All language subtitles for Mysterious.Islands.2024.S01E08.1080p.WEB.h264-EDITH_track3_[eng]

- These are clearly newer builds
made out of stone and concrete.

This is a significant level
of military infrastructure.

But this isn't the only
structure built on this island.

[narrator] A strange
underwater discovery is

made off of a Greek island.

- The piece of debris
has a strange circular

design embedded in it.

What is this thing?

[narrator] Marine biologists
tagging sharks off California's

Farallon Islands make an
interesting observation.

- On the same day that the
Great Whites disappeared,

orcas were spotted near
southeast Farallon Island.

So why did these sharks vanish?

[narrator] Isolated, scarce on
resources, islands are

worlds unto themselves.

Bizarre creatures, ancient
gods, and haunting ruins.

Baffling murders
and deadly spirits.

What will be discovered on
Earth's mysterious islands?

[thunder rumbling]

[narrator] Northern Sudan's Sai
Island is the largest

island in the Nile River,
splitting the storied

waterway in two as
it flows towards the

Egyptian border just
100 miles to the north.

Sai Island is roughly 7.5
miles long and 3 miles wide.

A pretty sizable island
considering it sits in a river

and not a more substantial
body of water like a

large lake or ocean.

Currently there are very few
inhabitants of Sai Island,

but it has a rich history with
signs of human occupation

dating as far back
as 300,000 years.

And there's evidence of
both ancient Egyptian

and Ottoman settlements, so
it draws a lot of attention

from the scientific community.

[narrator] In 2015, a team of
archaeologists are

excavating a burial site on
Sai Island known as Tomb 26.

The tomb is accessed
through a rock-cut shaft

that descends to a depth
of around 17 feet into

a narrow passageway.

This opens up to the
tomb's main chamber,

at the end of which is a small
trench along the northern wall.

[narrator] Although some
cursory archaeological work was

conducted in the 1970s,

the site has never been
extensively explored, until now.

And it isn't long before
Tomb 26 yields an

astonishing discovery.

- Under the trench, they
find a small chamber

containing the remains of
what appear to be two adults,

one male and one female,
lying side by side.

It looks like a lot of
time and effort went into

burying these people,
so they must have been

held in high regard.

So who were they?

[narrator] As the team explores
the chamber, they come

across several items
that may provide some

clues as to the possible
identity of the remains.

Near the head of one of the
bodies, they find three

small vessels made of faience,
a glazed ceramic, usually

blue-green in color.

Ancient Egyptians used this
style of glaze to make jewelry,

sculptures and ritual objects,
because they thought these items

had certain magical powers.

So given the presence of
faience objects in the chamber,

it's safe to assume
this is probably an

ancient Egyptian burial site.

But from what?

[narrator] Further exploration
of the site reveals the

presence of more grave goods
that could help the team

determine the age of the
bodies and pinpoint when the

chamber was constructed.

In addition to the faience
vessels, they find three

ceramic flower pots,
deep conical bowls with

perforated bottoms.

Two are located at the
feet of one of the bodies

and one near the head.

Based on previous archaeological
finds on the island,

this kind of pot wasn't
present before 1507 BCE

and then fell out of
fashion by 1390 BCE.

So it can probably be dated
to within that window.

[narrator] The region containing
Sai Island was known as Nubia

and was part of the
Kingdom of Kush,

which stretched across
what is now northern

Sudan and southern Egypt.

Nubia was conquered by
the Egyptians sometime

around 1500 BCE, and
the Kush people fell

under the empire's rule.

The Egyptians relied on the Kush
for the import of many items,

including ebony, incense, ivory,
and other luxury goods.

So this area was a sort
of overlap between

the two cultures.

[narrator] Expanding the
scope of the excavation,

the team makes another
astounding discovery.

There's a hidden chamber
concealed by a plaster wall,

and inside they find the
remains of 11 more individuals.

The remains belong to nine
adults and two infants,

and like the first
chamber there's an

abundance of grave goods--
faience objects, pottery

vessels, and jewelry,
including a beautiful ring

made of gold and silver.

They also find canopic
jars, which were used

to hold the organs
that were removed from

the body during the
mummification process,

usually the lungs, liver,
intestines, and stomach.

[narrator] Canopic jars were
commonly used for mummification

throughout many periods
in ancient Egypt,

starting in the Old
Kingdom around 2700 BCE

through the New Kingdom
between 1600 and 1100.

They fell out of use
during the Late Period.

Canopic jars were an
important part of Egyptian

funerary traditions.

The earliest examples were quite
plain and had unadorned lids,

but by the period
of the New Kingdom,

they could sometimes be
found sculpted with heads

that symbolized the four
sons of the god Horus.

These were represented
by a jackal, a falcon,

a human, and a baboon.

[narrator] Turning
their attention back
to the first chamber,

the team combs the area
around the remains,

searching for any items that
may have escaped their notice,

and they are not disappointed.

It's remarkable.

Near the chest area of the male
remains an ornate stone scarab

inscribed with hieroglyphics.

Scarabs are beetle-shaped
amulets that were hugely

popular in ancient Egypt,
particularly in the

funerary context,
because they represented

renewal and rebirth.

They were thought to bring
good luck in the afterlife

and were as symbolically
reverent to the Egyptians

as the cross is to Christians.

[James Ellis] The presence of
these elaborate grave goods in

both chambers indicates that
these people must have been

prominent members of
Egyptian society.

But that still doesn't tell us
exactly who they were.

[narrator] Not far from the
scarab, the team discovers

another object that
may just solve the

mystery once and for all.

They find a shabti,
or a figurine in the

shape of a mummy.

The Egyptians placed
them in the graves

to act as servants to the
deceased in the afterlife.

Shabtis come in all
sizes and materials.

The one discovered in the first
chamber is made of stone,

and just like the scarab, it's
inscribed with hieroglyphics.

[narrator] Armed with a scarab
and shabti, the team sets about

translating the inscriptions,
and the pieces of the puzzle

finally fall into place.

The inscriptions identify
the male in the first chamber

as Khnummose,
master of gold workers.

It's assumed that the female
beside him is his wife,

and the occupants of the
other chamber are members

of his extended family.

There were gold
mines on Sai Island,

and the Egyptians relied
heavily on the region

as a source for their
favorite precious metal.

In fact, it's thought
that the word "nubia"

may be derived from the Egyptian
word "nub," which means gold.

Khnummose was considered
a master goldsmith,

which afforded him
a prominent place

within the island's
social hierarchy,

hence the elaborate burial
site and all the grave goods.

[narrator] As the team conducts
an overall survey of Tomb 26,

they can't help but notice
loose pieces of mudbrick

scattered around the area.

Most of the important New
Kingdom tombs on Sai Island

have rock-cut chambers with
adjacent mudbrick structures.

Given the layout of Tomb 26
and the mudbrick debris,

there may have been an
impressive structure

here at one time,
possibly even a small

pyramid with a courtyard
or chapel inside.

[narrator] As the team wraps up
its investigation of Tomb 26,

they decide to perform strontium
analysis on the remains,

which produces some very
unexpected results.

Khnummose was not Egyptian.

In fact, all the individuals
found in the tomb

were members of the
local Nubian population.

This is a bit shocking.

The style of tomb, the
grave goods, evidence

of mummification, all
these things point

to an Egyptian burial.

It just goes to show that
although these were Kush people,

the culture and traditions
of the Egyptians

seeped into many
aspects of their lives,

including something
as significant as

funerary practices.

[narrator] The lavish tomb of
Khnummose, the master goldsmith,

exemplifies the influence of
the Egyptian empire in Nubia

during the New Kingdom
period, and shows that to the

inhabitants of Sai Island, it
was worth its weight in gold.

In the middle of the
Firth of Forth estuary,

two miles from the closest
shore and 30 minutes by

boat from Edinburgh,

lies a little jagged
hunk of volcanic rock

called Inchkeith Island.

It's just a mile long,
with an area of 56 acres.

Set in the gateway to Scotland
where the river connects

to the North Sea, a
major trade route

for the country, the isles
of the Firth of Forth

are home to abundant bird and
marine life, including seals.

In 2000, a small
group of grey seals

began giving birth on Inchkeith,
and now more than 500 pups

are born there every year,
drawing the interest

of local experts.

[narrator] Zoologists studying
wildlife on the isles

are observing newborn
seals on a small stretch

of Inchkeith Beach when
they are drawn to a

derelict shed up the shore where
the sickly smell of death.

The smell belongs to a seal
pup that passed away here,

leaving behind a skull and
tuft of white pup fur.

There is an eeriness
to this young seal

passing in an abandoned
structure like this.

What happened here?

- Wildlife has been
steadily reclaiming

this uninhabited
island for decades,

but while the animals
are here now,

one good look at
this place tells you

that was not always the case.

[narrator] Exploring the island
further, up from the beach near

the island's highest ground and
next to the lighthouse,

is a massive stone wall.

The wall is 150 feet
long, 5 1/2 feet thick,

and can be up to 20 feet
tall in some areas,

but it's very clearly fortified.

There are even some
windows in the wall

that are like 2 feet wide.

So it kind of looks like a
castle, but is that what it is?

The Firth of Forth is positively
surrounded by castles.

Another on Inchkeith
seems unnecessary,

but what castles do
need is protection.

So perhaps this was a fort?

[narrator] Walking along the
imposing structure

at the entrance to a courtyard,
they find a panel with a symbol

of a shield carved into the
stone with some residual paint.

This is the symbol
of the Royal Arms,

the date 1564, and
the initials M.R.

for Maria Regina,
better known as

Mary Queen of Scots, who
was Queen of Scotland

from 1542 until 1567.

This wall is what remains
of a 16th-century

Franco-Scottish fort.

[narrator] Today, Scotland
and England are part of

Great Britain, but before
the Act of Union in 1707,

which united the two countries,
the neighboring nations

were often in conflict.

From the late 13th until
the mid-16th centuries,

Scotland and France were
in a military alliance

against the English.

In its full glory,
the massive fort

would have featured
corner towers

and been visible for miles,
acting as a deterrent to

Scotland's English enemies.

The window found earlier is more
accurately a gun embrasure,

but this isn't the only
structure built on this island.

[narrator] Just down the
hill, they stumble upon
more fortifications.

Only these structures aren't
as rough or overgrown

as the 16th century fort.

These are clearly newer builds
made out of stone and concrete.

This style of fortification
was added at some point

to the northwest, the north, and
the south side of the island.

They include trenches,
towers, tunnels,

and much larger
gunning positions.

This is a significant level
of military infrastructure.

[narrator] While surveying
the other structures,

they come across two
different date stones

placed above the doorways
in a way similar to the

royal arms of the first fort.

They read "VR 1880."

That VR is Victoria
Regina, Queen Victoria.

These fortifications were
commissioned by the War Office

in the late 1800s in response
to rising European tensions.

There are even a number of
large block houses or barracks

from the same period capable
of housing a small army.

As a result, fortifications
at Inchkeith grew

to include munition
storage, mess halls,

and supporting infrastructure
like medical services.

In 1914, European tensions
finally reached boiling point,

and the world was
plunged into war.

Britain, France, Russia, and
later Italy in the United States

aligned against the
central powers of

Germany, Austria-Hungary,
Bulgaria,

and the Ottoman Empire.

[Alison Leonard] The war
lasted 4 difficult years,

ending in 1918.

And while World War I didn't
breach the shores of Scotland,

the Scots were a huge part
of the British war effort.

Ultimately, the
country lost many men,

and some estimate it
could be as great as 10%

of the adult male population,
so those aged 16 to 50.

This is an extraordinary loss.

When peace returned
to Great Britain,

Inchkeith fell out of
use apart from its

occasional maintenance.

In the absence of a
near-constant military

and human presence,
birds and other wildlife

began to come back.

But that still doesn't
explain everything.

[narrator] Looking at the
lay of the land today,

a number of modern
structures stand out

among the graying
fortifications associated

with the World War I era.

These other buildings
are primarily red brick

and concrete structures.

They're scattered across
a small island among,

and in some cases even attached
to the older fortifications.

Why?

[narrator] The 1930s were marked
by the rising threat of Nazism.

As such, Britain and many
other European nations

began preparing for the
very real possibility

of another war, at
home and abroad.

[Anthony Cantor] The military
began refurbishing Inchkeith

in the mid-30s, upgrading
gunning positions and

building new support structures,

including anti-aircraft
positions.

They converted old
buildings to serve the

needs of modern warfare,
so they upgraded the

radio station with
state-of-the-art radar.

The island's wildlife
was once again evicted,

as Inchkeith was gearing
up to play an important

role in the war effort.

By the time the war
started in 1939,

the island's capacity
reached well above

1,000 service members,
and that was possible

because of support structures
and brick barracks for

additional lodging.

[narrator] War came to Inchkeith
in October 1939,

when a dozen German bombers
flew over the Firth of Forth

to carry out the very
first air raid on Britain.

[James Ellis] Allegedly, a
soldier stationed on Inchkeith

actually attempted to shoot down
the German bombers,

but was unsuccessful.

Unlike in World War I,
civilians in World War II

found themselves frequent
targets of enemy attacks.

During this war, Scotland
suffered over 500 air raids

from the Nazis, and
across the UK as a whole,

the raids resulted in the deaths
of more than 40,000 civilians.

Ultimately, Britain and
her allies prevailed,

defeating Germany in 1945.

[narrator] Today, a bird's-eye
view of the island highlights

the extraordinary extent
of fortifications layering

the island's landscape.

Now, home not only to
grey seals, but nesting

cormorants, puffins,
and European shags, the

building's presence and
history is still keenly felt.

[Alison Leonard] And yet, that
is still not the most intriguing

thing about this rock in the
middle of the Firth of Forth.

[narrator] King James IV
was the King of Scotland
from 1488 to 1513.

By most accounts, he was a
unifying force for the country,

who greatly improved
Scotland's standing abroad.

The King was an inquisitive
man with an interest in

language and communication, as
he was rumoured to speak more

than five languages himself.

So in 1493, he commissioned
an experiment.

A deaf-mute woman and two
infant children were sent to

live in exile on Inchkeith,
the island's first

documented residence.

He commissioned this
experiment in the hopes

that he'd be able to observe
the true language of humanity.

It's very warped,
but here's the idea.

By isolating the children and
restricting their contact

with the outside world, he
believed that they would

naturally grow to speak
what was the first

language of man and God.

[narrator] There were reports
that the children spoke Hebrew,

making the experiment a success.

However, others said
that they would bleat

like the goats and
sheep that were on the

island with them.

- The results of the
experiment were unconfirmed,

and some even say that the
family died on the island.

While their outcome
remains a mystery,

they would not be the last
people to be relegated

to isolation on Inchkeith.

[narrator] In the late 1400s, a
terrifying and contagious

disease was sweeping the
continent of Europe,

and no population was spared.

It ravaged its victims, leaving
them covered in bursting

boils and rotting flesh.

This was the epidemic
of syphilis,

a sexually transmitted disease
caused by a bacterial infection.

Today, it can be treated
with relative ease,

but centuries ago, it was
feared and misunderstood.

By 1497, syphilis had
reached Scotland's shores,

and it was particularly bad
in Aberdeen and Edinburgh

because of their
high populations

and their connections to
international trade routes.

As the infection spread,
victims began piling up,

so the kingdom was searching
for a way to hide the problem

that was quite literally
plaguing the nation.

Victims were rounded up to
be placed in isolation,

and what's more isolated
than Inchkeith?

[narrator] For years, Inchkeith
was used to house the infected

as a convenient quarantine
site, though most would

never leave the island.

No one knows how many
sick people eventually

succumbed to illness and
were buried on Inchkeith,

as there were no records
of these people.

But what is known for sure
is that this little island,

just 2 miles from the shore,
has played an outsized role,

for better or for worse, in
the perceived defense of

Scottish lives for centuries.

[narrator] These days,
Inchkeith's rocky landscape,

covered in crumbling forts,
is a constant reminder of

its rich and complex history.

Only now, its sole
inhabitants are the seals

and birds once again.

[narrator] Antikythera is a tiny
Mediterranean island

150 miles south of Athens.

It is nestled between Crete and
the Peloponnesian Peninsula,

where 3 seas-- the Aegean,
Ionian, and Cretan--

come together.

It's so small that you
can get to most places

on the island by foot, and
its longest paved street

is less than 2.5 miles long.

Its placid beaches and coves
remain largely undisturbed,

and it doesn't receive
many tourists.

In fact, there are only
24 full-time residents

in its main village
and port, Potamos.

- All of the island's goods
are imported by boat,

but the seas in this area are
notoriously temperamental.

Sometimes they prevent
ships from getting to

the island altogether.

So you can see why it's
pretty cut off from

the rest of the world.

[narrator] In 2022, while
conducting exploratory dives

off the northeast
coast of the island,

divers from the joint
Greek-Swiss archaeological

research vessel Typhoon
see something curious.

At first, it looks
like a giant boulder

covered in barnacles
and sea sludge.

But on closer inspection,
the divers are able to

make out eyes and hair.

Is this a human head?

Well, it is a head,
but thankfully, it's

made from marble.

The head is massive, and
the face is oddly familiar.

This is one of Greek
mythology's main heroes,

a Greek demigod known for
his incredible strength

and amazing feats.

It's Hercules.

But I've got to ask
the obvious question--

where is the rest of him?

[narrator] In 1901, a group of
Greek divers are sailing to

Tunisia when a storm forces them
to alter their course

and take shelter on Antikythera.

When the storm ends,
they decide to dive off

the coast of the island
and are horrified

by what they find.

It's an eerie scene--
lifeless, naked bodies

scattered across the ocean
floor at a depth of 150 feet.

But the thing is, thankfully,
they're not actually bodies.

They're statues, and
one of them is the

headless body of Hercules.

- This is a remarkable
discovery, but what's truly

exciting is that there's an
array of artifacts scattered

amongst the statues,
including jewelry,

glassware, pottery, art.

And there are pieces of
wood lying about as well,

so it seems like the site
of an old shipwreck.

[narrator] Greek authorities are
brought in to coordinate

salvaging and transportation
of the artifacts

to the National Archaeological
Museum in Athens

to unravel the mystery
of how they found their

way to the sea floor.

A thorough examination
and classification

of them is essential.

Analysis of the artifacts
and wood reveals

that the wreck was a
merchant ship sailing

across a busy shipping route in
the Aegean Sea around 60 BCE.

It was most likely
caught in a storm

and smashed into the
cliffs of Antikythera.

The ship is estimated to have
been about 50 meters long,

which was huge for the time,
and its 300-ton capacity was

maxed out with luxury items.

[narrator] While analyzing a
piece of algae-covered debris

from the shipwreck, a
Greek archaeologist sees

something that is puzzling.

The piece of debris
has a strange circular

design embedded in it,
and what looks like algae

is actually the greenish
patina caused by oxidation.

What is this thing?

It's a 7-by-6-inch hunk
of heavily encrusted

corroded bronze, and given
the embedded design,

it was crafted by human
hands a very long time ago.

Could it be some form
of ancient art piece?

The ancient Greeks had a
long history of making

art out of bronze.

Works like the Delphi
Chariteer from 480 to 460 BCE

and the Hellenistic Prince
from the 2nd century BCE

speak to the extraordinary
talents of early

Greek sculptors.

[Dan Riskin] Bronze is an alloy.

It's made out of 90%
copper, 10% tin.

That makes it strong,
ductile, and a whole

lot easier to work with
than other materials,

especially marble.

[Anthony Cantor] Unfortunately,
most ancient Greek bronze

statues were melted down
at some point in history

to make things such
as coins, weapons,

or even new works of art.

But the piece of bronze
from this wreck doesn't

resemble part of a statue.

It's too large to be a
coin, and it doesn't look

like any part of a weapon.

So what is it?

[Dan Riskin] Some of the pieces
also have circular designs

with the largest circle being
over 5 inches in diameter.

But here's the thing.

They look sort of
mechanical, almost like

the gears found in a clock.

[Anthony Cantor] The ancient
Egyptians divided the day into

two 12-hour parts
using sundials to track

the sun's path in the sky.

The oldest sundial ever
discovered was found in

Egypt's Valley of the
Kings and dates from the

13th century BCE.

It consisted of a
plate and a gnomon,

which was a stick that
cast a shadow on the

plate displaying the time.

The sundial was introduced
to Greece around 560 BCE

and was one of their primary
ways of telling time.

But while it did track time, it
didn't have any actual gears.

[narrator] The device's
corroded fragments continue
to baffle researchers.

But then, after a number of
significant breakthroughs,

a British scientist and Greek
radiologist subject the

pieces to X-ray analysis.

The results are astounding.

The scans reveal an
incredibly elegant design,

including 30 gears.

Most notably, there is
a 38-tooth gear that

drives a 127-tooth gear,
forming a system where

the rotation of the first
sets the others in motion.

And each tooth measures
just one millimeter.

It's an incredible
feat of precision.

[Dan Riskin] The fact that there
are gears here is an exciting

step, but the real magic happens
when you start counting how

many teeth are on the gears,
because that's how you

can find out what it does.

Its gear ratio is connected
to an ancient Greek cycle

linking the moon with the sun.

Early Greeks found out that
the phases of the moon

repeat on the calendar dates
almost perfectly every 19 years.

So one way to calculate
where the moon would

be on any given date
would be to have two

interconnected gears
with exactly the

right number of teeth
so that they move just

like the sky does.

An invention like that could
help a person at sea based

on the position of the moon.

Day or night, if you could see
the moon, you would know exactly

which way you were pointing.

So could this be an ancient
navigational instrument?

[narrator] Ancient celestial
navigation used heavenly bodies

such as the sun, stars, and
moon for sea positioning.

One key tool used by the ancient
Greeks was the astrolabe,

meaning "star holder" in
Greek, that measured the

altitude of celestial
bodies above the horizon

to determine latitudes
on land and at sea.

The first geared astrolabe
was invented in Iran.

It used mathematical ratios
to replicate planetary

motions and orbits.

These functions advanced
celestial studies,

improved navigation,
and helped calculate

Muslim prayer times.

But this astrolabe was invented
almost 1,300 years after the

device we're talking about.

This doesn't make sense.

If it's not an ancient
navigational device,

what on earth could it be?

[narrator] In 2005, researchers
employ advanced imaging

technology to uncover subtle
surface details of the fragments

and produce 3D renderings of
their internal structures.

Their findings unleash
a storm of revelations.

We are looking at inscriptions
that haven't been read

for over two millennia.

There are 15,000 of them,
though researchers are only

able to decipher 3,000.

Despite the fact it's
missing two-thirds of its

components, two-thirds of
them, researchers are still

able to figure out that
this incredible mechanism

would have been kept in a
shoebox-sized wooden case

operated by a crank that turned
bronze gears and pointers.

This thing was amazing.

[narrator] The artifact,
now known as the

Antikythera mechanism,
was recently digitally

reconstructed using
advanced computer modeling,

unlocking even
more insights into

its purpose and functionality.

[Anthony Cantor] It's considered
the world's first computer,

capable of a variety of
functions in one unit.

It tracked the movement
of planets and stars

and predicted eclipses.

It also provided a calendar that
connected celestial phenomena

to cultural and athletic events
such as the Olympic Games.

And it could move its user
forward or backward in time

with just the use of a
hand crank and dials.

The Antikythera mechanism
is the most technologically

complex device in antiquity,
and there are no copies of

it anywhere in existence.

This is mind-blowing
technology that defies

the era it hails from,
raising far more questions

than it answers, like what
was its exact purpose?

Who made it? What
else could it do?

[narrator] Researchers hold out
hope that, like the reuniting of

Hercules' head with its body,
the 2,000-year-old mystery

of the Antikythera mechanism
may one day be solved.

Until then, the wreck off the
sleepy island of Antikythera

continues to hide its
secrets beneath layers

of sand, rocks, and time.

[narrator] Roughly 30 miles
west of San Francisco's

famous Golden Gate Bridge
sit the Farallon Islands,

a rugged archipelago
in the Pacific Ocean.

The Farallons are also
known as the Devil's Teeth

for their jagged, somewhat
menacing appearance.

They stretch roughly five miles
in a northwestward direction

and are composed of
four groups of islands,

Noonday Rock and the
North, Middle, and

South Farallon Islands.

The first recorded landing was
by Sir Francis Drake in 1579

when his expedition
stopped to collect bird

eggs and hunt seals.

Nowadays, visitors are forbidden
from visiting the islands,

but there are a handful of
researchers that live here.

To say that the Farallons are
home to an abundance of wildlife

would be putting it very mildly.

Nearly 300,000 birds
call these islands home.

That makes it the largest
colony of nesting seabirds in

the continental United States.

And the surrounding waters
are teeming with sea life,

including everybody's
favorite marine predators,

killer whales and
great white sharks.

[narrator] In 2009, a team of
marine biologists are

tagging great whites
off the coast of

southeast Farallon Island
in order to track their

migration patterns
when they notice a

strange phenomenon.

They managed to tag 17
sharks, but when they looked

at the tracking data, within
eight hours all of them

had disappeared from the
area and only one returned.

The waters around the
Farallons are prime

territory for great whites
with an abundance of

prey at their disposal.

So why do these sharks vanish?

Maybe it has something to
do with climate change.

It's no secret that ocean
temperatures have been steadily

rising in recent years.

So it could be that the sharks
are adapting to this change

by seeking out different waters.

Great whites are endotherms,
meaning they produce and

control their internal body heat
when their body temperature

is slightly higher than
the water around them.

Because of this, they do
especially well in cold water.

But juvenile great whites
are too small to increase

their body temperatures as
much as adults do, so they

tend to favor warmer waters.

Traditionally, this meant
that they spent more time

in shallower areas
closer to the coastline,

but the warming oceans have
broadened their movements.

[narrator] A recent study showed
that between 2014 and 2020,

increased water temperatures
led young great white sharks

to migrate over 350
miles farther north

than their usual territory
off the coast of California,

venturing into waters
that were formerly too

cold to sustain them.

It's possible that the
sharks that fled from

the Farallon Islands
are simply choosing to

spend their time elsewhere
in response to a

changing habitat.

But their disappearance
happened really abruptly,

not gradually over time.

So you'd expect a less gradual
explanation, something sudden.

Maybe it was something caused by
humans, like noise pollution.

[narrator] Known scientifically
as anthropogenic sound,

human-made noise pollution can
have serious detrimental effects

on wildlife populations, both
on land and at the oceans.

Think about all the ways
that humans impose noise

on the world's oceans.

At any given time, there are
thousands of ships on the water,

their powerful engines screaming
into the depths below.

And it's not just boat
engines causing the problem.

Offshore oil rigs,
construction, dredging, sonar,

all these things interfere
with the natural sound

frequencies in the ocean.

Aside from the interference,
it's been shown that

anthropogenic sound can
actually do physical

damage to marine life,
causing hearing loss

and damaging tissue.

And this damage can affect
the lateral line system,

which is a sensory system
that's vital to the survival

of great white sharks.

[narrator] The lateral line
system is a row of small pores

that run from the shark's
snout to the tail.

Surrounding water flows
through these pores,

and special sensory cells
called neuromasts detect

any pressure changes.

The neuromasts have these tiny,
hair-like projections on them,

and any change in the
water around the shark--

turbulence, currents,
vibrations--

shakes those hairs to
stimulate the neuromasts.

It basically turns the whole
side of the shark into this

super-sensitive eardrum.

And it is powerful
enough to detect the

wiggle of a fish's fin.

[narrator] Along with the
lateral line system,

sharks have other finely-tuned
senses, including hearing,

and they are sensitive
to very low frequencies.

So certain anthropogenic sounds
could potentially cause them

to leave an area that's
causing them distress.

But the waters around
the Farallon Islands

are part of the Greater
Farallones National

Marine Sanctuary.

So there wouldn't be
much in the way of noise

pollution to spook them.

It has to be something else.

[narrator] Looking for answers,
the team consults historical

data and comes across an
interesting connection

between the shark's
departure and another of

the ocean's apex predators.

On the same day that the
great whites disappeared,

orcas were spotted near
southeast Farallon Island.

Over the course of
two and a half hours,

they killed three seals
and then headed off in

a northerly direction.

There's overlap in the ranges
of orcas and great whites

along the Pacific coast, so
it's not unusual to find

them in the same areas.

Great whites are found from
northern Mexico up to Canada,

and orcas have an
even bigger range,

from southern Mexico all
the way up to Alaska.

The territorial overlap
is highest during

fall and early winter,
when seals come ashore

on the Farallon Islands
to molt, to breed,

and have pups.

Great whites will normally spend
four to four and a half months

hunting at southeast
Farallon during this time.

Not much is known about
the relationship between

orcas and great whites.

But given the disappearance
of the sharks when

the orcas were present,
is it possible that

the great whites, one
of the most ferocious

animals on the planet,
are scared of orcas?

[narrator] Digging
deeper into the data,

the team comes to realize that

the sharks' flight reaction is
not unique to this one event.

Based on the records, in years
when orcas were observed

around southeast
Farallon Island,

before or during the peak
fall seal hunting season,

rates of predation by great
whites plummeted by three

and a half to seven times.

Let's put some numbers on this.

The sharks' hunting
success in this area

is usually around six kills
per 100 hours per shark.

But that number drops from
six to as low as 0.84

when there are orcas around.

That is an 86% drop
in hunting success.

The question is, why?

[Alison Leonard] Perhaps
there is a fear factor.

While orca attacks on
great whites around the

Farallon Islands are rare,
they do occasionally happen.

[narrator] In October of 1997, a
great white shark was

systematically hunted
down and killed by orcas

near southeast Farallon Island
in full view of a boat full

of whale-watching tourists.

And if that wasn't
shocking enough,

what the whales did
next would leave the

onlookers utterly stunned.

They surgically removed
the shark's liver

and then simply let its
massive, lifeless body

sink into the depths
of the ocean.

That must have been
wild to witness.

Shark livers are very
attractive to orcas

because they're rich in a highly
nutritious oil called squalene.

They're also quite large,
making up a quarter of

the shark's body weight
and occupying 90% of

their body cavity.

[narrator] In March of 2023, 20
disemboweled sharks washed

ashore on a beach on Gansbaai,
a small fishing port around

70 miles southeast of
Cape Town, South Africa.

Their livers had been
methodically removed

by a notorious pair of orcas
well-known to researchers.

They call these two
whales Port and Starboard

because they both have
collapsed dorsal fins

and on one of them it leans
to the left, or Port side,

and on the other it leans to
the right, or Starboard side.

It's thought that
these two orcas were

responsible for killing
at least 17 seven-gill

sharks in a single day.

These orcas really live up to
their other name, Killer Whale.

[Alison Leonard] But their
appetites are not limited to

smaller shark species.

Researchers believe that
they've been responsible

for eight great white deaths
since they were first spotted.

One such encounter was even
caught on drone video,

marking the first time an
orca attack on a great white

has ever been
documented firsthand.

It's difficult to imagine
the great white shark,

which is probably the most
feared underwater predator,

being afraid of anything,
but it does appear

that they might actually
be scared of orcas.

This fear sets off
a rapid migration,

which likely explains the
exodus from Farallon Islands.

[Alison Leonard] It's kind
of ironic, given that in

popular culture great whites
have long been vilified as

monstrous killing machines
hell-bent on terrorizing

anything that comes near
them, whereas orcas have been

portrayed as the harmless,
gentle panda bears of the sea.

But try explaining that
to the liverless sharks.

[narrator] The Farallon Islands
were given the nickname

"The Devil's Teeth" due to their
frightening appearance.

And while there's little
doubt that great whites

are one of the planet's most
awe-inspiring apex predators,

in the waters around
the Farallon Islands,

they may not be the
most intimidating.