1 00:00:00,521 --> 00:00:14,520 This series presents information based in part on theory and conjecture. 2 00:00:14,520 --> 00:00:20,760 The producer's purpose is to suggest some possible explanations, but not necessarily 3 00:00:20,760 --> 00:00:26,519 the only ones to the mysteries we will examine. 4 00:00:26,519 --> 00:00:36,519 In nature's scheme of creatures, there is perhaps none so large and yet so primitive as the shark. 5 00:00:36,519 --> 00:00:42,518 During 63 million years of evolution, other species have changed or died. 6 00:00:42,518 --> 00:00:50,518 The shark alone has remained the same, a throwback to a time long before the dinosaurs. 7 00:00:50,518 --> 00:00:57,518 Yet, even within such an unchanging species, there exists one that is superior to the rest. 8 00:00:57,518 --> 00:01:04,517 To the handful of men who have seen it, it seems indestructible and immortal. 9 00:01:04,517 --> 00:01:11,517 While they may roam the waters of the world, unquestionably their favorite stalking grounds are those off Western Australia. 10 00:01:11,517 --> 00:01:18,516 It is here that in search of cameras must go to seek out the great white shark. 11 00:01:19,516 --> 00:01:23,516 Is it possible to discover the secret of their survival? 12 00:01:33,515 --> 00:01:37,515 Life on this planet sprang from the oceans. 13 00:01:37,515 --> 00:01:43,515 Here too, the order of birth, life, death evolved. 14 00:01:43,515 --> 00:01:48,514 Yet in this womb of human existence, an anomaly exists. 15 00:01:48,514 --> 00:01:54,514 Sharks defy the normal pattern. 16 00:01:54,514 --> 00:01:59,514 They have few, if any, natural enemies except one another. 17 00:02:04,513 --> 00:02:12,513 Native fishermen of the Southern Hemisphere know that the disposal of fish remains will instantly turn the normally placid tropical waters 18 00:02:12,513 --> 00:02:16,513 into a frantic feeding frantic. 19 00:02:21,512 --> 00:02:28,512 This awesome sight validates the fear that sharks are the oceans most savage creatures. 20 00:02:32,512 --> 00:02:36,512 Sharks threaten human life in waters throughout the world. 21 00:02:36,512 --> 00:02:45,511 Of those known to attack man, the great white is the most deadly and strangely the one that seems immortal. 22 00:02:45,511 --> 00:02:55,510 To find out whether or not the great white shark actually defies nature's laws, in search of cameras venture to Western Australia. 23 00:02:59,510 --> 00:03:04,510 The wailing town of Albany was long known as a haven for the great white shark. 24 00:03:06,510 --> 00:03:10,509 Whalers were among the first to report the terror of the great whites. 25 00:03:10,509 --> 00:03:20,509 They were dumbfounded, a might of a beast capable of tearing huge chunks of blubber from the hapless whales as they were being hauled back to port. 26 00:03:25,509 --> 00:03:31,508 A sailor who might fall into these churning seas knew he could not survive. 27 00:03:36,508 --> 00:03:57,507 The whaling station at Albany is deserted now. Conservationists outcry against the slaughter of whales forced virtually the entire Australian industry out of business. 28 00:03:57,507 --> 00:04:13,506 Once deep sea whalers landed tons of blubber on these docks. Once the waters of the bay reeked with the smell of dead whales. 29 00:04:13,506 --> 00:04:19,505 The great whites had long come here for easy feeding, so we picked this site to begin our search. 30 00:04:20,505 --> 00:04:31,505 Hugh Edwards, famed Australian diver, knows the adventure and frustration of finding and filming the great white. 31 00:04:32,504 --> 00:04:44,504 Using the technique of native fishermen, one of Hugh's team creates a slick with fish remains and blood in hopes of luring the keen smelling creature. 32 00:04:52,503 --> 00:04:55,503 Our goal is to film the beast in his own habitat. 33 00:04:56,503 --> 00:05:07,502 Scientists complain that they have little direct information about how the great white lives, how he attacks, how far he travels and how he ages. 34 00:05:08,502 --> 00:05:16,502 For experts like Hugh Edwards, there's an unspoken excitement about the cat and mouse game of finding the sharks. 35 00:05:16,502 --> 00:05:26,501 He once tracked such a monster across more than 300 miles of ocean in 10 days. 36 00:05:26,501 --> 00:05:41,500 Like all experts, Hugh admits little is really known of the white. 37 00:05:41,500 --> 00:05:49,500 Basically they're a continental shell shark, which is not deep water, but it's usually up to 30 or 40 miles from land. 38 00:05:50,500 --> 00:05:56,499 The big white can stay up there and very slow and come into shallow water at all. 39 00:05:56,499 --> 00:05:58,499 So people don't get to see them. 40 00:05:58,499 --> 00:06:03,499 I believe that a pregnant one has never been caught, for instance. Nobody knows how they mate. 41 00:06:03,499 --> 00:06:07,499 Nobody knows much about their habits at all, whether they're migratory or they move continuously. 42 00:06:07,499 --> 00:06:13,498 They're not often seen in numbers, although when the whales are in them, they come in twos and threes and so on. 43 00:06:20,498 --> 00:06:25,498 A dorsal fin announces the presence of a shark. 44 00:06:25,498 --> 00:06:32,497 Unfortunately, it is quickly evident that this is not a great white. 45 00:06:32,497 --> 00:06:42,497 The blue pointer, or Mako shark, is almost as difficult to capture as its bigger and more powerful cousin. 46 00:06:43,496 --> 00:06:51,496 The men decide to kill the Mako in hopes that his thrashing and blood will attract the real target. 47 00:07:00,495 --> 00:07:03,495 The shark is strapped to the side of the boat. 48 00:07:03,495 --> 00:07:07,495 Every precaution is taken to make sure that it does not slip away. 49 00:07:08,495 --> 00:07:15,495 Few Edwards is convinced that the Mako is perfect bait. 50 00:07:23,494 --> 00:07:27,494 The team drops the shark cage over the side of the boat. 51 00:07:27,494 --> 00:07:32,494 It will be their only protection against the marauding monster of the ocean. 52 00:07:38,493 --> 00:07:45,493 As they suit up, he remembers the first time he hunted the sea. 53 00:07:45,493 --> 00:07:49,492 We started diving when we were kids at Rocknest Island after the war. 54 00:07:49,492 --> 00:07:53,492 In those days we didn't have proper diving gear. 55 00:07:53,492 --> 00:07:57,492 We just read about the wartime frogman and so on, so we had an old army gas mask. 56 00:07:57,492 --> 00:08:00,492 We had hose with pinch from Mum's laundry. 57 00:08:00,492 --> 00:08:03,492 We stuck on the end of the gas mask thing and we used to hold that up as a snorkel. 58 00:08:04,492 --> 00:08:08,491 We used to get funny effects with the eyepaces of the gas mask. 59 00:08:08,491 --> 00:08:10,491 So you could get double vision on things. 60 00:08:10,491 --> 00:08:13,491 It's a mess of a time we spend with one eye closed. 61 00:08:14,491 --> 00:08:18,491 A quick check of the surface tells the men that it's safe to get in 62 00:08:18,491 --> 00:08:21,491 and set the cage for the arrival of the great white. 63 00:08:34,490 --> 00:08:40,489 They strain to see any abnormal movement of the water that would signal the arrival. 64 00:08:42,489 --> 00:08:46,489 Suddenly, something forces the cage to sway. 65 00:08:48,489 --> 00:08:51,489 For a moment, the source remains on scene. 66 00:09:04,488 --> 00:09:07,488 He is 18 feet long. 67 00:09:11,488 --> 00:09:15,487 He is capable of swallowing the Mako in three gulps. 68 00:09:18,487 --> 00:09:22,487 In a single snap, he can crush the shark cage and the men inside. 69 00:09:22,487 --> 00:09:25,487 He is able to tear holes in a boat's hull. 70 00:09:34,486 --> 00:09:37,486 He is able to pull the cage out of the water. 71 00:09:37,486 --> 00:09:40,486 He is able to pull the cage out of the water. 72 00:09:40,486 --> 00:09:43,486 He is able to pull the cage out of the water. 73 00:09:43,486 --> 00:09:46,485 He is able to pull the cage out of the water. 74 00:09:46,485 --> 00:09:49,485 He is able to pull the cage out of the water. 75 00:09:49,485 --> 00:09:52,485 He is able to pull the cage out of the water. 76 00:09:52,485 --> 00:09:55,485 He is able to pull the cage out of the water. 77 00:09:55,485 --> 00:09:58,485 He is able to pull the cage out of the water. 78 00:09:58,485 --> 00:10:01,484 He is able to pull the cage out of the water. 79 00:10:01,484 --> 00:10:04,484 He is able to pull the cage out of the water. 80 00:10:23,483 --> 00:10:29,483 This is the final view of what divers see before a great white closes in for the kill. 81 00:10:31,483 --> 00:10:36,482 This is the final view of what divers see before a great white closes in for the kill. 82 00:10:36,482 --> 00:10:42,482 Rodney Fox, theme diver and explorer, explains his encounter with just such a shark. 83 00:10:42,482 --> 00:10:46,482 When all of a sudden a great bump came from behind me, 84 00:10:46,482 --> 00:10:50,481 and my gun was knocked out of my hand, my mask off my face, 85 00:10:50,481 --> 00:10:54,481 and I was just hurled through the water at a great speed. 86 00:10:54,481 --> 00:10:59,481 I knew almost immediately that it had to be a shark, and that I was in big trouble. 87 00:10:59,481 --> 00:11:06,481 I remember vividly how the very quiet, smooth movement of the tail was hurling me through the water. 88 00:11:06,481 --> 00:11:09,480 I gouged as hard as I could around its eyes. 89 00:11:09,480 --> 00:11:16,480 I still don't know whether I got it or not, because its back jaw was around this area, front jaw here. 90 00:11:16,480 --> 00:11:20,480 Instinctively I thrust my right hand out to try and push it away, 91 00:11:20,480 --> 00:11:25,479 and it disappeared into its mouth, cutting all over the bottom of the palm. 92 00:11:25,479 --> 00:11:34,479 My blood had stained the water all red, and as I looked down I could see this big head with its mouth wide open coming up towards me. 93 00:11:34,479 --> 00:11:44,478 It is very difficult to see something so large in the water, with hardly a movement of its tail powering through without a sound. 94 00:11:44,478 --> 00:11:49,478 To know that they are the most dangerous species in your own mind before you, 95 00:11:49,478 --> 00:11:54,478 you actually see them, puts an aura around them anyway. 96 00:11:54,478 --> 00:12:01,477 But when you're in the safety of the cages that I use and work and organise the filming expeditions from, 97 00:12:01,477 --> 00:12:05,477 they have a beauty that is unbelievable. 98 00:12:07,477 --> 00:12:12,476 We have now seen the great white, and are better equipped to deal with the question, 99 00:12:12,476 --> 00:12:14,476 is he immortal? 100 00:12:20,476 --> 00:12:27,476 In order to discover the reason for the seeming indestructibility of the great white, 101 00:12:27,476 --> 00:12:34,475 in search of when to sea world in San Diego, where the only shark exhibit of its kind exists. 102 00:12:34,475 --> 00:12:40,475 Perhaps if we understand what has been learned about the evolution and physiology common to all sharks, 103 00:12:40,475 --> 00:12:44,475 we will have a clue to the long life of the great white. 104 00:12:44,475 --> 00:12:52,474 Ray Keyes, curator of fishes, acknowledges that most information about sharks has only recently been acquired. 105 00:12:52,474 --> 00:12:58,474 Researchers at a California university have found out, examining the great reef shark in the Pacific, 106 00:12:58,474 --> 00:13:02,473 that the animal goes through some very unusual behavioural changes before it attacks. 107 00:13:02,473 --> 00:13:06,473 It's actually signalling the intruder that perhaps it shouldn't be there. 108 00:13:06,473 --> 00:13:11,473 There's a dropping of the pectoral fins and a humping of the back and a swaying of the head. 109 00:13:11,473 --> 00:13:18,472 And if the intruder does not leave, the attack will be triggered and it commenced, and it's very, very rapid. 110 00:13:18,472 --> 00:13:24,472 Of course sharks are marvelous eating machines, and some of this has to do with the digestive system. 111 00:13:24,472 --> 00:13:31,472 Sharks have a rather short digestive tract, although they have in some species a short part of the intestine 112 00:13:31,472 --> 00:13:37,471 that has a huge surface area and allows greater digestion and absorption of nutrients to occur there. 113 00:13:37,471 --> 00:13:44,471 You would have to call them one of the world's foremost predators, and they're extremely agile and able to collect just about any food that they care to. 114 00:13:44,471 --> 00:13:50,471 Sharks are unique in that the upper jaw does not have a permanent connection to the skull. 115 00:13:50,471 --> 00:13:54,470 In fact, the attachments are by legaments and muscles, of course. 116 00:13:54,470 --> 00:14:02,470 And this allows the shark, when it is biting, to actually throw its jaw out more or less to grab prey. 117 00:14:02,470 --> 00:14:10,469 They have to roll over, as was once believed, they can actually attack a prey front on and protrude the jaw and secure the prey. 118 00:14:14,469 --> 00:14:22,469 Something that's come to light rather recently is that they have pits on their snout that allow them to pick up electrical potential 119 00:14:22,469 --> 00:14:29,468 created by muscular activity from other animals. This allows them to find prey that are sometimes hidden or even camouflaged. 120 00:14:32,468 --> 00:14:45,467 I really can't tell you a great deal about the aging process and that there's just not a great deal known. 121 00:14:45,467 --> 00:14:56,467 Sharks are not well represented in the fossil record and that they do not have the type of skeleton that allows them to be fossilized easily, at least. 122 00:14:56,467 --> 00:15:05,466 The bony fishes have what is called an otolith inside the ear and layers are deposited on a daily basis. 123 00:15:05,466 --> 00:15:10,466 By using micro-technique, you can slice this bone and then you can count the layers and determine the age of the fish. 124 00:15:10,466 --> 00:15:14,465 Sharks don't have that, at least as far as we know. 125 00:15:14,465 --> 00:15:21,465 They do not have the same kind of layering and the scales that the bony fishes do that would allow us to use that technique. 126 00:15:21,465 --> 00:15:30,464 Sharks are very difficult to keep outside of the wild and that our technology until only recently did not allow us to give them the proper conditions 127 00:15:30,464 --> 00:15:33,464 that allow them to succeed as these animals are. 128 00:15:33,464 --> 00:15:40,464 Now that the animals can be brought into the laboratory, we will be able to do some more accurate growth measurements. 129 00:15:40,464 --> 00:15:47,463 We're hoping that we will be able to do something that will give some idea about the longevity of these animals. 130 00:15:47,463 --> 00:15:53,463 And it appears that sharks are relatively long-lived. 131 00:15:53,463 --> 00:16:04,462 We do know that some bony fishes may live 70 or 80 years and it would not be unreasonable to expect that a shark could at least equal or possibly exceed that. 132 00:16:04,462 --> 00:16:11,462 But at this point in time, we just really can't say a lot about the age of sharks. 133 00:16:11,462 --> 00:16:19,461 For more definition, we went to Bill Gladstone, a marine biologist at New South Wales University in Sydney, Australia. 134 00:16:19,461 --> 00:16:23,461 Very little in fact is known about these sharks, their lifespan. 135 00:16:23,461 --> 00:16:32,461 The smallest specimens ever been discovered or ever found was four foot long, which is large as far as sharks go. 136 00:16:32,461 --> 00:16:37,460 But as far as their lifespan go, they could live for at least 100 years. 137 00:16:37,460 --> 00:16:43,460 Going on their large size, the largest shark so far found was 21 foot. 138 00:16:43,460 --> 00:16:47,460 So going on their size, they have to live for quite a long time. 139 00:16:47,460 --> 00:16:52,459 The exact time is not known. There is no information known about them at all. 140 00:16:52,459 --> 00:16:59,459 The fact that only another great white shark or on rare occasions, man can kill a great white shark 141 00:16:59,459 --> 00:17:04,459 would seem to indicate that they are seemingly indestructible animals. 142 00:17:04,459 --> 00:17:09,458 The thrill of confronting the great white shark has intrigued many divers. 143 00:17:09,458 --> 00:17:16,458 They know the risk of encountering a beast capable of bisecting a large sea lion with a single bite. 144 00:17:16,458 --> 00:17:20,458 An entire horse was once found in the belly of a great white. 145 00:17:20,458 --> 00:17:28,457 If this shark is capable of committing such savagery on large animals, one shudders at what it can do to man. 146 00:17:28,457 --> 00:17:37,457 What you're about to see is not pleasant and it may be unsuitable for young children, but it is a true story. 147 00:17:37,457 --> 00:17:43,456 Henry Borse is a respected diver and explorer in Melbourne, Australia. 148 00:17:43,456 --> 00:17:49,456 We had been fortunate enough to organize a trip to an island that hadn't been dived before. 149 00:17:49,456 --> 00:17:52,456 Something like 800 seals, I believe, lived there. 150 00:17:52,456 --> 00:17:56,456 We chartered a shark boat and 40 people on board. 151 00:17:56,456 --> 00:18:03,455 We were all interested in photography and collecting specimens that were nice to be a fisherman or anything like that on board. 152 00:18:03,455 --> 00:18:11,455 I had been given the duty of staying on board on safety and so was the girl that I was with at the time, 153 00:18:11,455 --> 00:18:15,454 which meant that I didn't go into the water till later. 154 00:18:15,454 --> 00:18:19,454 When I did, three of us went into the water. I took some film personally. 155 00:18:19,454 --> 00:18:23,454 When I ran out of film, we played with some seals. 156 00:18:23,454 --> 00:18:32,453 They're pretty friendly. They like to show off a lot and frolic around like circus actors. They're really good to be with. 157 00:18:32,453 --> 00:18:39,453 Suddenly these seals disappeared and which gave me a nervous feeling because an instinct told me that something was wrong. 158 00:18:39,453 --> 00:18:45,453 You know, fish or seals or dolphins just don't go whoosh and disappear. 159 00:18:45,453 --> 00:18:53,452 Henry was right. The seals and fish disappeared for good reason. A great white shark was on the attack. 160 00:18:57,452 --> 00:19:02,452 I guess he hit me now for about a minute and a half. It felt like about 45 days. 161 00:19:02,452 --> 00:19:08,451 It was incredible that you're in such a deep shock at the time. The time just passes quickly. 162 00:19:08,451 --> 00:19:15,451 He took the leg right off. He snapped it right off. When it did come off, you know, I went straight for the surface 163 00:19:15,451 --> 00:19:18,451 because air was my first need. 164 00:19:22,450 --> 00:19:28,450 No one thought Henry Bors would live. He did and he still dives today. 165 00:19:28,450 --> 00:19:34,450 But each time he goes down, he knows that white death still waits. 166 00:19:35,450 --> 00:19:44,449 The white shark to me is the only shark I've ever seen that does never show fear of anything. 167 00:19:44,449 --> 00:19:52,449 The only thing that I've seen stop a white shark is the things that divers use like a power head which will kill any shark. 168 00:19:52,449 --> 00:20:01,448 The other thing is the shark itself, other white pointers. When it comes to fighting over a piece of meat, you know, I've seen sharks have a go at each other. 169 00:20:01,448 --> 00:20:06,448 But other than that, I don't know of anything in the sea that will stop a white pointer. 170 00:20:06,448 --> 00:20:12,447 I've never seen a white, no matter what predicament he's placed in to show fear. 171 00:20:12,447 --> 00:20:17,447 And I think this is what sets him aside from most other sharks. 172 00:20:18,447 --> 00:20:26,446 Here is a magnificent creature with only one enemy. Man. And then only if weapons are available. 173 00:20:26,446 --> 00:20:30,446 He grows to gigantic sizes in every ocean in the world. 174 00:20:30,446 --> 00:20:36,446 We must assume that the aging process does affect him, but we cannot prove it. 175 00:20:36,446 --> 00:20:40,446 What happens if he never dies? 176 00:20:43,445 --> 00:20:49,445 There is something incredibly primitive about the shark. His body systems are relatively simple. 177 00:20:49,445 --> 00:20:56,445 He must remain in constant motion, forcing water and oxygen through his open mouth or die. 178 00:20:57,445 --> 00:21:01,444 He is a man of the sea. 179 00:21:12,444 --> 00:21:20,443 He existed long before man, and every man throughout time has been struck by the same emotion when he sees him. 180 00:21:20,443 --> 00:21:25,443 Fear. Sometimes blind, sometimes irrational. 181 00:21:25,443 --> 00:21:32,442 For he is the only creature alive on Earth that man has yet to control. 182 00:21:32,442 --> 00:21:38,442 Walsh Sharks 183 00:21:47,442 --> 00:21:51,441 Some of the most shocking true crime stories of the past century. 184 00:21:51,441 --> 00:21:56,441 Told by the guys who wrote the books. 185 00:21:56,441 --> 00:22:01,441 True Crimes. All this week at 9 on the History Channel.