CHRIS_RICKARD CRISTINA_ZENATO DR_LAURA_SMITH JAKE_DAVIES JAY_MALY MORNE_HARDENBERG NARRATOR RACHEL_BROOKS RANDALL_ARAUZ STEVE_BACKSHALL NARRATOR Sharks are the most feared predators on Earth. But also, the most misunderstood. I've been diving with sharks for over 30 years. Now, I'm getting closer than ever before. Journeying deep into our oceans, to explore their hidden lives. Challenging what we think we know, to better understand some of the most mysterious creatures that exist in our world. NARRATOR In this series special, I'll look at the sharks of the British Isles. In the past year, I've dived in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans, exploring how, in 400 million years, sharks have conquered every marine habitat. Now, I return to base, to show that despite the size of these islands, there's a surprising selection of sharks to be found right here. STEVE BACKSHALL I've always had a fascination, bordering on an obsession, for sharks and spent much of my adult life encountering them in some of the world's most challenging and exotic locations, but relatively little here, in my home nation. In the UK, we have at least 30 different species and much of their lives remain a mystery. NARRATOR From slow-moving giants, to lightning fast, ambush predators, the flat-bodied skate family and classic torpedo-shaped predators, Britain's sharks certainly punch above their weight when it comes to diversity. In fact, there are roughly the same number of shark species recorded here as there are in the Bahamas. But with many of our sharks being highly elusive and around half of them listed as threatened, you could argue that Britain's sharks are more of a mystery than anywhere else in the world. NARRATOR And I'm starting with one of them. NARRATOR I've come to two remote islands off the west coast of Scotland, because right now, the largest shark in our waters appears to have gone missing. NARRATOR Basking sharks are gentle giants that eat plankton. It's hard to believe that an animal up to 12m long, that could weigh 4 tonnes, would be difficult to find. But these are creatures that spend much of their lives away from human eyes. Usually alone and often in water too deep or too remote for scientists to track them. NARRATOR What makes Scotland so special, is that this is one of the very few places on Earth where encounters can usually be predicted. NARRATOR And not just in ones and twos, but in tens, and even 20s. NARRATOR In the summer months, between May and September, basking sharks typically come together here, to feed and breed in social groups. Dozens of supersized sharks, synchronized in a slow-motion swim dance. NARRATOR But despite it being peak season during my visit, the large shark aggregations are nowhere to be seen. NARRATOR As basking sharks are endangered, such a dramatic shift in their habits poses a serious question for scientists. STEVE BACKSHALL You can't put your finger on it, but there's something odd happening here and it does seem that we are at a strange, strange period in history for marine life. NARRATOR Zoologist and shark guide, RACHEL BROOKS thinks their disappearance could be related to changes in their microscopic food supply. STEVE BACKSHALL Is this an unusual year for you all? RACHEL BROOKS Yeah. The sightings we've had have been very sporadic and not very many seem to be in the area this year, which is really unusual. STEVE BACKSHALL Has there been any ideas as to why that might, might be? Is there something about what's happening in our seas that has, has driven the fact that we're just not seeing them? RACHEL BROOKS Possibly. So, it's quite unusual to be in Scotland and enjoying weather like this, almost every day and it might be that that very settled weather that we've had over the past few months might just be affecting how the plankton sit in, in the water and it just doesn't seem to be quite getting to the surface like it would in a usual year. NARRATOR All over the world, changing ocean conditions are having powerful effects on sharks. NARRATOR From failing migrations to outright disappearances. NARRATOR About 21 of the species found around the British Isles, like the small-spotted cat shark, live here year-round. But others, like the short-fin mako shark or the long-lived Greenland shark, are seasonal visitors. NARRATOR As our oceans continue to warm, it's more important than ever that scientists monitor which sharks are using our seas and when. NARRATOR On the far west of Wales, the wide sweep of Cardigan Bay is home to a wildly rich selection of sea life. Recording it has become a mission for local marine biologist, JAKE DAVIES. JAKE DAVIES I started diving when I was about 17 and that really then opened my eyes to the underwater world. But I have a passion for sharing that further and making it more accessible. It's really important with, I think, to, to show people and connect people with nature. NARRATOR But his ultimate goal was one very special shark. JAKE DAVIES Back in 2019, I set up a small project called Guardian Angels and the aim of the, the project was to see whether we could see and record the critically endangered angel shark. NARRATOR The highly unusual angel shark combines a fairly typical shark-like tail with a flattened front that looks more like a ray. They are highly camouflaged and although we think they can be found in our seas all year round, no one had ever captured one here on film. Over thousands of hours in the water, with the use of specially designed baited cameras, Jake and his team created an unparalleled visual record of British shark species. These included shark cousins, the thornback rays, the usually shy tope and exceptionally rare behaviour in the mating of cat sharks. But there were no angel sharks. NARRATOR Just when Jake had given up hope, something incredible happened during a routine dive. JAKE DAVIES Ten minutes into the dive, I saw what looked like an angel shark tail and I, I didn't believe it until I got up close, and there it was. You could see the angel shark shape and it was amazing. NARRATOR Not only was it the first time an angel shark had been filmed in British waters, but the encounter provided valuable scientific clues about their lives here. JAKE DAVIES What made it even more exciting was the fact it was a juvenile. It's really, really important to the Angel Shark Project: Wales as a project, ‘cause it provides us with more evidence that angel sharks breed off the Welsh coast. NARRATOR The footage also captured scientific evidence of angel sharks' incredible skills of concealment and ambush hunting. JAKE DAVIES It was something that I thought would never be possible but nothing's impossible. If you spend enough time looking for something. It's gonna be out there. NARRATOR In the North Atlantic, shark discoveries are coming thick and fast. Back in Scotland, I'm on my way to an area where a huge breakthrough is occurring and it concerns one of the most extreme members of the shark family. STEVE BACKSHALL Scotland's west coast is arguably the finest place in the nation for marine life. It is a wonderland of coves and islands and sea lochs, and the last stronghold for a critically endangered relative of the sharks: the flapper skate. NARRATOR The skates and the rays are close cousins of the shark and share the same body plan. But they've specialised, over millions of years, to become flattened in shape, well suited to lurking on the ocean floor. And of all the skates in European waters, the flapper is by far the largest, growing to an astonishing 2m across. NARRATOR They spend much of their time in deep water, where they feed on crustaceans and a surprising range of fish. NARRATOR Once numerous throughout the North Atlantic, Scotland is one of the few places where they appear to be clinging on to survival. NARRATOR And here in the Western Isles, some incredible discoveries have just been made by conservationist divers, CHRIS RICKARD and Dr Lauren Smith. STEVE BACKSHALL So, how much about the life of this animal is still unknown to us? CHRIS RICKARD The vast majority, is the easy answer. We know they do cover a-- the range of Scotland, but that's about it and that's just adults. We don't know how fast they grow, we don't know how long they live. We don't know what they feed on when they're juveniles. They've actually got different shaped teeth when they're juvenile to what they have as adults. Dr Lauren Smith Basically, we just need to learn more and more and more, and then, the more we understand, the greater the protection for this amazing species. NARRATOR Of all the enduring mysteries of sharks, perhaps the greatest has to do with how and where they reproduce. NARRATOR While some sharks give birth to fully-formed live young and abandon them in sheltered nurseries, others lay eggs, known as “mermaids' purses”, where the embryo continues to develop, often for many months before hatching. NARRATOR But while occasional flapper purses were washing up, details of exactly where they were coming from was scarce, until Lauren and Chris discovered not one, but two egg sites being used by these secretive shark cousins. CHRIS RICKARD So, we dived at this site in the Inner Sound, about 30m on the bottom and we went up 2 or 3m, maybe, and then, found a purse and then, found two more purses. Knowing that you're so close to the young, the developing young, of such a critically endangered animal, it's, it's unbelievable. I mean, it's the equivalent of finding a-- an-- a nest of pandas in the woods. Do you know what I mean? Of baby pandas. NARRATOR The larger site has been granted immediate protection from all disturbance, but under Chris and Lauren's careful supervision, I've been invited to dive at the second site, to see for myself this amazing shark spectacle. NARRATOR At first, in the darkness, it's hard to imagine a less hospitable place for a nursery. STEVE BACKSHALL [ON RADIO] It's a bizarre, alien world down here. Endless anemones and brittle stars. NARRATOR But then, emerging from the murky depths, I start to make out the characteristic shape of shark eggs. STEVE BACKSHALL [ON RADIO] I was expecting to, maybe, find one or two, but there must be half a dozen within easy reach of where I am right now! And they're massive! Look how big they are! NARRATOR Between the two different sites, the team have discovered hundreds of egg purses and inside each one is a tiny, developing flapper skate. STEVE BACKSHALL [ON RADIO] Completely extinct throughout much of its range, left here to fend for itself on the seabed. This could hatch out into one of the most remarkable creatures in our seas. NARRATOR But they face a perilously long wait. Over 500 days of storms, predators like whelks and starfish and, unless they're protected like here, fishing operations, like dredging or trawling. But there's evidence that at this site at least, some of them are surviving. STEVE BACKSHALL [ON RADIO] Chris has just given me one that has already hatched! You're seeing the leaves of the mermaid's purse, like, that opens at the end and that's where the little flapper skate swam out. NARRATOR One fifth of all European sharks are classified as data deficient, meaning we know little or nothing about the health of their populations. But all over the UK, researchers are making ground-breaking discoveries about sharks and their lives, that could be used to protect them and reverse their global decline. NARRATOR One of the most exciting discoveries is that some shark species may see the world very differently to us humans. To experience this from the shark's perspective, I'm embarking on a dive here in the west of Scotland in almost total darkness. STEVE BACKSHALL [ON RADIO] This is so weird! Normally, when you go down on a night dive, you try and create as much light as you can to see well and instead, we're trying to see as little as possible! NARRATOR We brought with us special UV torches, that should enable us to capture the secret watery world as seen through sharks' eyes. STEVE BACKSHALL [ON RADIO] Oh, look at this one! Wow! That's amazing! NARRATOR For some time, scientists have known that certain invertebrates, like corals, anemones and some crustaceans, are able to glow in the dark, using a process called biofluorescence. This isn't visible to our human eyes without specialist equipment. But researchers have recently discovered that it is visible to some shark species, thanks to special receptors in their eyes. And there are good reasons why sharks are able to do this, because they, themselves, can glow. NARRATOR Certain species of cat sharks are able to take in regular light from their surroundings and re-emit it in fluorescent green, making them much more visible to each other underwater, something they may use to find and locate mates. And some of these incredible glow-in-the-dark sharks are found right here, in the British Isles. In fact, one of our most abundant species, the small-spotted cat shark, has recently been shown to be a master of this unusual super-skill. A totally new discovery for science. NARRATOR Across the world, sharks are endangered and we run the risk of losing them before we've scratched the surface of their amazing capabilities. NARRATOR My journey into the secret lives of sharks has taken me across the globe and I've been lucky enough to dive with some of the world's most iconic species. I've been nose to nose with oceanic white tips, great hammerheads, and magnificent mantas. STEVE BACKSHALL [ON RADIO] Whoa! That is mind-blowing! NARRATOR But I've saved the best until last. My favourite species of all. They're a shark found on every continent, bar Antarctica. But in my opinion, the finest place to see them is right here, on my home turf. NARRATOR I'm heading as far south as you can go on the British mainland, where the marine conditions and the local species can be very different. STEVE BACKSHALL The county of Cornwall at the southwest extreme of the country points like a finger out into the North Atlantic. Its waters are warmed by the Gulf Stream and because of that, it is the best place in the UK to go looking for sharks. Today, we're heading out hoping for an encounter with a pelagic creature, which is only found here in the summer months and is, to my mind, the most beautiful shark in the world. The blue shark. NARRATOR Pelagic sharks are open water species that spend most of their lives travelling the ocean and a single blue can cover up to 10,000km a year. But in summer, many of them follow the Gulf Stream to mellow, Cornish waters, where their arrival coincides with plankton blooms that trigger an abundance of food. Over 90% of them are females or juveniles, which implies their presence may be linked, somehow, to their reproductive strategy, but we don't know for sure. To find them, we must head away from the coast and into deep water. NARRATOR A pod of passing dolphins is a promising start. Seeing abundant predators like dolphins is a good sign of plentiful prey. Good news for their fellow predators, the blues. But we will need to be patient. STEVE BACKSHALL We've stopped the engines nearly 20 miles offshore from the coast of Cornwall and we're not gonna drop anchor, we're just gonna drift. The way that we're gonna attract the sharks to come to us is using their super senses. So, sharks will characteristically trawl around looking for a scent trail. They're incredibly driven by the olfactory senses, their sense of smell. So, what we're gonna do is create a slick of what's called chum behind the boat. STEVE BACKSHALL This is essentially bits of oily fish and sardines and mackerel and that oil is going to-- some of it floats over the surface and you can already see that slick beginning to form and other bits drop down into the water column. STEVE BACKSHALL Blues are a classic open ocean shark. They will be just travelling around, sometimes, going without food for long periods of time. Anything that could be a potential source of food is worth investigating. NARRATOR But it's a vast ocean out there and finding the specific animal we're looking for could be a long, cold waiting game. STEVE BACKSHALL We've been out here now for about five and a half hours and our chum slick of fish oils and blood has been across the surface of the water, stretching out 2 or 300m behind us. NARRATOR After so long with no hint of action, I'm beginning to think my favourite shark has decided not to make an appearance. NARRATOR And then, finally, when I'd all but given up hope, a single female appears. STEVE BACKSHALL Is there something? Yes, there, there! STEVE BACKSHALL Fantastic! STEVE BACKSHALL After a, a long, long wait, we have our first blue and she is an absolute beauty! Quite direct in her movements and coming very close to the boat already, we-- all of which is really, really good for us. NARRATOR It's a thrilling result, having waited so long and I'm desperate to get in the water with her. But how we proceed must be dictated by the shark's behaviour. STEVE BACKSHALL Seems crazy to think of a fish as having a personality but they really do. Some will be cautious and flighty and disappear at the slightest thing that might make them nervous and others are just completely in your face from minute one. We're hoping for that kind of shark. NARRATOR With her seeming to want to stick around, I decide to attempt a dive. STEVE BACKSHALL In this situation, with the shark so close to the surface and potentially so flighty, the best method is to not use scuba cylinders and bubbles that might frighten them away. Instead, we're going to just be free-diving, just hanging at the surface and making as little noise and splash as we enter the water as possible. STEVE BACKSHALL Right, well, it's looking pretty good. The shark's quite close to the boat. So, I'm just gonna slip in very, very quietly and gently here, try not to spook it and we'll see what happens. NARRATOR Once you're in the water, you can see just why this shark gets its name. NARRATOR The electric blue is stunning to look at up close, but it serves another purpose. By being counter-shaded, blue on the top and white beneath, blue sharks ensure they're equally camouflaged, whether they're viewed from below against the surface, or from above against deep water. It's an excellent strategy for a predator. NARRATOR At first, it looks as if the shark is timid and will flee. STEVE BACKSHALL She's there but she's nervous. Just keeping her distance for the moment. NARRATOR But as I remain in the water, she gets more and more confident. And then, her true character emerges. STEVE BACKSHALL Wow! Well, talk about sharks having different characters! This one is a completely different animal. It's sleek, slender and very, very active and appears to be completely fearless! NARRATOR This confident behaviour makes perfect sense for a pelagic shark. In the wide open ocean, food is scant and anything new must be investigated to see if it has eating potential. Fascinatingly, that includes our cameras. STEVE BACKSHALL So, those amazing sixth senses, the electroreceptors known as the ampullae of Lorenzini, are used to detect the, the weak electrical fields given off by the moving muscles of their prey, but they seem to think our camera is just that and it's almost certainly because that sixth sense is picking up electrical signals from the camera. NARRATOR This boldness and bravery is something many pelagic shark species share. In the Bahamas, I witnessed first-hand how it gets oceanic white tip sharks into trouble, because they've learned to follow fishing boats and become ensnared in their hooks and lines, even when they're not being directly targeted. NARRATOR For blues, like my inquisitive companion, the toll is even greater. An estimated 20 million blue sharks are caught each year, some of them, deliberately, for their fins and some unintentionally, by fishermen targeting other species. That makes these delicate creatures probably the most heavily fished shark species in our oceans. A heartbreakingly heavy price to pay for their natural curiosity and totally unsustainable in the long term. NARRATOR Yet, despite this, blue sharks currently have almost zero protection in British waters. NARRATOR Over the past year, I've dived with some of the most majestic sharks on the planet. But I've also witnessed how human activity is pushing many of these 400 or so different species to the very edge of survival, through climate change, habitat destruction and from the catastrophic impacts of industrial fishing. Now, I had to confront an uncomfortable truth, that this persecution of sharks is happening much closer to home than many people realise. And, sadly, that the blue shark I so recently encountered in the wild is one of the worst affected. STEVE BACKSHALL With the shark conservation crisis, there's always a tendency to think of it being someone else's problem, something that's happening on the other side of the world. But in reality, probably the biggest fishery of blue sharks is in North Atlantic waters, with tens of thousands of tonnes being taken every year and some of those sharks end up here. NARRATOR I've come to a local fish market, just a stone's throw from where I recently dived with blues, to try and understand just what's going on. STEVE BACKSHALL So, there they are. [SIGHS] Beautiful blues. NARRATOR These female blue sharks are likely to be bycatch, caught by local fishing vessels targeting other, more valuable fish, and landed and sold, perfectly legally here. They may well end up being exported for consumption elsewhere, but the fact they're for sale here at all hints at a much larger problem. STEVE BACKSHALL Blue sharks don't come in every day and it's only an occasional thing and this is not gonna be having an impact on the numbers, on the populations of blue sharks in the North Atlantic, but this is just the tip of the iceberg. NARRATOR We tend to think of shark fishing as a problem happening elsewhere. But millions of kilograms of shark are landed in European ports every year, much of it from blues. There are signs things have been improving, but not long ago, the UK was ranked fourth in Europe for total shark landings. Blue sharks are by no means our only resident species with so little protection. STEVE BACKSHALL So, this is spurdog or spiny dogfish and that there, that spine at the front of the dorsal fin, is what gives it its name. It's a, a protective spine. It has a mild venom that it can administer. It's very difficult for populations of spurdog to rebound if they've been over-exploited. What is known is they take a very long time to reproduce and they can live for a very long time. So, 50, even 100 years is known for these animals and they take 24 months to gestate their pups. NARRATOR And the list goes on. STEVE BACKSHALL There's a range of different [SIGHS] sharks here, varying massively in size. We've got seven crates here. There's another three crates over there in the corner. That one's probably a mature individual, and then, you've got ones right down to this sort of size, that is obviously a, a very small pup. NARRATOR Many sharks have their pups in the waters of the British Isles. Astonishingly, even the Thames Estuary, which was once declared ecologically dead from pollution, now supports breeding populations of tope and starry smooth-hound shark. NARRATOR Elsewhere in the world, I've seen just how much can be achieved by protecting sharks and creating safe sanctuaries for them. NARRATOR Now, surely, there's an argument, that we should offer them greater protection here, too. That means from fishing, from pollution and habitat loss, and from the huge international market in shark fins. NARRATOR I've come to Exeter University, to find out how my home nation is taking on the shark trade, with the help of molecular biologist, Dr Andrew Griffiths. STEVE BACKSHALL So, Andrew, for a shark lover, this is the saddest of sights. Dr Andrew Griffiths [LAUGHS] Yep. STEVE BACKSHALL Where did all of these come from? Dr Andrew Griffiths Yeah, so these are shark fins that were all collected here in the UK. The sort of big grey ones here, they were seized at our UK border, by UK Border Force. These ones were collected from wholesalers here in the UK, so that point just before they would have been sold to restaurants and supermarkets for sale to the public. As you can tell, it's virtually impossible to work out what species these come from without doing some sort of detailed analysis. NARRATOR Using DNA analysis, Andrew showed that many of these fin samples came from protected species that are illegal to trade. STEVE BACKSHALL So, knowing that, what species do we have here? Dr Andrew Griffiths So, they're an interesting range. So, a lot of these big fins, I think, come from, from bull sharks, from Africa. These, these little bits of fin and the cartilage here, they actually come from scalloped hammerhead sharks. That really powerfully connects us here in the UK to the kind of trade in endangered species and prohibited species. STEVE BACKSHALL So, that's a critically endangered animal being brought in through our borders? Dr Andrew Griffiths Yep, exactly. NARRATOR Thanks to the efforts of conservationists and researchers like Andrew, the UK has just announced an all-out ban on detached shark fins, the first country in Europe to do so. But there are things all of us can do, too. Andrew has also made the surprising discovery, that one of our most familiar national dishes, fish and chips, can sometimes contain shark. But it might not be labelled as it. STEVE BACKSHALL So, this comes from, from our local chip shop, labelled as rock salmon? Dr Andrew Griffiths Yep. STEVE BACKSHALL Which is one of the classics, isn't it? Dr Andrew Griffiths Yeah, it is. It's probably one of the most common labels we see here, although there's quite a few labels that can cover lots of different shark species, so, so, it's not always clear what it could-- you could be buying but something like rock salmon or bull huss or huss. Certainly all the samples we've analysed have always been a species of shark. STEVE BACKSHALL Okay, so I'm cutting down through the batter... Dr Andrew Griffiths Yep. STEVE BACKSHALL ...and then, I'm looking for some of the flesh beneath. Dr Andrew Griffiths Yeah, if you go a little bit into the fillet, that way we definitely get a nice, clean piece that isn't contaminated or anything. STEVE BACKSHALL Okay. What happens to it now? Dr Andrew Griffiths So, I can go and put that away in the fridge or the freezer and then try and extract DNA from it and use that sequence to identify the shark. They largely—About 90% of the samples that we analyse, come from spiny dogfish and the Pacific spiny dogfish, so virtually all of the samples came from those two species in fish and chip shops. STEVE BACKSHALL So, if, if you're eating in chip shops, anything under those names, it's gonna be shark and that is likely to be an animal that's anything from vulnerable to critically endangered. NARRATOR Most consumers would be surprised, possibly shocked, to discover they were eating shark. Surely this is a call for more clear and honest labelling? This could be one of the few ways we can help protect these magnificent creatures. NARRATOR But sharks need so much more from us. If we truly want them to endure, we must protect them at every stage of their lives. We must stop fishing them to the edge of extinction. And we must seek to turn around the desperate damage done to our climate and to our seas. NARRATOR This is the case in the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic Oceans, and right here in the British Isles. STEVE BACKSHALL Sharks have carved a niche in every single ocean and some of the most special moments of my life have been encountering them. It frightens me to think that my children might not get to have those experiences. Right now, sharks are on the brink and the only way they'll have a future is if we rethink the way we use our seas. NARRATOR My journey to explore the hidden world of sharks has been the most incredible collaborative global effort. To make this series, we needed to venture deep into the world... STEVE BACKSHALL [ON RADIO] Coms check, coms check. NARRATOR …of powerful predators millions of years in the making, STEVE BACKSHALL Oh, whoa! NARRATOR By assembling a team… Male member of Steve’s Team Good to go? NARRATOR …with thousands of hours of underwater experience with sharks… JAY MALY The number one rule is always knowing where those sharks are. NARRATOR …we would not just be able to film them safely, but we’d show how these often feared creatures are, in fact, intelligent, vulnerable and highly misunderstood. STEVE BACKSHALL What an animal! NARRATOR Ultimately, interacting with sharks safely requires knowledge, and we worked with some of the best shark experts in the world. MORNE HARDENBERG I grew up diving around these waters. I have a passion for the animals in the ocean and being able to work with them the way that I do is really nothing but spectacular. CRISTINA ZENATO I’ve been swimming with over 30 different species of sharks. I’ve been in the water with these sharks in thousands of hours. I absolutely love sharks. They are the true guardians of the ocean. RANDALL ARAUZ There’s no feeling like being surrounded by hundreds of hammerhead sharks. It’s indescribable. NARRATOR Understanding shark behaviour enabled us to safely experience close shark encounters, that became the hallmark of our series. Sometimes this meant entering their world unencumbered, as free drivers. STEVE BACKSHALL Without the compressed air and a scuba cylinder, free diving is entirely relying on the oxygen you can dissolve into your blood and your muscles and that you can keep in your lungs. The best way of doing that is to reduce your heart rate, to be super calm and relaxed, and when you’re underwater, to use as little energy as you possibly can. Every extra flick of the fins gives you less time underwater, ‘cause it burns—well, energy burns more oxygen. It’s all about, in all this madness, finding that moment of calm and just relaxing. NARRATOR This gave me an opportunity to get closer to sharks than ever before and enjoy some truly intimiate encounters. STEVE BACKSHALL It’s one of those things with wildlife film making, the things you don’t expect, the things you don’t plan, are often the moments that you’ll remember for the rest of your life. NARRATOR But the closer I got, the more I saw how much sharks need our help. STEVE BACKSHALL There’s one shark that had been cruising around us for the whole dive, that had this great long line of hooks and teasers hanging off it and that great big long monofilament line would have been with that shark, well, until she died. NARRATOR Wherever I went, a worrying picture was emerging. STEVE BACKSHALL So, here they are. [SIGHS] Beautiful blues. MORNE HARDENBERG This used to be the best place in the world to see white sharks naturally hunt Cape fur seal. We had sharks the one season and the following season, they just never came back to the island. STEVE BACKSHALL How were the sharks here contaminated with mercury? DR. EDGAR MAURICIO HOYOS PADILLO What we’ve seen that the main source is because of humans. RANDALL ARAUZ Well, we have reached a crossroads, finally. For decades we’ve been overfishing. We’ve seen the decline of many species. We’ve seen many species be added to the endangered species list. And now, we’re watching certain species like hammerhead sharks at the brink of extinction. NARRATOR So, this is where we are. But where do we go from here? DR LAURA SMITH Basically, we just need to learn more and more and more and then the more we understand, the greater the protection. DR. EDGAR MAURICIO HOYOS PADILLO I think that is very important to spread the word, about this super important role of the sharks. They must be in the oceans. They keep the marine ecosystem in a balance. NARRATOR And there are things we can all do to help sharks. CRISTINA ZENATO We can help sharks by our behaviour, by reducing our plastic pollution, by reducing or eliminating our fish consumption, by changing the way we live our lives and produce our carbon footprint. NARRATOR And by helping spread the word that sharks are marvels, critically important to the health of our oceans, and not monsters. NARRATOR All over the world, I’ve witnessed the wonderful spectacles and benefits for humanity that can arise where sharks are valued and protected. I’ve met the scientists seeking answers that will help us look after sharks. As we dive deeper into the world of sharks, the more we understand the lives of these incredible, mysterious animals. But there’s still so much more to learn. With each new discovery, we become better equipped to adapt ourselves and co-exist with these extraordinary creatures. This is crucial for creating a better world for both humans and sharks, now and into the future.