power.
NARRATOR: Oceanic whitetips
could be using that power just
like the great white.
Everyone knows about the white
shark's aerial gymnastics.
The oceanic might be
going airborne too.
YANNIS: So, we had one
shark, for example,
that accelerated from 160
meters deep, vertically,
till it cleared the surface
at four meters a second.
So, if you imagine you're on
the surface and you have a
shark coming from 160
meters deep that fast,
you know, that
would be on you
very, very quickly.
YANNIS (off-screen): Other
reasons that have been put
forward for breaching is
one is to get rid of parasites.
There has been some idea that
it may be related to signaling
between sharks, we can't rule
anything out at this point.
NARRATOR: The oceanic
is competitive with
the great white
in hearing, speed,
leaping,
and diving to extraordinary
depths in search of food.
But there might be one thing
the oceanic does that the
great white doesn't,
use another species
to find prey.
In Hawaii, the team searches
for oceanic whitetips trailing
a pod of pilot whales.
They find the whales
but no sharks.
They decide on a new plan.
Find a shark and place the
camera tag on a solitary
oceanic in the hope it
connects with a nearby pod.
All eyes are on Deron and
his skill as a free diver.
DERON: Trying to clamp a
camera package onto a dorsal
fin of an oceanic, a
free-swimming oceanic shark,
is going to be
extremely dangerous.
DERON (off-screen): All
of a sudden, I just see
this thing coming in.
NARRATOR: Of course,
the oceanic isn't shy.
DERON (off-screen): And it
just kept getting bigger
and bigger and bigger.
NARRATOR: Deron
seizes the moment.
The missed tag is the
least of Deron's worries.
DERON (off-screen): I
turned around, and I
looked off to the side,
and another smaller
one was coming in.
NARRATOR: With two sharks,
he's vulnerable to an attack
from the other when he
goes in for the tag.
Yannis needs to keep an
eye on Deron's blind side.
One last chance.
Triumph!
DERON: Yeah!
SARAH (off-screen): Awesome.
DERON: Oh yeah!
Got the tag on!
YANNIS (off-screen): Nice.
NARRATOR: The team celebrates,
but it's a short-lived victory.
The next challenge
comes the following day.
They need to retrieve the
camera after the clamp
dissolves and floats
to the surface.
Sarah and Yannis' task
is nearly impossible.
Find a camera tag in the
world's biggest ocean.
NARRATOR: Shark experts
Dr. Yannis Papastamatiou
and Sarah Luongo,
need to retrieve a special
camera tag placed on
what may be the world's
most dangerous shark,
the oceanic whitetip.
The tag may reveal how
oceanics use pilot whales to
help them find prey.
But all is lost if they
can't find the tag.
They track it through
a radio signal.
YANNIS: So, we're out in
open ocean, we have a tag,
that's floating on the surface.
If the currents take it north
of the island it's going to
become very
difficult to recover,
so we really want to get
it as soon as possible.
YANNIS (off-screen):
How strong is the signal?
SARAH: The signal's
pretty strong,
the gain's about
quarter of the way,
I'm guessing it's a
couple hundred meters
in this direction.
YANNIS: Okay, we must be
getting pretty close then.
NARRATOR: Unfortunately,
the signal only weakens,
and the tag is lost at
sea along with its data.
But luckily a photo
Deron Verbeck took
provides a clue
into the oceanic's behavior.
Tell-tale sucker marks from a
giant squid's tentacles raked
along the side of an oceanic.
YANNIS: We don't know, again,
if they are following the
pilot whales down deep and
using the pilot whales to find
the prey.
For example, the pilot whales,
again, they have echolocation.
So they're very efficient
hunters down in the deep
where it's dark.
YANNIS (off-screen): They
could be finding patches
of squid, for example.
So, prey down there is often
going to occur in patches.
So, if you get in on a patch,
you might be able to get quite
a few prey items within
a short period of time.
NARRATOR: But the oceanic
might be taking its
super-skills to find prey
in new hunting grounds.
YANNIS (off-screen): The
oceanic whitetip is really,
its a tropical or
sub-tropical species,
but something to
consider is that as we face
changing climates,
that means that water
temperatures are
changing and generally
getting warmer.
YANNIS (off-screen): So, you may
start to see, for example,
reports of oceanic whitetips
extending further north as
some of those water
starts to warm up.
So, the distribution of these
animals may start to change
over the next several decades.
NARRATOR: Incredibly,
they've been spotted off the
coast of Sweden.
An oceanic even attacked a
boat off of Cornwall, England.
Who knows where they'll
turn up in the future?
What could be the world's
most dangerous shark
may be expanding its range.
It's extraordinary abilities,
from surviving out in the open
ocean to maybe using whales to
find prey might make it the
ultimate predator
to be reckoned with.
YANNIS: I try to avoid
terms like smart,
because those are human terms.
YANNIS (off-screen): And
when you interact with them,
when you see them
in the wild, again,
you can see them looking at you.
You can just sort of get
this feeling that these,
these animals are
checking you out, and
there's something
going on behind them.
NARRATOR: But what might be
the most dangerous shark could
also be one of the most
endangered sharks.
BRENDAN: Oceanic whitetips
have seen dramatic population
declines in the past 50-plus
years on the order of 50 to 95
plus percent in different
parts of the world.
SARAH (off-screen): The
more over fishing that
occurs on that species,
the greater the chances are
that future generations will
never be able to see
an oceanic whitetip.
DERON (off-screen): It would
be really disappointing to
find out that
we've lost all of the oceanics.
I mean, these are an important,
it's like, it's like losing
a wolf in the forest.
NARRATOR: It's not as
well-known as the tiger,
the bull or the great white
but pound for pound the oceanic
whitetip might be the true
ruler of the deep.
Captioned by Cotter Media Group.
The shark we're told
is the deadliest.
MAN (off-screen): Oh! He's...
NARRATOR: But what
if it wasn't true.
What if there was another shark
that could be even
more dangerous.
BROCQ: Guys, the
oceanic is here!
NARRATOR: It may be
responsible for more attacks
than all other sharks combined.
BROCQ: It's coming down.
NARRATOR: The
oceanic whitetip.
And it might be
expanding its range.
BROCQ: It's a big shark.
NARRATOR: Meet what could be
the world's most
dangerous shark?
The coastlines of the world
are ground zero for most
encounters between
humans and sharks.
The hunting grounds of
notorious predators like the
bull shark, tiger,
and great white.
But there's another shark,
that pound for pound maybe
more dangerous than
all other sharks.
The oceanic whitetip.
You probably never heard of it,
because its domain
is the deep seas.
But it's the shark,
the famed underwater explorer
Jacques Cousteau called,
the most dangerous
shark of them all.
MAN (over radio):
I'm in trouble,
mayday, mayday, mayday.
NARRATOR: When a plane crashes
or boat sinks in the open sea
the oceanics often show up.
Earning the name,
The Shipwreck Shark.
By some estimates over 1,000
survivors from plane crashes
and shipwrecks have been
killed by the oceanic.
More than the great white,
bull and tiger sharks combined.
One of the prime spots for
the oceanic is 16 kilometers
off the Bahamas.
Research scientists
Brendan Talwar and
Eric Schneider,
of the Cape Eleuthera Institute
are here to run
demonstrations to reveal why
the oceanic whitetip is as
formidable a predator as
the great white shark.
BRENDAN: This is a species that
was once referred to as the
most abundant predator
over 100 pounds on earth.
BRENDAN (off-screen):
They're basically very
inquisitive sharks.
You know, they live in a place
where food is scarce and
so when they get the chance
to investigate something and
figure out what it is,
they're usually
interested in that.
NARRATOR: The first
demonstration they'll run to
show the oceanics' skills is
how they react to sound.
Like most sharks,
oceanics have
exceptional hearing.
They don't have shoreline
buffets full of seals
like the great white
or reefs of fish like
tigers and bulls.
They survive in the
middle of nowhere.
ERIC: The ocean is
similar in a lot of ways
to a desert ecosystem,
but I think the connotation
with that is that
there's nothing out there.
ERIC (off-screen):
There's no life,
there's no nutrients.
There's actually a lot
out here it's just
really spread out.
NARRATOR: Sharks
usually respond to the
sound of splashes,
fish in distress.
But the oceanic will often
investigate new noises.
ERIC (off-screen):
These pelagic sharks
out in the open ocean,
they're using a number of
different senses to try to
find their prey.
NARRATOR: Hearing may be the
oceanics' longest-range sense,
better than sight or smell.
The sounds of boat engines or
loud crashes travel for miles
out at sea.
Can this be a cue that
attracts an oceanic shark?
Leading them to people?
To test this out Eric and
Brendan will try to bait an
oceanic with only the
sound of a boat engine.
BRENDAN (off-screen):
The sound wave is going
to reach the shark,
and they're going to pick
up on it using these little
things that are similar to ears.
Basically, we don't see them,
but they do have little holes.
NARRATOR: An oceanic's ear
uses vibrating minuscule hairs
called stereocilia to
signal the brain as sound.
They can pinpoint the location
of a noise in any direction.
An underwater loudspeaker
will broadcast the sound of a
propeller and its diesel rumble.
ERIC: Alright,
the speaker's in,
I'm going to get kitted
up with scuba gear,
and hop in and see
if we can see anything.
NARRATOR: Eric will enter
the water to observe if any
oceanics show up.
He's joined by cinematographer,
Brocq Maxey.
Brocq uses an
underwater coms system
to relay what's happening.
(oxygen blowing)
Brendan oversees the
dive from the surface.
BRENDAN: Get the
speaker on and hit play.
We've got the
speaker down there.
BRENDAN (off-screen): Brocq and
Eric are swimming around.
Hey, Brocq, can you hear me?
BROCQ: Everything looks good.
BRENDAN: These sharks are
living in a habitat that is
devoid of any kind of structure,
it pays to be very curious and
rely on things like sound
to investigate
potential food sources.
NARRATOR: Is this an
underwater dinner bell
for whitetips?
The team plays a
dangerous waiting game.
An ocean away, in Hawaii,
another team of researchers
are on a mission to
find oceanic whitetips.
Marine Biologist Dr. Yannis
Papastamatiou and
PHD candidate Sarah Luongo want
to discover how the oceanic
finds food away from the
fish-filled reefs.
YANNIS: Oceanic whitetip
sharks are actually my absolute
favorite shark.
YANNIS (off-screen): And to me,
what I admire the most about
them is that they live
in essentially the oceanic
equivalent of the desert.
They live in an environment
where there's not much food,
it's not easy to make a living.
SARAH: The oceanics are
something new for me,
being here in Hawaii,
it's a new experience.
I studied great white sharks
but being here and studying
this pelagic oceanic whitetip
is, is a new experience.
NARRATOR: Sarah is here to
help unravel a mystery.
Why do oceanic whitetips
follow pods of pilot whales?
They aren't feeding
on the whales,
they seem to be doing something
even more extraordinary.
Oceanics could be using pilot
whales to lead them to prey.
Enlisting the whales like
hunting dogs guiding them
to quarry.
No other shark,
not the tiger,
bull,
even the infamous great
white is known to do this.
YANNIS (off-screen): The
two explanations that make
the most sense to me
as to why they're following
these pilot whales is related
to foraging.
YANNIS (off-screen):
We know that pilot
whales are diving deep,
and they're diving
deep to catch prey.
And pilot whales,
they have echolocation.
So they're much more
efficient at hunting in deep,
dark waters.
So potentially, could the
sharks be following them,
going down deep and
trying to get a free meal?
NARRATOR: To gather
evidence if this unique
behavior is true,
the team will attach a
special camera tag called
a CATS Cam.
SARAH: The goal is to swim
down from behind the shark,
put the clamp on the dorsal fin,
nice and secure.
This will give us a great
point of view of what the
shark is seeing in front of it.
After about 24 hours,
these two links here
are gonna corrode,
only the tag is going
to pop off and that is gonna
float up to the surface.
And using this antenna,
we can listen to this rhythmic
pinging sound.
(pinging)
SARAH (off-screen): So,
that's going to allow us
to go out and hone in on
where exactly the tag is in
the water so we can recover it
and download the data.
NARRATOR: The tag will reveal
the oceanics depth, speed,
and hopefully the first ever
video footage of them hunting
deep with pilot whales.
It will be world-class
free-diver Deron Verbeck's job
to attach the camera tag.
He has firsthand experience
with the oceanics
"most dangerous" reputation.
DERON: I was out in the blue
one day and had an oceanic.
I started swimming
back towards the boat.
And, and as it was coming back,
it came at my stomach,
and I'm looking down
on the top of the head,
and I saw the jaw slide out
right in front of my stomach,
and it snapped, and it turned,
and then started
going after my thigh.
DERON (off-screen): When I
hopped up on the boat and
turned around and sat down
the tips of my fins were still
in the water and the shark
came up and snapped at my fins.
It was going to eat me
if I stayed in the water.
NARRATOR: The team joins
Colin Cornforth of the
Cascadia Research Collective.
They've been tracking
pilot whales in the area.
YANNIS: Okay, so
at 1,500 meters,
we're way off the reef.
YANNIS (off-screen): We're in
oceanic whitetip habitat now.
We know they like deep water.
Generally, the upper 200
meters in the water column.
So let's go find
some pilot whales
and then hopefully some sharks.
NARRATOR: Back in the Bahamas
researchers Brendan Talwar and
Eric Schneider try to lure in
an oceanic whitetip shark with
sound, not bait.
An underwater loudspeaker,
broadcasts a low rumble of
a diesel engine.
Eric is on alert.
Since the speaker broadcasts
in all directions,
the shark can come
from anywhere.
Brocq Maxey,
the underwater cinematographer
relays what happens
to the surface.
BROCQ: It's pretty calm.
The conditions are perfect.
NARRATOR: A familiar
airplane shape appears.
BROCQ: Guys, the
oceanic is here!
NARRATOR: The
"World's Most
Dangerous Shark"
might not be the tiger, bull,
or great white,
but the oceanic whitetip.
To find out what makes the
oceanic so remarkable,
shark researchers
Brendan Talwar,
Eric Schneider and
cinematographer Brocq Maxey
set up an experiment.
The team tries to lure in
an oceanic through the
low frequency sound
of a boat engine.
A noise not usually
known to attract sharks.
But the ability to key into
new noises makes the oceanic
a fearsome hunter.
Eric is there to observe.
Brocq uses an
underwater coms system
to relay what happens
to the surface.
BROCQ: Really great conditions.
BRENDAN: Awesome,
alright, we're gonna,
we're gonna hit play.
(engine noises over PA)
We know that the sharks are,
are really tuned into hearing
low-frequency irregular noise.
NARRATOR: Like a siren's song,
the broadcast boat engine
calls in the shark.
This oceanic might have heard
it from 1.6 kilometers away.
BROCQ: It's coming down.
We've got a nice
oceanic down here.
It's a big shark.
It's coming nice and close.
Really, really curious shark.
The oceanic immediately
took interest in Eric.
Checking him out, swimming
around him in circles.
The oceanic whitetip
is still here.
It's still very active, but
we're running low on air.
So Eric and I are gonna surface.
ERIC: It was awesome.
ERIC (off-screen): A nice
big oceanic down there,
there are not a lot of spots
in the world where you can
still reliably find them,
we got lucky today obviously,
but making noise got them here
pretty quick today.
BRENDAN (off-screen):
There's still a lot to
learn about sound in the
marine environment and what
effects humans are having on
changing that soundscape,
but sharks that live in
the open ocean
definitely need every
advantage that they can get
to locate prey in a place
where its hard to find food.
So sound is one way to
cue in on things from
a long distance away.
NARRATOR: The Bahamas team
has shown how oceanics will
investigate any new noises,
including the sound of a boat
engine and its propeller.
Back in Hawaii, Dr. Yannis
Papastamatiou and
PHD candidate Sarah Luongo
want to attach a camera on an
oceanic whitetip shark
that may be using pilot
whales to help them hunt.
Something no other
shark is known to do,
not even the great white.
But finding pilot whales
proves to be a struggle.
YANNIS: It's not that easy to
see them out here especially
when there's getting a little
bit of swell and the light's
getting low.
NARRATOR: No whales,
but there are reports
of oceanic whitetips near
an aquatic fish farm.
The team uses this discovery
to their advantage.
YANNIS (off-screen): You can
often see sharks around here.
So we're not going to tag
any oceanic whitetips
if there are any here.
This is more just exploratory
and just to take a look and
see if there's any sharks.
NARRATOR: The dive is a
great test run for Deron.
A chance to see how close he
can get to the shark when
he'll tag one with the whales.
It will also be a new
experience for Sarah,
she's dived with great whites
but this will be her first
time swimming with oceanics.
SARAH (off-screen):
It's definitely easy to
look at a shark and be
intimidated by it,
but when I look at a shark,
I just see, you know,
a beautiful incredible
predator that
is just trying to make
its way through life.
NARRATOR: Even so,
Sarah knows any
open water dive
with sharks can be dangerous,
she's aware of the warning
signs of an attack.
SARAH: Similar to cats,
they'll arch their backs.
SARAH (off-screen): They'll
curve their pectoral fins under.
Things like that you want
to keep an eye out for.
DERON: If you see a
shark and I don't see it,
I need you to do something,
I need you to yell 'shark'
through your snorkel.
SARAH: Okay.
DERON: As loud as you can.
And then point at it and don't
take your eye off of it.
COLIN: We just had an
oceanic whitetip come up
to our, our divers
in the water.
COLIN (off-screen): And it
seems to be showing some
bit of interest with the
divers right now.
NARRATOR: It's clear Deron
won't have to chase the
sharks to put on a tag.
The oceanic circles closer.
Sarah's dived with great whites,
but that was from
the safety of a cage,
out in the open water anything
can happen with an oceanic.
NARRATOR: The oceanic
whitetip has been called
"The World's Most
Dangerous Shark."
Divers all over the world
have felt its wrath.
It could be responsible for
over 1,000 human fatalities,
more than all other
sharks combined,
including the great white.
But little is known how this
apex predator hunts prey
in the open ocean,
far from fish filled reefs.
Biologist Dr. Yannis
Papastamatiou and
shark researcher
Sarah Luongo are in
Hawaii to discover if oceanics
use pilot whales to
help them find food.
Step one is an exploratory
dive with a pair of oceanics.
It's researcher Sarah Luongo's
first time swimming
with the oceanic.
SARAH (off-screen):
Right now, we are just
observing these sharks.
Watching their behavior and
getting an idea of what it's
going to be like in the water
when we're trying to tag the
sharks with the pilot whales.
DERON (off-screen): I'm
just watching for body
language of the sharks,
making sure there's not
aggressive activity,
if they're starting to
get territorial or, or
aggravated with us.
NARRATOR: The sharks realize
the team isn't food and
disappear into the blue.
The dive was a great test
for how close Deron can get.
It was also a memorable first
dive with oceanics for Sarah.
SARAH: It was incredible,
it was awesome to see
them in the water,
they're one of the most
beautiful sharks I've ever seen,
and it was great to
be face to face.
SARAH (off-screen):
One of them was
swimming with some pilot fish,
which is one of my
favorite things to see.
NARRATOR: They've
seen pilot fish,
now they need to find the
pilot whales and deploy a
camera tag on the shark.
It could provide evidence of
the oceanic whitetip doing
something no other
shark is known to do,
not even the great white,
use a whale to help
it find prey.
But they can't just
tag any oceanic,
Yannis needs to get one on
a shark following a pod.
SARAH: When we're out looking
for the whales in the water,
it can be very challenging.
SARAH (off-screen): We're
just trying to see any kind
of movement on the water
that could indicate
that there's whales
and sharks there.
NARRATOR: Hours pass.
The tedium outweighed only by
the drudgery of the search.
And then...
MAN (off-screen): Yeah! Nice!
MAN: So stoked. We got whales!
MAN: Yeah! Awesome.
COLIN: Really hoping that we
have oceanic whitetip sharks
following this resident
group right now.
DERON: So, plan here
is to find a group
of animals that are,
are fairly close together and
move up ahead of the animals.
Just off to the side of them,
we'll slide in,
hopefully there'll be a
shark trailing behind them.
NARRATOR: It sounds simple,
but oceanic whitetips change
their behavior
around pilot whales.
Making them even
more unpredictable.
DERON: Well, the oceanics can
act a little differently when
they're around structure
with pilot whales.
They tend to be a
little more curious,
they'll come in fast.
NARRATOR: This more aggressive
behavior was seen in 2019,
in Tahiti.
A group of tourists also set
out to follow pilot whales,
this time off the
coast of Moorea.
Swimmers enjoy the serene
French Polynesian seas
and the whales.
That's when the idyllic
holiday turned into everyone's
worst nightmare.
An oceanic whitetip attacks.
A 35-year-old woman narrowly
escapes with her life.
But the oceanic whitetip
claims both her hands before
bystanders pull her to safety.
Although shark attacks are rare,
the tragedy in Moorea is a
grim reminder that diving
with oceanic whitetips,
especially those
following pilot whales,
is incredibly dangerous.
YANNIS: Yeah, so Deron will be
the one to try to get the tag
on and you just always want
to make sure that someone's
watching his back because
of another shark that might be
coming up behind.
So that's going to be my job,
just to basically
provide safety.
SARAH: I'm excited to get in,
my adrenaline's going and
hopefully watch
Deron get a tag out.
DERON: If you see a shark,
don't take your eyes off it.
NARRATOR: They
have the whales,
the sound of their boat engine,
and their own splashing,
all calling cards for
the oceanic whitetip.
NARRATOR: The
oceanic whitetip,
what many consider the most
dangerous shark in the world,
could be using pilot whales
to lead them to food.
To discover if this
extraordinary behavior is true,
shark experts Dr.
Yannis Papastamatiou
and Sarah Luongo
are in Hawaii to place a
special camera on an oceanic.
They're joined by
world champion free
diver Deron Verbeck
on their quest.
(calls)
Finally, a large pod
of up to 20 whales.
A perfect chance
to spot an oceanic.
COLIN: He's doing
a surface interval.
Basically, oxygen enriching
his blood before he
potentially will go back
down diving underneath
to feed on squid.
NARRATOR: The pilot whales
swim to over 900 meters deep
to feed.
This is the aphotic
or midnight zone,
a world of perpetual darkness.
Most sharks that
hunt at the surface,
like tigers and bull sharks,
never travel to this abyss.
Great whites are one of the
few that can hunt down here
and so can the oceanic whitetip.
YANNIS (off-screen):
Oceanic whitetips we know
out here, for example,
they go 600 meters.
In other places, they'll
dive to 1,000 meters,
and down at those depths,
there's certainly no light.
So it's going to be complete
darkness for them.
YANNIS (off-screen):
So they're going to be
relying on other senses,
and it's also really cold,
even for the sharks.
NARRATOR: Luckily, this whale
pod is still on the surface.
The team is in the thick of it.
They have the whales,
but on this dive,
no oceanics.
YANNIS: So, we had a
nice pod of pilot whales.
They came right underneath us.
YANNIS (off-screen):
Unfortunately, there's
no sharks, which again,
you don't always see
sharks with these pods.
And actually, one of the things
we'd like to know is what
makes one pod attracted to
sharks and not another.
SARAH: I just got
out of the water;
it was incredible.
SARAH (off-screen):
There was a lot of
action going on down there.
We didn't see any oceanics
that decided to join this pod.
So, we're going to have to
keep searching and hopefully
the next pod we'll have some.
YANNIS: We'll just have
to come out tomorrow and
hopefully find them again.
NARRATOR: Off the Bahamas,
shark researchers Brendan Talwar
and Eric Schneider are
also in search of the oceanic.
They're joined by
cinematographer Brocq Maxey.
They want to explore what
makes the oceanic whitetip
shark as formidable a predator
as the legendary great white.
They've revealed the oceanic
will investigate new noises in
their environment,
not just the sound of fish but
even the whir of propellers,
and rumble of boat engines.
But to uncrown the great
white as the most dangerous,
the oceanic needs more
than great hearing.
It's often said...
speed kills.
And one look at a
great white shark
and you know what that means.
Their bullet shape and short
pectoral fins allow them to
shoot through the water
and launch attacks.
An oceanic whitetip
is the exact opposite.
A lanky drawn-out
body anchored by
enormous pectoral fins.
It's scientific name,
Carcharhinus longimanus,
meaning sharpened nose
with long fingers,
perfectly captures
this super shark.
Those "long fingers" allow
the oceanic to slow
cruise huge distances.
Like eagles of the sea,
they glide on the currents
in search of prey.
Slow and steady wins the race
for the oceanic whitetip.
They can swim over
48 kilometers a day
while on a hunt.
But the oceanic whitetip
have been known to kick it
up in gear.
Brendan and Eric want to
observe how fast the oceanic
can get by using a troll cam.
BRENDAN: Fishermen will often
throw cameras like this out
just to get an idea of what's
attacking their baits.
BRENDAN (off-screen):
Plus, it's just cool footage.
NARRATOR: It's dragged
behind the boat.
They rev up the speed
and see if the
oceanic can keep up.
The oceanic easily showcases
its sped-up nature.
At 16 kilometers per hour,
it's just under the
white shark's maximum speed.
BROCQ (off-screen): When it
comes to their flat-out speed,
we know, just, a
tuna for instance
is a fast fish,
and we know that they,
that's part of their prey.
NARRATOR: Tuna are one
of the fastest fish.
So, oceanics can become
speed demons when hungry.
Conserving their energy until
the fatal moment and then,
they're torpedoes with teeth.
Not only are the
oceanics nearly as
fast as a great white,
but just like their
famous cousins' superpower.
Oceanic whitetips
can go airborne too.
NARRATOR: The
oceanic whitetip,
sometimes called the world's
most dangerous shark has a
deadly array of weapons
to track and kill prey.
Shark researchers
Brendan Talwar,
Eric Schneider and cameraman
Brocq Maxey have shown how the
oceanic uses speed to
launch their attacks.
A special troll camera
highlights their incredible
burst velocity.
BROCQ (off-screen):
They're quick,
they're very maneuverable,
they are fast,
they obviously can
put on some power.
NARRATOR: Oceanic whitetips
could be using that power just
like the great white.
Everyone knows about the white
shark's aerial gymnastics.
The oceanic might be
going airborne too.
YANNIS: So, we had one
shark, for example,
that accelerated from 160
meters deep, vertically,
till it cleared the surface
at four meters a second.
So, if you imagine you're on
the surface and you have a
shark coming from 160
meters deep that fast,
you know, that
would be on you
very, very quickly.
YANNIS (off-screen): Other
reasons that have been put
forward for breaching is
one is to get rid of parasites.
There has been some idea that
it may be related to signaling
between sharks, we can't rule
anything out at this point.
NARRATOR: The oceanic
is competitive with
the great white
in hearing, speed,
leaping,
and diving to extraordinary
depths in search of food.
But there might be one thing
the oceanic does that the
great white doesn't,
use another species
to find prey.
In Hawaii, the team searches
for oceanic whitetips trailing
a pod of pilot whales.
They find the whales
but no sharks.
They decide on a new plan.
Find a shark and place the
camera tag on a solitary
oceanic in the hope it
connects with a nearby pod.
All eyes are on Deron and
his skill as a free diver.
DERON: Trying to clamp a
camera package onto a dorsal
fin of an oceanic, a
free-swimming oceanic shark,
is going to be
extremely dangerous.
DERON (off-screen): All
of a sudden, I just see
this thing coming in.
NARRATOR: Of course,
the oceanic isn't shy.
DERON (off-screen): And it
just kept getting bigger
and bigger and bigger.
NARRATOR: Deron
seizes the moment.
The missed tag is the
least of Deron's worries.
DERON (off-screen): I
turned around, and I
looked off to the side,
and another smaller
one was coming in.
NARRATOR: With two sharks,
he's vulnerable to an attack
from the other when he
goes in for the tag.
Yannis needs to keep an
eye on Deron's blind side.
One last chance.
Triumph!
DERON: Yeah!
SARAH (off-screen): Awesome.
DERON: Oh yeah!
Got the tag on!
YANNIS (off-screen): Nice.
NARRATOR: The team celebrates,
but it's a short-lived victory.
The next challenge
comes the following day.
They need to retrieve the
camera after the clamp
dissolves and floats
to the surface.
Sarah and Yannis' task
is nearly impossible.
Find a camera tag in the
world's biggest ocean.
NARRATOR: Shark experts
Dr. Yannis Papastamatiou
and Sarah Luongo,
need to retrieve a special
camera tag placed on
what may be the world's
most dangerous shark,
the oceanic whitetip.
The tag may reveal how
oceanics use pilot whales to
help them find prey.
But all is lost if they
can't find the tag.
They track it through
a radio signal.
YANNIS: So, we're out in
open ocean, we have a tag,
that's floating on the surface.
If the currents take it north
of the island it's going to
become very
difficult to recover,
so we really want to get
it as soon as possible.
YANNIS (off-screen):
How strong is the signal?
SARAH: The signal's
pretty strong,
the gain's about
quarter of the way,
I'm guessing it's a
couple hundred meters
in this direction.
YANNIS: Okay, we must be
getting pretty close then.
NARRATOR: Unfortunately,
the signal only weakens,
and the tag is lost at
sea along with its data.
But luckily a photo
Deron Verbeck took
provides a clue
into the oceanic's behavior.
Tell-tale sucker marks from a
giant squid's tentacles raked
along the side of an oceanic.
YANNIS: We don't know, again,
if they are following the
pilot whales down deep and
using the pilot whales to find
the prey.
For example, the pilot whales,
again, they have echolocation.
So they're very efficient
hunters down in the deep
where it's dark.
YANNIS (off-screen): They
could be finding patches
of squid, for example.
So, prey down there is often
going to occur in patches.
So, if you get in on a patch,
you might be able to get quite
a few prey items within
a short period of time.
NARRATOR: But the oceanic
might be taking its
super-skills to find prey
in new hunting grounds.
YANNIS (off-screen): The
oceanic whitetip is really,
its a tropical or
sub-tropical species,
but something to
consider is that as we face
changing climates,
that means that water
temperatures are
changing and generally
getting warmer.
YANNIS (off-screen): So, you may
start to see, for example,
reports of oceanic whitetips
extending further north as
some of those water
starts to warm up.
So, the distribution of these
animals may start to change
over the next several decades.
NARRATOR: Incredibly,
they've been spotted off the
coast of Sweden.
An oceanic even attacked a
boat off of Cornwall, England.
Who knows where they'll
turn up in the future?
What could be the world's
most dangerous shark
may be expanding its range.
It's extraordinary abilities,
from surviving out in the open
ocean to maybe using whales to
find prey might make it the
ultimate predator
to be reckoned with.
YANNIS: I try to avoid
terms like smart,
because those are human terms.
YANNIS (off-screen): And
when you interact with them,
when you see them
in the wild, again,
you can see them looking at you.
You can just sort of get
this feeling that these,
these animals are
checking you out, and
there's something
going on behind them.
NARRATOR: But what might be
the most dangerous shark could
also be one of the most
endangered sharks.
BRENDAN: Oceanic whitetips
have seen dramatic population
declines in the past 50-plus
years on the order of 50 to 95
plus percent in different
parts of the world.
SARAH (off-screen): The
more over fishing that
occurs on that species,
the greater the chances are
that future generations will
never be able to see
an oceanic whitetip.
DERON (off-screen): It would
be really disappointing to
find out that
we've lost all of the oceanics.
I mean, these are an important,
it's like, it's like losing
a wolf in the forest.
NARRATOR: It's not as
well-known as the tiger,
the bull or the great white
but pound for pound the oceanic
whitetip might be the true
ruler of the deep.
Captioned by Cotter Media Group.