Original subtitles

Welcome back

to Tiger Beach, the site of our first ever shark dive

on "Blue Wilderness".

If you want to see sharks, like a ton of sharks, you come here.

Tiger Beach is a small, pristine, white sand

flat, about an hour's boat ride from West End Grand Bahama.

And it's one of the few places on Earth

where you can see up to five species of shark

all at the same time.

Divers who make the pilgrimage here

are rewarded with the chance to swim with scores

of reef and nurse sharks, dozens upon dozens of lemon sharks,

and if they're lucky, massive hammerheaded tiger sharks.

The last time we entered this warm, crystal clear water,

we found ourselves in the middle of a shark frenzy.

We swam alongside an incredible hammerhead,

and Coyote and I got up close and personal

with a massive Tiger shark.

Well, maybe a little too close in the case of Coyote.

So how do we top that?

Well, on this episode of "Blue Wilderness",

we're going back in the water, but this time, we're waiting

until the sun goes down.

All right, guys.

Well, the sun is setting at Tiger Beach,

and we just started shark diving yesterday.

Never been night diving before.

But somebody thought it was a good idea we'd

go diving with sharks at night.

Was that you? - Definitely, was not--

No, no.

It was this guy.

It's going to be fine, you guys.

I mean, I don't know.

It's is a good idea for guys who haven't

gone night diving at all?

What's the worst that can happen?

I mean, we're surrounded by sharks.

Right.

But they're probably sleeping.

And we can't see.

Wait, don't sharks feed at night?

Aren't they nocturnal predators?

It's going to be fine.

We're going to give it a shot, guys.

So let's get geared up, get in the water with the sharks

at night.

This dive into the darkness will test

my resolve more than almost anything I've ever done before.

But that's what drives me forward.

At the core of every grand adventure

lies a thin line between thrill and fear.

And the moments where your nerves start to scream,

turn around, go back, is exactly when the teammates next to you

matter the most.

I'll tell you what--

if I was nervous about diving with sharks during the day,

I'm very nervous about diving with sharks at night.

See ya.

Well, in case it's the last time, I'm Mark Vins.

Mario is already down there.

It's time to go dive with sharks at night.

As soon as we dip below the surface, the world opened up.

The last bit of Twilight after sunset combined

with the white sands of Tiger Beach

allowed for a lot more visibility

than we could have ever expected.

But as we near the bottom, the fleeting light that remained

began to disappear and so did our peripheral vision.

Hey, Mario, watch out!

There's a-- yep--

big tiger shark right behind you.

Within minutes, the entire landscape turned pitch black.

And our only field of view was directly in front of us.

Other divers in the distance appeared as alien craft

with orb-like lights designating their location.

With ominous shadows stirring the now murky water,

we were surrounded on all sides by two

things that have terrified humans since the beginning--

sharks and darkness.

But our focus was sharp and as soon as we got our bearings,

our fear was gone, mostly.

And then we noticed something we didn't expect to see at night--

color.

You see, water is excellent at absorbing

color from natural light.

The deeper you go, the more color disappears.

Red is the first to be absorbed, then orange, and then yellow.

The same order as the colors of the rainbow.

At our depth during the day, the reef can look, well,

pretty bland and washed out.

But under the cover of night, our powerful dive lights

illuminated a completely new world that have been right

in front of us the entire time.

Even the fish were more vibrant.

And then, while we were all completely mesmerized

by the colors of the reef, from out of the darkness,

ghostly figures flew gracefully into view.

These rays are filter feeding fish.

Their flight pulls plankton in other nutrients

into their systems and spreads water across their gills,

allowing them to breathe.

Like spaceships flying across our night sky,

just as fast as they appeared, they were gone.

The rays may have vanished, but if there's

one constant at Tiger Beach, it's, well, sharks.

And more specifically, tiger sharks.

We knew they were out there.

But at night, we couldn't see them until they

were right in front of us.

They drifted in and out of our light like phantoms.

The effect was chilling and surreal and so unnerving,

in fact, that I started to actually become numb to it.

Here I am, sitting at the bottom of a pitch black ocean,

surrounded by deadly nocturnal hunters,

and I'm totally at their mercy.

And then, suddenly, we came upon something

that would change my perspective of sharks forever.

It was a lemon shark.

And it appeared to be, well, sleeping.

OK, so sharks don't actually sleep.

At least not like we sleep.

But some sharks, like nurse sharks or this lemon shark,

go into restful periods that appear like sleep.

But trust me, this shark was still wide

awake and ready to defend itself against anything,

including a curious first time night diver.

But did that stop me?

Nope.

This would be the perfect opportunity

to get some great close ups of that shark and, of course,

its razor sharp teeth.

Lemon sharks can grow up to 10 feet

long and weigh over 400 pounds.

But despite their imposing size, they tend to be gentle giants

and are not responsible for any known human fatalities.

Although, like any shark, they will bite if provoked.

They can be found in shallow waters and hunt

with their incredible electroreceptors.

And just in case you're wondering,

they do have a slightly yellow tinge to their skin,

like a lemon.

Gentle or not, I knew this sleeping giant was still

an apex predator capable of inflicting

life threatening injuries.

And the last thing I wanted to do

was provoke it, especially at night this far from shore.

But we filmed with grizzly bears and badgers.

This was my chance.

I had to get the shot.

And to my surprise, I was able to lie right next

to the nearly 10 foot shark.

This was amazing.

A life changing experience, to say the least.

And now, I would never approach a tiger shark or other top land

predator like this.

But laying there beside this incredible creature,

I could sense its gentle nature.

And it became clear that it had accepted my presence

and was allowing us to film with it.

And then I reached out, testing it's trust.

I couldn't believe it.

It actually let me make contact.

I was literally petting a shark.

This chance encounter cultivated within me a growing sense

of connection, not only to this creature

but to its entire aquatic realm.

Swimming during the day in a frenzy of tiger sharks

and now petting a lemon shark on my first night dive

reminded me of how misunderstood these animals are.

Our fear of them, like our fear of the dark,

is really just a fear of the unknown.

Every single time we go out for a "Blue Wilderness" adventure,

we've managed to see something unexpected.

And this incredible dive, our first night dive,

was no exception.

Swimming among them and literally lying beside them

in the darkness of Tiger Beach at night

brought home to me more than ever

how meaningful our adventures could

be to better understanding the mysteries of the ocean.

Ascending back to the surface, I couldn't

wait to celebrate with the team what had just happened.

I knew that this night would be a story that Mario and I would

share for many years to come.

All right, we're back, and we officially

survived night dive number one.

Now I will say, guys, it was a little intimidating

when we first got in the water.

But once we got down there, it was absolutely incredible.

We saw all kinds of cool creatures

from stingrays to sea cucumbers, and we

even got to pet a lemon shark.

Man, I definitely can't wait until our next night diving

adventure.

I'm Mark Vins.

Be brave.

Stay wild.

We'll see you on the next dive.

The oceans have depended on sharks

for over 400 million years.

They are true survivors.

And yet, many species of shark are

facing overfishing and habitat destruction,

leaving their populations vulnerable

and on the verge of collapse.

These ancient animals are certainly not the nightmarish

killing machines depicted in movies.

They are a critical part of our ocean's ecosystem,

and we must all do our part to ensure their home, the ocean,

is protected.

Welcome to Tiger Beach, a world famous destination

for shark diving.

More specifically-- tiger shark diving.

Not only will you see tiger sharks,

you can encounter up to five different species,

all formidable, all top marine predators,

all on the same dive.

And if that isn't intimidating enough,

this would be our first shark dive ever.

Mario, I'm usually really confident about everything

we do.

But today, man, I hope we didn't bite off more than we can chew.

Regardless, I got your back.

I got your back too, man.

Let's do it - You ready?

Ready.

Let's do it.

Well, with every shark dive comes

the moment where you actually have

to dive in with the sharks.

That moment is right now.

Oh, boy.

As they plunge beneath the surface,

cool water rushed through my wetsuit,

sending an instant shot up my spine.

My eyes scrambling, struggling to adjust

just as they always do when first entering the water.

However, this time was different.

This time, I knew I was completely

surrounded by sharks.

But something strange happened as the environment around me

came into view--

the nerves I felt above the water instantly vanished

and were replaced by laser focus.

In a snap, my vision and other senses

elevated to a hyper state--

a sensation I had never felt until this very moment.

Within these few but critical milliseconds,

my entire perspective changed.

I was indeed aware of the countless lemon sharks

around me, but I could also sense their intentions were not

to attack.

If anything, they seem curious.

Oddly enough, I actually began to feel calm.

Then I quickly remembered my training--

do not stay at the surface in the feeding zone.

So with that, I began my slow descent to the bottom.

The water clarity was incredible.

Light beams cut through the surface

and glistened all around me.

Sharks and reef fish of all sizes

flowed in and out of view in perfect harmony.

And my heightened sense of awareness

made this journey all the more spectacular.

As I neared the bottom, the crew came into focus.

Only another 10 feet to go.

And like the lunar module coming in for a moon landing,

I prepared for impact.

Then with the slow and subtle thud,

I had landed at Tiger Beach.

The thud quickly triggered my mind and body into action mode.

It was time to survey the sharks I could

see, but more importantly, start searching

for the ones I could not.

Lemons, reef, and nurse sharks circled the group, making

an eclectic mix of predators.

And although they are pretty good size,

they nearly vanished in plain sight.

My eyes were searching for one thing and one thing only--

tiger sharks.

I know it's hard to fathom how a giant 10

foot plus shark could literally appear out of nowhere.

But trust me, they really can.

And the most dangerous shark is always the one behind you.

Suddenly, a dark shadow began to appear,

moving like a stealthy submarine from the edges of the ocean.

My heart must have been racing a million miles a second.

And then a quick burst of adrenaline

allowed me to process the fact that an enormous tiger shark

was headed straight for me.

I couldn't believe my eyes as the shark glided past.

It was so big.

Its mass literally displaced the water around me,

pushing my body aside by the power of its wake.

And just as I was coming to grips

with the reality of the situation, like a phantom,

it was gone.

To be honest, I never imagined I would

find myself in this situation--

kneeling at the bottom of the ocean,

face to face with a tiger shark.

And the crazy part was I couldn't

wait for it to come back.

Knowing where the sharks are at all times

is the only way to prevent an accidental attack, which

is also the most frequent kind of attack that

occurs in these situations.

And knowing the location of the sharks is a team effort.

Everyone checking their surroundings

and signaling to unsuspecting divers

of a shark's whereabouts.

Sharks, by their very nature, are curious.

You can sense this immediately being in their presence.

Their eyes constantly scanning, their movements

subtle and calculating.

But the one thing sharks also do is

investigate with their mouths.

And this is not what you want to happen to your body

40 feet below the surface.

Even a taste test in these situations can be fatal.

So knowing where and how a shark is approaching you

is vital to avoiding any regrettable situations.

When we first arrived at the bottom,

the sharks were still very cautious,

circling us at a distance of 15 feet or more.

But with every lap, they became more and more confident,

especially when the dive master began to introduce food.

Seeing the sharks chowed out giant chunks of fish

was a quick reminder of the seriousness of those teeth.

The way they could just devour fish after fish after fish

was extremely impressive.

In fact, their jaws are so strong,

they can even crack the shell of a sea turtle.

While in feeding mode, this initiated the sharks

to investigate the rest of us, almost as

if they were thinking, who else has some tasty fish for me.

Well, none of us did.

So when this happened, it created

some spectacular flybys.

One after another, they would approach and veer to the right

and then to the left and sometimes right overhead.

The overhead shots were by far the most fun to film.

In fact, the sharks got so close,

you could actually see the electro receptors

in their snouts which are used to detect prey.

At this point, Mario, Coyote, and I were having a blast.

Even Jonathan was getting into it.

I could tell how mesmerized we had all

become by these apex predators.

Their intelligence-- just as formidable as their jaws.

Then just as their curiosity and comfort levels hit their peak,

came the context.

As scary as this sounds, it's actually quite simple

to redirect them away from you.

The key to this maneuver is to gently palm down the shark's

snout and push it away from you, letting

this momentum do all the work.

Check this out.

Look at that barrel roll.

Believe it or not, it was actually kind

of fun having these contacts.

But then there are times when the contacts

get a little bit dicey.

And to no fault of his own, Coyote--

well, let's just watch.

Yikes.

That was close.

So, so close.

In fact, let's watch that again in slow-mo.

See, one thing you don't want to happen when making contact

with any shark is place your hands

or any part of your body under its nose.

This will trigger a reflex that drops the shark's jaws.

And yeah, you can kind of fill in the rest of why this is bad.

Good thing Coyote got lucky and was able to quickly avoid

that chomp or this would have turned

into a horrific bite episode.

Definitely not something we ever want to happen.

After Coyote's close call, we all

realized our air was running low and it was

time to head back to the boat.

One by one, we ascended to the safety stock

just below the ship.

At this point, I could see the smiles all around.

We had done it.

We successfully completed our first major shark dive.

And what made it most special is that we had done it together.

That was pretty amazing, guys.

Wow!

Were those some up close encounters

with some gorgeous sharks.

I don't think you'd get much closer to the tiger shark

than I got on that dive.

Amazing.

Oh!

All right, let me get this gear off.

Well, guys, we did it.

We dealt with some really giant sharks.

Dude, that was awesome.

What a great way to start off the "Blue Wilderness" series.

And I, for one, cannot wait until our next adventure.

I'm Mark Vins.

And I'm Coyote Peterson.

Be brave.

Stay wild.

We'll see you on the next dive.

While this is only the beginning of our explorations

on "Blue Wilderness", I will always look back

on this adventure as the one that truly

reshaped my perspective of the ocean and more

importantly, of sharks.

While the lore and fictions of pop culture

have painted them as menacing monsters of the deep,

the reality is they are highly intelligent and inquisitive

creatures.

Rightfully deserving to be respected,

but above all, cherished for what they truly are--

survivors of time, ancient relics of an abyss

that is millions upon millions of years old.

In many ways, they have already discovered

the secrets of the ocean.

Our goal is to learn from them and with any luck,

uncover some of its mysteries for ourselves.