Original subtitles

- [Voiceover] There is a species of shark

whose reputation rivals that of the notorious great white.

The tiger shark.

Like other dangerous species

it's known to attack human beings.

But unlike the others,

tiger sharks don't just bite.

They devour.

Divers have always been told

If you see one

leave the water fast.

But there's one man

with a very different attitude.

He's chosen a radical and high risk method

of shark watching.

One that he believes may help us

to see the infamous tiger shark

in a whole new light.

(ominous music)

The tiger shark is large

and highly predatory.

(dramatic music)

It's infamous among divers for a sinister reason.

Its aggression and voracious,

almost indiscriminate appetite.

Of those sharks labeled as dangerous,

only a few are branded man eaters.

The tiger is one of them.

Other sharks have attacked

and some are certainly killed,

but almost never is a human victim devoured.

(dramatic music)

Sharks thought to attack people

as potential food can strike,

bite, and then reject the taste as unpalatable.

But tiger sharks have been called

the garbage disposal units of the sea.

Which is an understatement.

All kinds of things have been found in their stomachs

including beer bottles,

old tires,

license plates,

even a full suit of armor.

(dramatic music)

Like white sharks, they're considered very dangerous.

But the tiger prefers warmer waters.

Where the ocean has become a marine playground.

(dramatic music)

Popular among hordes of sport divers,

snorkelers, and surfers.

(dramatic music)

Someone who regards the tiger shark

as fascinating, rather than frightening,

is an extraordinary man

Mark Addison.

Not only is he about to come face to face

with this species

but he'll be underwater

unprotected and unable to breathe.

(slow music)

This is the story of a remarkable and unique

relationship between one of the ocean's

most ferocious predators

and Mark,

a man who is helping to show us a different side

to this so-called man eater.

(slow music)

For over 20 years Mark Addison has observed

marine species.

He runs a dive business

supervising shark encounters.

And through many hours spent underwater

he's helped marine scientists to discover

valuable new information

about a range of little known behaviors.

From migration routes,

to interactions with divers.

For this type of shark adventure

Mark heads to the Aliwal Shoal,

a long narrow sub title reef

five kilometers off South Africa's east coast.

It's a popular dive site

teeming with ragged tooth sharks.

It also happens to be a hot spot for tiger sharks.

One of the best places to see them.

But only if you know what to look for.

- [Voiceover] Tiger sharks are incredibly shy animals

despite their ferocious reputation.

You know there are literally thousands

of divers that come here to the Aliwal Shoal

every year.

Very few, if any,

have ever seen a tiger shark.

(dramatic music)

- [Voiceover] Mark doesn't argue with the idea

that even for the shark, the tiger is

a particularly formidable species.

He has the evidence.

- So this is what can happen

when tiger shark meets diver.

This was all they found.

Whether the victim was alive or dead at the time,

they don't know.

I sincerely hope she was already dead.

- [Voiceover] So, in the straight man

versus shark contest,

how do they match up?

Their vital statistics say it all.

The largest tiger shark may reach over

five meters in length.

Weigh over 600 kilos

and have around 100 serrated teeth

designed to cut through flesh

and sever bone.

Combined with an incredibly well muscled jaw

it could easily sever a limb in one bite.

Underwater, the tiger shark

is in its element.

Mark Addison is one meter 90

and weighs a little over 100 kilos.

His natural home is on dry land.

Underwater he has two options for survival.

A tank of air

or not breathing.

Mark made his first dive to tiger territory

using regular scuba gear.

Like anyone who'd read about this shark

and heard the stories,

he was incredibly wary of their reputation.

But a great deal of the science of tiger shark behavior

is still based on speculation.

Having worked with marine scientists

on how sharks and divers interact,

Mark made the same approach

to try and attract tiger sharks

and find out what they were really like.

During his early dives

he watched them from the safety of an undersea cave

where he could protect his back from attack.

For hour after hour he would keep

at a safe distance, and observe.

Surprisingly, it was the tiger sharks

that seemed more nervous.

In all this time, not one approached him.

As fear turned to frustration,

Mark reached a turning point in his strategy.

He thought the tiger sharks lack of interest

could be due to the stream of bubbles

and loud noise made by the scuba gear.

(bubbling water)

These early dives showed Mark

that the sharks weren't going to attack him on site.

Soon he craved getting closer.

This meant coming up with a better strategy.

He needed to get their attention.

Inspiration came from his past.

As a former spear fisherman

Mark had dived using the breath hold,

or free diving technique.

That meant no tanks,

no loud noise,

and no bubbles.

In the past he'd often find himself

surrounded by inquisitive of sharks.

(dramatic music)

But attracting sharks while spear fishing

is a good way to get bitten.

With blood in the water

sharks can become dangerous.

On numerous dives Mark would have to deal with

hordes of frenzied sharks.

And these were just black tips.

A tiger shark was in a whole different league.

- [Mark] During my spear fishing years

if we even saw a tiger shark

frankly we'd get on the boat

and we were out of the area

as fast as we could.

(slow music)

- [Voiceover] Through spear fishing,

Mark became a skilled free diver.

He can stay underwater on a single breath

reaching depths of up to 45 meters.

Mark must be careful, though.

He suffers from a medical condition

called sinus bradycardia.

This gives him a very low resting heart rate.

Just 30 beats per minute.

This lower heart rate means

he uses less oxygen on a dive

and can stay down for up to six minutes at a time.

But free diving is a dangerous activity.

Even without the sharks.

One of the greatest hazards is a potentially

fatal physiological phenomenon

called shallow water blackout.

A sudden loss of consciousness

caused by oxygen starvation.

It usually strikes within just five meters of the surface.

As you ascend, your lungs expand

and suck any remaining oxygen

from your bloodstream.

Which can lead to a blackout.

It occurs rapidly,

insidiously,

and without warning.

So now,

as Mark prepares for another deep free dive

he faces a far greater threat from his own body

than from the sharks he's about to confront.

Mark Addison will dive without scuba equipment

and unprotected by a cage

or chain mail suit.

When most of us would be experiencing

a serious dose of fear

ith pumping adrenaline and a declining heart rate

Mark is relaxed and calm.

(ominous music)

The location for Mark's dive

is not short on typical tiger shark prey.

Aliwal Shoal is formed by

a submerged rocky alcove

that attracts lots of marine life.

The bottom rises from around 30 meters down

to within just five meters at the surface.

The shoal stretches three kilometers

end to end.

It's a location popular for anyone wanting to see sharks.

Ragged tooths aren't harmless

but it's possible that they are less aggressive

in these warm waters.

Not far away, but largely unseen,

there is another, far more menacing species.

Despite the thousands of divers that visit the shoal

there's only a handful who will ever realize

there are tiger sharks here.

But if their infamy for attacking humans

is to be believed,

why do they leave so much potential food unmolested?

And even unaware of their presence?

Perhaps, like most bad reputations,

nothing is ever quite as it seems.

Even Mark, who'd seen aggressive tiger sharks

while spear fishing,

was surprised by their restrained behavior.

- [Mark] The thing about the tiger shark

is that, unlike the white shark,

they are very weary and cautious.

If you add that to the fact they travel vast distances,

80, 100, 120 kilometers in a day,

the fact that they are supposed to be solitary creatures,

it makes it very difficult to work with them

let alone see them.

- [Voiceover] The great white and tiger shark

may share top place for being dangerous,

but they belong to different shark families.

Tigers, alongside many other tropical species,

are requiem sharks.

They're characterized by a distinctive protective

eyelid called a nictitating membrane

which covers the eye during the final phase of attack.

The territories of the two species overlap.

Comfortable in colder waters too,

the great whites occur all around the

South African coastline.

Tiger sharks are believed to stick to the warmer waters.

(dramatic music)

Preparing the free dive

Mark heads out to the shoal.

This is diving stripped to the bare minimum.

Just a wet suit, bait,

and someone to make sure the boat stays put.

- All right, this is the spot.

It looks certainly much flatter.

- [Voiceover] Before he dives, Mark laces the water

with a bait stone,

a steel drum filled with mashed sardines,

and a line hung with whole fish.

Though controversial, because it can habituate sharks

and make them more aggressive around divers,

Mark knows the technique will bring the sharks

very close.

Priming the water works,

because sharks can smell even the faintest traces

of fish oils and blood.

As the oily slick is carried in the current

it reaches the super sensitive nose of the shark.

(dramatic music)

The female adopts a criss cross swimming pattern.

The same she uses when she's hunting.

The scent trail leads her to Mark's boat.

And her shadow passes under the hull.

By Mark's calculation

a four and a half meter tiger shark.

- I can see a shark there.

No, that looks like a tiger.

Reach up (crosstalk)

(dramatic music)

- [Voiceover] Without much of a breath

Mark's in the water and diving down.

(dramatic music)

- [Mark] If I think back, the first time I free dived

with a tiger shark

it was like someone was turned on the light.

Put on a pair of spectacles.

Everything became so much clearer.

Reaction turning to interaction,

I was able to respond to them and certainly

they seemed less and less threatened by me.

It was probably the most profound experience

of my life.

After the initial fear

I couldn't help notice that this female shark,

in my opinion, meant me no harm.

It sounds crazy,

but it was kind of like the

the relationships you hear between dolphin and man.

I really felt it,

that she meant me no harm.

I was certainly not a threat to her.

And that we could interact like this.

I knew then that we were on the edge

of something extraordinary.

- [Voiceover] Looking at this scene

it's hard to believe

that this species has one of the worst reputations

among divers and shark watchers.

One of its common names says it all.

Here they call it

the man eater shark.

But while Mark appears to be surviving his dive

there are many other ocean creatures who don't.

The tiger shark is undeniably a formidable predator.

It can pick up very low frequency pressure waves

like those given off by an injured creature.

When it attacks

it does so with aggression.

Resulting in one of the most brutal confrontations

found in the sea.

(dramatic music)

Tiger sharks feed on a vast range of sea life.

Everything from fish and seals

to birds, and even smaller sharks.

And they're one of the few species

that can feed on armor plated turtles

including the loggerhead.

(dramatic music)

The tiger sharks formidable jaw strength

enables it to open up the shell of a turtle

like a tin can.

And get to the good bit.

While many shark teeth are designed to cut

with the top set and grip at the bottom

the tiger shark has almost identical teeth

above and below.

Their sickle shape is unique

forming triangles with heavily serrated edges

and a deep notch at the rear.

The available jaw pressure

is around three tons per square centimeter.

Combined with this violent head shaking

they literally tear their victims apart.

Large turtles are usually only on the menu

for tiger sharks over three meters

with enough jaw power to deal

with such a tough shell.

So what's behind this shark's gluttony?

This is a large and powerfully built fish.

It requires a lot of fuel to keep it running.

Not being a fussy eater helps.

Their voracious appetites also provides Mark

with a foolproof strategy

for keeping the tiger sharks close

while enabling him to make some remarkable

observations.

(water splashing)

Two sharks in particular

draw his undivided attention.

A pair of tigers he's nicknamed

the psycho sisters.

Who seem to enjoy giving him a hard time.

- [Mark] Certainly they understand how to get to the bait.

They figured out very quickly

they hold the drum, it sinks to the bottom,

so it leaves it fall out,

they get the spoils.

They win the game.

- [Voiceover] Mark has proved he can get close.

But can he truly interact with the sharks

on their terms?

If he is ever to understand

what makes a tiger shark tick,

he needs to get closer yet.

His next plan involves holding the bait

and trying to hand feed.

(dramatic music)

Not surprisingly, Mark's manner of methodology

has attracted the attention of scientists.

Among them, Dr. Matt Dicken

from the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University

in South Africa.

Who has studied the movement patterns

of the tiger shark.

- [Dr. Dicken] When I first heard about Mark's

work on tiger sharks, I thought,

Jeez, this guy has got a bit of a death wish.

But I must say I was intrigued.

If he can get up close and personal

to tiger sharks

without spooking or provoking them,

it really would be a first.

And this would be valuable.

The only time tiger sharks we've observed

and passed around fairly in antagonistic conditions.

In fact, we know very little about tiger sharks.

Anything we can start to find out

is gonna be crucial to understanding

of this very unique species.

(dramatic music)

- [Voiceover] He's so intrigued by talk

of Mark's encounters, that he's joining him

on the next dive.

(dramatic music)

- [Dr. Dicken] Conditions look great.

- Okay Mark, we'll see you down there.

- [Voiceover] Sinking into the blue

Mark makes his technique look easy.

But there's more to this kind of diving

than strong arms.

Matt is diving using scuba gear.

An onboard air supply

with a buoyancy controlled device

to adjust his depth.

Mark, by contrast,

will have only the air in his lungs

and a weight belt to maintain the depth he wants.

Every movement, and every second down here

he's using up that valuable air.

And the first part of the dive

is spent waiting.

Then the first shark shows up.

And it's the same one from the earlier dive.

A large female.

And like a dog who's found a new friend

she almost seems to recognize Mark.

He's noticed the familiar faint stripes

on her sides.

So he decides to take the relationship

a stage further.

When the time seems right

he reaches out and touches her.

- [Mark] Well I thought

if we're going to be friends,

and I clearly hoped that we were,

that I should give her a name.

Delores seemed to fit somehow.

It wasn't too ferocious.

It's kind of appealing.

I think she would have approved.

It's funny,

but once I'd given her a name

I really began to see her

like I would a well-loved pet.

Plus to have that just little bit extra.

- [Voiceover] Of course a tiger shark

can never be a pet.

But Mark's feelings have testimony to the unusual bond

developing between him and this one female.

Delores has stripes that are less defined

which gives her age to about 10 or 15 years old.

The older tiger sharks get

the fainter the stripes become.

As Mark's confidence is given a boost

he decides it's time to try and offer Delores

something to eat.

Mark grabs a few fish

and returns to find the shark.

(slow music)

In the most extraordinary encounter of his life

he feeds one of the ocean's most ferocious predators

by hand.

- [Mark] Well the whole process of going

to hand feed the tiger shark for the first time

is probably a lost worse then actually feeding the animal.

I just wasn't sure whether she would

snatch, grab, of course,

the business end of the tiger shark

is the front end.

I was very well aware of my

limitations in the water.

Because it's clearly going to be

up to the shark

as to how much further we could take this.

- [Voiceover] Eventually they both seem to

get used to the idea.

(slow music)

But just when Mark manages to keep Delores interested

without provoking a feeding frenzy,

another shark arrives on the scene

and Delores has some competition

for Mark's attention.

It's another female.

Smaller, but no less confident.

She circles for awhile

then finally takes the bait.

And just when Mark thinks his hands are full,

something quite remarkable happens.

Out in the infinity

he spots even more sharks.

Mark is in the middle of a whole pack.

Over 20 sharks,

tigers, bulls, and black tips.

And if that wasn't enough,

he's been down here several minutes already.

And he needs to get another breath of air.

That means turning his back on the sharks

and swimming to the surface.

Leaving him vulnerable to attack

from below.

(dramatic music)

(slow music)

The sheer number of sharks

among them, several tigers,

is remarkable.

And an exhilarating experience for Mark.

Allowing him to see how they interact with each other.

(slow music)

While Mark has attracted all these sharks

they do appear to be tolerant of each other.

Even operating some kind of pecking order.

A hierarchy.

It's not just fascinating for Mark

to see so many sharks in one place.

Witnessing this incredible encounter is Matt.

He's been watching the whole interaction

as it unfolds.

And then Mark notices something remarkable

about these sharks.

All the tigers are female.

To find out the significance

of so many female tiger sharks

Matt will need to follow them.

And he sees some scientific potential

for Mark's low tech approach

to help with some high tech science.

Attach a tracking device.

- [Mark] Oh I admit, that was amazing.

What do you think? - [Matt] Holy cow.

Wow.

- [Mark] That was amazing.

- Oh it really was something else.

You know, another interesting thing,

apart from their numbers,

they all seem to be adult,

sub adult females.

You know, where are the males

and where are those juveniles?

In your experience, have you seen those?

- Ah, I haven't seen any males,

but that would be my question to you, come on.

Help us out here with the science.

- [Matt] Well you know, Mark, the less,

again, this is a perfect opportunity.

Let's get one of these continual pinging tags

on one of these sharks

and see what they're doing

for a 24 hour period.

(dramatic music)

- [Voiceover] But for Mark the plan presents him

with a dilemma.

He's tagged sharks for marine scientists in the past.

But having spent so long getting so close

to these creatures, he's reacting emotionally.

Many sharks bear wounds inflicted by humans

using spear guns.

- [Mark] I feel that I've gained these animals trust.

They allow me to swim up close to them

without biting me in two.

And now, I know we've got to tag them for science,

and it's for their future.

(dramatic music)

- [Voiceover] Tagging these sharks could also help

predict their migration routes along the coast

when many become trapped in nets

designed to protect popular swimming beaches.

Knowing their preferred routes

might help marine authorities

save some sharks from ending up entangled.

Many of these sharks may not even be

resident here.

Tiger shark tagging studies have already revealed

this species regularly travels vast distances.

One swam to this coast from Australia

in just 99 days.

So this is a crucial opportunity

for Mark to place his free diving skills

and tiger shark interaction

at the service of science.

(engine revving)

Mark agrees to the tagging dive.

He'll be calling on everything he's learned so far

to make sure the tag goes in the first time

without their noticing.

- [Matt] How's that Mark, feeling well?

- [Mark] (mumbling) tag it

but I'll (mumbling be okay.

- [Matt] All right, fantastic.

- [Voiceover] Mark chooses his first guinea pig

to try to help him refine his tagging technique.

He decides on Delores.

He's used to spearing smaller fish

so he should be able to hit his target

with the first shot.

The thick skin

just where the fin joins the body.

Swimming behind Delores

Mark hopes she'll barely notice a difference

in his usual behavior.

(dramatic music)

Then another shark offers her services to science

and tag number two hits home.

All they need to do now is lock onto

the signals at the surface

and they can follow the sharks every move.

Using a hydro phone

they can pinpoint the sharks precise coordinates.

For a marine scientist, a tracking device

is a crucial link in understanding their behavior.

The data collected would be impossible to get

from an oceanic species through dive observations alone.

And for Matt, the tiger shark is especially important.

It's a species whose behavior is not well known.

Tracking the sharks via tags

will be like throwing a switch

and making the surface of the sea transparent.

(slow music)

Day and night, for the next 24 hours

everything these two sharks do

will be monitored.

(slow music)

- [Mark] One four seven, eh?

(mumbling)

We're going to save this as a stop point.

- [Voiceover] As fatigue begins to kick in on the surface

the tiger shark just keeps on going and going.

Apparently without any need for rest, or respite.

- Have you got a signal?

- [Voiceover] The same cannot be said for Matt and Mark.

- I like it that we've got this GPS

otherwise we'd be lost now.

- [Voiceover] Back on dry land,

and after a good nights sleep,

analyzing the data really begins to yield

some fascinating information.

It seems that while the sharks were on the move

they swam between 10 dive boats

and yet no sightings were reported.

And the revelations don't end here.

They've also fitted pop up archival

satellite tags for the sharks.

These work in a different way to the acoustic tags.

They record information

for as long as they're attached to the shark.

Each tag contains a mini computer

that logs data from three sensors

indicating depth, light, and temperature.

And an antenna that enables this data

to be transmitted via satellite.

Scientists receive an email from the shark.

A stream of encypted code

that they translate into where the shark has been

and how deep.

After a preset period

in this case, four months,

an electrical discharge melts the copper wire

holding it to the shark.

And it floats to the surface

where it transmits it's position.

And if the tag can be retrieved

it will provide more detailed data

about the sharks movements.

It's now four months since Mark tagged the two sharks.

One of them has turned up on Cozy Bay,

around 500 kilometers from the Aliwal Shoal.

But the signal is coming from over

a kilometer inland.

Even the tiger shark isn't that adaptable.

The chances are it's been picked up by fishermen

and taken home.

After a quick visit to the village,

Matt manages to retrieve his precious tagging device

and returns to the Oceanographic Institute

to analyze its valuable data.

- [Matt] Thanks very much. - Thanks man.

- [Matt] Where did you find it?

- [Voiceover] Once again, the tiger shark manages

to surprise Matt.

The shark wearing this tag

went to a depth of 888 meters,

that's twice the depth scientists believe possible.

But then, a signal from the other sharks

acoustic tag is picked up.

And the location of this one comes as more of a shock

than a surprise.

Its signal has been picked up by Alison Kock,

a marine biologist based in Cape Town.

A long way from where the tiger shark

has ever been found before.

- [Mark] Apparently the tag was somewhere

in False Bay, over on the Cape coast.

And I headed out that way.

Sea temperatures there are far lower

than the tiger sharks physiologically want to go

to stand.

So who knows how its survived.

This tag was especially significant.

It was the one I put on Delores.

- [Voiceover] Being in False Bay

would be very bad news.

If the sea temperature doesn't get her,

there's something else that might.

Among shark watchers

False Bay is infamous for one very good reason.

It's a stronghold for the great white shark.

In these waters, the great white

has an advantage over the tiger shark.

Unlike the tiger shark

the great white is warm blooded.

They have a sophisticated heat exchange system.

It recycles metabolically generated heat

to warm the blood as it flows past.

Cold, oxygenated blood from the sharks gills

passes through a dense bundle of veins

where it is heated

and carried directly to the sharks internal organs.

(dramatic music)

The great white is able to maintain a body temperature

10 centigrade above the surrounding water.

Ensuring that it's always operating

at maximum predatory efficiency.

In the colder waters of the Cape,

the tiger shark will be at a huge disadvantage

against a great white.

Determined to see if Delores is here in False Bay,

Mark commits to a free dive

in white shark territory.

- Well,

cold Cape waters,

white sharks.

Nothing I've ever done before.

I wonder how this is gonna turn out?

I wonder what Delores thought

when she came down here and saw

the same as I'm about to see.

- [Voiceover] The dive reveals only

several great whites.

(slow music)

Of Delores, there's still no sign.

Even though the signal from her tag is still going.

And then comes the realization.

That she's probably not here after all.

But any sense of relief is short lived

as another, more distressing explanation

for the tags location emerges.

And it's one that Mark may have to come to terms with.

Delores could well have been killed by fishermen

and left in the ocean to be fed on

by everything from other tiger sharks to great whites.

The chances are, her tag went down the throat of a shark

and returned in its stomach to False Bay.

Mark is now faced with the tragic thought.

That the first shark he befriended

might have fallen victim,

not to another great predator,

but to his own kind.

The species that he feels responsible

for allowing her to trust.

(slow music)

- [Mark] Nevertheless, I was still determined

to build onto what I had managed to achieve so far.

And I returned to the Aliwal Shoal

to try to pick up from where I left off.

Free diving alongside the tiger sharks.

- [Voiceover] After many months spent in the water

with the tiger sharks,

Mark Addison's extraordinary free dives

have only just begun to yield some new and fascinating

insights into the lifestyle of this elusive species.

(slow music)

As the tagging project continues

Mark gets good responses from

tiger sharks he's never seen before.

But it's not the same

without the presence of his old friend.

Mark's dives, and his remarkable interactions,

have helped show that this species

is not the indiscriminate man eater

that many divers believe it to be.

His experiences,

swimming with these sharks

and the tagging data that he's helping

marine scientists to gather,

is like putting together a jig saw puzzle

of the sharks life.

It's now possible to travel with a tiger shark

24 hours a day

seven days a week.

And receive detailed information

about where they are.

Mark has spent his life

in the waters of south Africa.

And he continues to work with shark scientists

to try and help improve

our understanding of these creatures.

- [Mark] In all of the privileged work that I do in the

water with these sharks particularly, it really is an honor.

But, probably the saddest thing

and the most challenging consequence

of the work I do

is the fact that you feel something

for these animals.

They show you things.

They (mumbling) this morning.

They do something stupid the next day,

they look kind of embarrassed.

It's amazing what I've learned

in terms of their body posturing

and just each sharks individual personality.

(dramatic music)

- [Voiceover] But while the tiger shark

has been surprising the scientists,

it seems there's one last revelation in store for Mark.

One afternoon, back at Aliwal Shoal,

something nearly takes his breath away.

(slow music)

It's unmistakably Delores.

- [Mark] I couldn't believe what I was seeing.

Delores was back.

The only explanation I could think of is that

the (mumbling) of scavenging the whale carcus

is what tiger sharks are known to get together,

that somehow her tag had come off,

a white shark had swallowed it,

and that's how it ended up in the white shark.

Anyway, whatever the explanation

I was just so glad she was back

unharmed.

(dramatic music)

The most amazing thing about the summer

of science and exploration was surely the tagging.

Being able to follow these animals around,

see where they go, what they do.

And to learn by them

that they certainly don't choose conflict with man.

(slow music)

- [Voiceover] For some, the tiger shark will probably

always carry the legendary status of man eater.

It's undeniably a predator of extraordinary

skill and ferocity.

But alone, and unprotected,

Mark Addison did something bold

which gave us a new insight

into the animal behind the legend.

The result.

An extraordinary story of human interaction with the wild.

An emotional connection that animal

that so easily could have been

written off as too dangerous.

(slow music)

Thanks to Mark,

the tiger shark has shown a different

and altogether more intriguing side to its nature.

One which may help

safeguard its future.

(slow music)