Is The Shark Population Under Threat? | The Blue Realm | Real Wild Documentary

sharks definitely have an image problem after all they do on rare occasion kill people but what's not commonly known is that they're in deep trouble globally the population of some species has declined by more than 90 percent due to overfishing and our insatiable appetite for shark fin soup larger animals such as hammerheads oceanic whitetips and tiger sharks are disappearing fast there's one place in the world where sharks still flourish the Bahamas in the crystalline waters of this island nation sharks are highly protected it's illegal to kill them Stuart coves great passion is sharks traveling in his small plane he helps spread a gospel of shark advocacy across the Bahamas a successful entrepreneur and self-described shark geek Stewart and his dedicated staff have introduced thousands of scuba divers to these much maligned creatures shark tourism is his business and the most sought-after and prestigious job at his operation is shark feeder competition for a handful of positions is tough it's also a family affair Stuart coves teenage children Sasha and Travis are both veteran shark Wranglers [Music] [Music] [Music] with a dramatic increase in attacks and fatalities in recent years sharks can't seem to shake their bad reputation they could sure use some help with their public relations demand for their fins jaws and meat groans each year there is one remarkable country though where sharks are not hunted [Music] [Music] shark populations are in trouble globally 30% of shark and Ray species around the world are endangered it's a demand for shark friends liver oil and other products that have driven numerous populations to the brink of extinction the people of the Bahamas take the plight of sharks very seriously please please please protect our sharks in 2011 the tiny nation outlawed all forms of commercial shark fishing and international trade in shark products the Asian market for shark fins they look everywhere you know anywhere there's a shark they're gonna send boats and of course everybody knew that the Bahamas had this incredible population of sharks and so they started sending Scouts into communities talking the fishermen hey would you like to get involved in this incredible industry catch sharks will buy the fins you know and it started pretty quietly but they were in a number of communities we knew this was something we didn't want in our country Erik Kerry is the executive director of the Bahamas national trust an organization charged with the conservation of natural and historic sights we never ever had a fishing industry for sharks and so sharks were never under threat in the Bahamas and as such we've always had pretty good populations of sharks the need for the legislation came when the Scout started coming in looking to exploit our shark populations that's the only time we really felt we needed to offer more protection for sharks in our country one of the Bahamas most vocal shark advocates is Stuart Cove he loves sharks so much so that he's devoted much of his life to studying and scuba diving with the animals it's also his business and shark tourism is booming from our research it shows that 40% of the divers come to the Bahamas because of the shark dives we're doing approximately 60,000 exposures into the water every year with visitors so it is a huge economic engine and helps the economy hotel rooms the taxi drivers benefit the shops everybody benefits from the shark experiences but that's not the most important thing what I think Bohemians really appreciate is how important the Sharks are for the health of our marine environment coordinating the hordes of shark diving tourists that visit the Bahamas each week is a logistical challenge many of them hail from cruise ships making short stops at Nassau shark diving definitely appeals to more adventurous types first shark dive my daughter said she wanted to do it and as you can see she's not here I'm by myself she chickened out this morning here of my family we can't wait for him stoked about it I think it was a collective decision that it sounded like fun yeah definitely I mean you kind of see that and you're like what a thrill of course we want to die for char's really looking forward to my first shock dive I feel like a kid before Christmas I've seen lots of sharks but I've never had them as they say they're gonna be up close and personal so looking forward to that again [Music] shark feeders are like Knights heading off to battle they need a suit of armor to protection concentrate on my my limbs we have some grouper pieces that's pretty much the main thing that we haven't had a day I think there's also a few snapper bits in here as well but this grouper this is part of their main diet this is what sharks like [Applause] I love pushing people in it doesn't take long for the guests of honor to show up for feedings many of these sharks have been doing this for decades they're old pros the more excitable participants are the big groupers looking for a quick handout guests descend to the bottom of first and line up around the feeding site the feeder follows shortly afterwards with the bait box the Sharks actually cave-like between me and my son we were sitting like we are now and the shark stay between us that came over our heads that came around the sides and and back to the theater and it was a major like attacking the feeder the short night was phenomenal was incredible experience it was really fun definitely one of the best stocks I've done since all it was a lot less area once you got down there and until you started really thinking about what you were doing and it was just really crazy I mean really one of the craziest things I've ever done I liked what he was tickling him under the chin to make them fall asleep and he would move them around and push them towards people and was fun I never saw anything like it [Music] the feeder can immobilize sharks either by flipping them upside down or by stimulating their sensitive snouts the animals lapse into a state of tonic immobility that's similar to fainting the Sharks are briefly incapacitated just long enough for guests to get a closer look oh it was incredible they told us not to touch him but we did sharks were swimming everywhere I kept getting nudged I thought it was my buddy nudging me look over it's a seven eight foot shark hit an enemy it was pretty cool it's safe to say that this operation is the biggest shark diving operation in the world we have made a huge impact on the shark populations not only in the Bahamas but around the world the Bahamas stopped long lining in 1993 due to the shark interaction experiences and more recently the whole country has been turned into a shark part you're not allowed to kill any sharks here take any parts not allowed to export any type of shark product and it's this stance that this country is taken is spreading around the world that was amazing I never saw anything like it I had a great time she did it was really really awesome I got hit in the head with the tail so cool they're so close to you you want to touch them so bad with any really scared I wanted to so bad but like now I like this arm now we could say we've checked this one off the bucket list that was awesome one of the coolest things I've ever done [Music] [Applause] [Music] Stewart clothes two children Travis and younger sister Sasha have been diving with and feeding sharks for years a bit of sibling rivalry developed between them when Travis was recognized as the world's youngest shark feeder it wasn't long before nine-year-old Sasha decided she had to outdo her older brother see I've just been diving and with sharks since I was really really little because growing up with my family being in the business that they are I spent most of my time on the water either swimming and snorkeling with the sharks what are you feeling right now my brother was the youngest shark feeder in the world every living moment he would just rub it in my face with it he was young his check feed in the world and I hadn't even fed and so I was like no that just can't happen and so on my 10th birthday I got out of school on a Wednesday early and then I went down and I said I'm so scared well my kids started diving at a very young age started snorkeling with sharks at a young age and diving with sharks from when they were eight years old so my daughter Sasha they're very competitive my children when she was ten she wanted to be the youngest shark eater in the world so we took her in the early morning and adver feed the Sharks and so right now as it stands I think she's the youngest shark feeder in the world one of sasha coves friends from her school in Canada he's also a veteran scuba diver at only 14 filmmaker Danny Morrow's daughter Samantha was also exposed to the underwater world at a very young age my dad ever since I was in a high chair has been showing me his shark documentaries and teaching me to love the water in the ocean and all the animals in it I have to admit it Sam seems to be a bit of an adrenaline junkie and if it's not climbing trees or doing flips on a trampoline she's always into doing something with Perry I've been filming sharks for about 20 years now and I think through osmosis she's kind of developed this fascination with sharks and I think she wanted to take it to the next level and the next level is to actually get in the shark suit and get right in with the sharks and try and feed them after hearing stories about Sasha and her shark obsessed family the two girls forged a common bond it was only a matter of time before Sam decided that shark feeding was something that she had [Music] [Music] to get more accustomed to sharks before attempting to feed them Sasha encouraged Sam to try a slightly tamer encounter at the fame that Lantis resort guests can walk with Caribbean reef and nurse sharks friends of all introduce myself my name is Sun Tebow okay I'm gonna be basically one of the instructors I'm going to give you the briefing and let you know exactly what's going to be going on inside this time first of all you have 22 shots inside this very same tank here okay non-aggressive so nothing to worry about we have the Caribbean reef there seems to be a boundless fascination with sharks especially for kids perhaps they don't have such deep-seated fears as adults most of them never saw jaws okay guys so basically that's it for the briefing are you all ready for a great shock dive alright let's do it dance can be a cakewalk compared to our doing tomorrow we get in the souk and speedom [Music] like scuba divers guests on the shark walk breathe compressed air but instead of using regulators they breathe with a state-of-the-art helmet [Music] glass viewing ports in the helmets provide an unobstructed view of the resident sharks [Music] at the resort's Mayan temple visitors can also rock it through the shark exhibit on a waterslide or slowly raft down a river while surrounded by sharks [Music] but the winning good was your dive girls awesome definitely a different experience than diving it was really neat to have the helmets on yeah tomorrow we're gonna put the chair male on and do the real thing I'm excited awesome [Music] one of the most coveted jobs in the dive industry and particularly here at Stuart coves is becoming a shark feeder not only is it potentially dangerous but it's very exciting you get up and close and personal with these animals and one of the things we're very proud of is we have women shark feeders it's a macho type thing you getting down there repeating these sharks up to 40 at a time and getting beat up pounded it's like being a linebacker and for women to do it is really quite something special I was working a job I hate it in England and I was a driver and I decided why not go professional bound Stuart Cove online and they accepted my application and Here I am once you hear it Stuart Cove for a while you get the opportunity to train as a shark feeder and when you're a shark feeder you have to get your hands a bit dirty [Music] we're gonna cut the bits nice and small to about the size of a hand the reason we do that is so any kind of size shot can consume the piece without dropping it obviously we don't want that to be flying around when we've got customers in the situation so we make sure that any kind of size char can just swallow the piece hole we only feed them a very small amount only a couple of individuals get fit and it's only four out of five pieces amongst 40 sharks so we're giving them only under a percent of what they eat every day so it's actually just like a little reward for them we're just rewarding they're polite feeding behavior when they're around us this isn't exactly the most glamorous part of the job you go home smelling like fish and chainmail not exactly very nice but you do get used to it I'm on a really hot day you can get pretty stinky around here before attempting to feed reef sharks sascha cold and Samantha Morel joined Charlotte Falkner on a schedule shark dive it's my first bohemian shark dive all right guys if you got away you get together yeah everything's on the bait all right let's go we're gonna head on out to the side [Music] all sharp feeders at Stuart coves are required to dawn protective chainmail suits chainmail made of titanium it's all handmade so it's very very expensive each chain is in two woven by hand very cool stuff and sometimes the teeth do pass through but it does protect us from the majority of any bite that does happen detailed briefings are also part of the job description the number-one rule on this dive is no hand movement Axl it's really important we don't move our hands around like so our hands are gonna be crushed obviously on the railing or holding a camera like that let's see anyways you're gonna be okay once you're back on board all safely I can come on back hopefully with all my fingers and toes okay so I never get sick of this I've done it a hundred times more than them but it's always different to Shaq's behaviour different each time so you learn something each time the kids and other guests descend to the feeding site before the action begins it's show time [Music] [Music] the ray of hope shipwreck is the ideal staging ground for a dive like this it's a relatively small and contained space and where divers can gather around the port deck railing it's still close to the action yet far enough away is safely observe the feeding we're trying to get them to do polite feeding polite feeding behavior where there's no aggression at all around humans and the food that we give them is like a positive reinforcement but that's a light feeding behavior they're showing us and as the feeder we try and keep the Sharks in that polite feeding a behavior during the whole feat sharks are just such majestic creatures they live out there and they're so strong and graceful and beautiful and they can cause so much damage if they really want to but they really don't and they have such a bad image I feel so strongly about sharks they're my favorite animal by far all dive can change people's attitudes from a negative perception of sharks to a positive perception and we see this change just in one afternoon and they come on up and they just have this love and appreciation for sharks just spread the Bahamas truly a shock Haven so now that you see the Sharks tomorrow we'll teach you how to feed oh that was amazing I don't know how you can do that so close that's the first step getting on one side of the railing now you're gonna come on the other side and feed them what you think oh I'm excited after the Atlantis shark walk experience and a thrilling demonstration of shark feed II the two 14 year old girls were ready for a bit more excitement your big day last chance back out well this is my first time actually feeding so I'm a bit nervous are you sure last chance this is a little bit out of my comfort zone Australian shark feeder Terry Harrison was charged with helping the girls gear up and to keep them safe [Music] older brother Travis also joined the Krupa's SAT diver my kids grew up around the dive shop here and so from a time they could work they were aware of sharks and they have no fear of sharks you know it's so important these youngsters getting out there and interacting with sharks if the kids aren't scared of sharks and the kids are showing that the sharks on this indiscriminate killer that the media has shown over the last few decades we know that if sharks are interacted with in a sensible way they're not going to eat you they're not going to bite you today we've got something real special happening we got two little gnarly chicks coming out and they're only 14 years of age so if I had this opportunity definitely would have jumped at it [Music] well you know it's certainly playing football except the other players of teeth and they can get really vicious ha ha hi Pat if you are bitten on the arm or anywhere just I'll be there so I'm gonna stop it from doing whatever it needs to but just pull you around nice and close okay these sharks are scavengers so as soon as something starts fighting back they're like not I ain't into this and they tend to let go but remember we're going to be wearing chainmail okay from the shark bite down all these tiny links come together and stop the teeth from penetrating our skin a lot of the time it works okay if the shark jumps on to your arm and his teeth get caught he's gonna panic okay so when they panic they usually pull away and their teeth get stuck so we need to be mindful of this [Music] [Music] both Samantha and Sasha were a bit smaller than typical shark feeders so some minor modifications had to be made to their protective suits we taped the hands this time so then the chain doesn't fall off but she has really little hands so put the gloves underneath so that in the chain won't rub on it and then the tape just keeps the chain in place that looks tough even Stewart had to wear a chainmail I might not get that but I might drown with this stuff on it's so heavy dumb you see so much I don't need this stuff I laugh at shark's teeth now you won't be laughing when you get a nice bite in the cat now you have a future shock feeding here darling you'll be backing her down [Music] okay Vegas beautiful that is my spear for the day it's like the hilt is actually held to the sword so I'll protect them pretty well don't stab me with that so right behind us is the ray of hope ship raft because I'm what we're gonna do is we're gonna go down with the bait box I'll bring it down to the bottom and then I'm gonna let you guys feed a few pieces each to the Sharks and what you gonna do is you Inspira piece of fish and we're gonna bring it up we don't want to hold it up like this so the shark swims down and impales it want it to take it off to the side a shark might bite your hand and their teeth are small enough that they can get tangled in the chainmail if that happens you want to lock hold tightly because they'll they'll start to roll and shake and they can actually cause tissue damage so if you just hold tight it's eventually gonna let go Terry's gonna take you down and stick a good spot on the rock where you probably have protection behind you then I'll bring the bait down okay there's no turning back now you did ready I'm definitely not ready too bad so sad get it dad did you talk mom I was doing this hey Travis you ready to go all right dad let's do it [Music] [Music] Stuart Cove quickly initiates the feeding following a few demonstrations he passes the honors to Sasha [Music] [Music] in a short period of time the action ramps up way up [Music] after some high adrenaline shark feeding it's finally Samantha's turn [Music] Sam down there was amazing she's just such a natural with them she did not flinch it all when we went down there she just went straight into it it goes pretty well over the novice shark feeder until she gets bitten on the hand fortunately the chainmail did its job and protected her from injury [Music] it was incredible my first time feeding ever and it was a very scary experience but I'm so happy I did it [Music] some of these sharks were accidentally caught by fishermen a few of the animals still have fish hooks embedded in their mouths the only way to remove them is to employ tonic immobility temporarily incapacitated it's quick work for Stuart in his son Travis to remove the hooks [Music] [Applause] man it was crazy the kids are fabulous there are so many sharks those ridiculous a lot of energy of this it was pretty scary but it's really fun time you're different Asik gosh I invite you to our today yeah I wouldn't rip the tooth of a shark that bit Sam yes so uh that situation was pretty unusual you can see actually the tooth mark right here where the chain links have come apart as a shock fit down that little tooth got stuck in there but now then go to souvenir and the whole story well yeah show all my friends at home so we got some pretty awesome series at our school definitely the girls are amazing we have to teach beaters for sure here [Music] Stuart what's with the two coffees it's early in the morning and I'd like to be awake when I fly today we're gonna load onto the the Baron we're gonna fly up the Grand Bahama to Freeport and then we're going to go out in the specialized boat we're going 25 miles took place where we know the way there's tiger sharks good Jim you ready for this flight up to tiger be awaked and those Tigers they're good go see the big sharks we're gonna go on this little plane here this may be more dangerous than dive in with those big sharks spread out over an immense area the best way to travel throughout the Bahamas is my plane many of the islands have tiny landing strips suitable only for smaller aircraft I became very interested in sharks after working on a couple of the Bond films and where we were wrangling tiger sharks and then creating shark diving experiences often New Providence was so excited about it I wanted to get involved with different species and the Bahamas has such a healthy population of sharks and having a plane enables me to fly to different islands to interact with these different sharks [Music] from Grand Bahama even with a fast boat it's still a lengthy journey to infamous Tiger Beach so we've learned about the Tigers is they're very opportunistic eaters we want to have a lot of awareness when the Tigers are around the sauce-i swimming around us and if they come too close he can push them away but I think if they get a little bit of a taste you could have a problem gotcha you guys ready to go that's roll my father was an avid diver when I was a wee one and his best friend owned the dive shop in Nassau and they taught me to dive when I was five when I was a young man on vacation I'd always work on their dive boat as a gofer you know go for this go for that and the fins out to the guests and they would let me die I just go up and dive by myself as a young teenager we would go out and we would meet tourists to meet friends and we would teach them to die so by time I was 18 or so I was a well-seasoned dive instructor this is what we call Bahama blue prettiest water in the world got Atlanta chalk already put some guys guess what this is we gonna use the gentleman you have right here an eight ten-foot lemon shark and we can happen up to 40 of these animals at the same time well you know this is a little more serious diving today we have to watch our back tag sharks are one of top predators like a white shark in some ways one of the main animals have prey for the Tigers here are the Turtles and you can see them sneak up on the turtles and then though they'll bite their fins and they'll try to get underneath but they sneak up on them and I I think that's what they do with us because we always find them sneaking up on the divers they come from behind I'm gonna watch your back okay you watch mine too though cuz they're sneaking up behind I'm not getting any younger but diving with these sharks and it's the best thing I can do I never get bored of it the Tiger Beach experience we had a spectacular day the water was flat calm as soon as we got to location we had two large lemon sharks to set the Box up at the bottom started gently putting the bait into the water one big tiger female thing came along and then few more lemons came along this is pretty easy I'm doing great and within ten minutes we had a big tiger shark and we started to interact with those three sharks when we get in the water with the Tigers and the lemon sharks obviously we draw them to us with a bait box and we take bait out of the box and we feed it to the Sharks it's very controversial but you're not going to get the kind of interaction and close encounters without using food and Chum and baiting in these sharks we bait them in so close that we can actually touch them and rub them and they seem to enjoy it all the sudden two Tigers three Tigers for Tigers 1520 lemons I wanna see this could look really good and then they start coming two feet off the bottom and they're like I didn't come yet my feet so I've got the camera right there face following them and then they've been crossing each other it for the right run away from it on this is okay right still oh yeah that's great Jim keep going up you're doing great and then after lob spinning like a top trying to keep an eye on these things so it goes from control shooting to totally uncontrolled Judi [Music] you trying to watch a tiger shark and this that went over him went over there and all of a sudden is one going between your legs from behind fantastic a solitaire mostly nocturnal predator tiger sharks are second only to great whites for the most recorded attacks on humans they often roll close to shore creating the potential for encounters with swimmers surfers and divers unlike great whites that mostly prey on seals and sea lions tiger sharks will eat virtually anything including us [Music] Stuart Cove is certainly well-acquainted with sharks and doesn't have any qualms about feeding them but handing out pieces of fish to ten to fifteen foot tiger sharks without chainmail or the protection of a cage is a bit extreme for some people these animals are habituated to the presence of divers and used to being fed but the small scraps of food they receive are a tiny fraction of their daily requirements it's more like handing out treats to really big dogs dogs that can bite you in half samo dives out here over the years and that there was to me the best but that was a fantastic time and i didn't really see any super aggressiveness down there and you were touching them and and you've seen them moving them all a little bit like big dogs you get your share and they weren't pushing the shove and they're kind of lining up for their food what got them wrapped up there near the end was there was a big piece of wahoo carcass which is very bloody and I took it out and I was trying to give it to the tiger shark but the lemon shark grabbed hold of it now and taken off and chuck it in the blood one everywhere and you could see everything changed all the lemon sharks went after them the tiger sharks kind of arched their backs a little bit and at that point I think I felt a little bit uncomfortable but most of the dive with those sharks all around me I'd be there around my legs on my feet had no protection on my hand so no chain mail on my body but I didn't at any time really feel in danger [Applause] Wow I just love my job [Music] for a fish with such a vicious reputation sharks in the Bahamas make a disarming first impression they're not exactly cute or cuddly but sharks here simply go about their business as most predators do when left undisturbed [Music] we're generally not on their menu and they view us as just another fish on the reef tourism accounts for nearly half the gross national product of the Bahamas and diving is a multi-million dollar industry with sharks an ever increasing draw it's abundantly clear that a live shark here is worth far more than a dead one the Bahamas is one of only five small nations that have completely banned commercial shark fishing multinational fleets are not welcome in these waters it really was a big deal at a small country like the Bahamas you know joining other small countries took on the Giants and you know determined that this was something that had to be done we are very optimistic that we're going to be able to influence the larger countries and get them to see why it's important to protect sharks I think the future is bright and as a small country we really feel proud that we stepped up to the plate and we salute the government you know here in the bounds with a leaders in shark conservation we realized how valuable the shark is not only to the economy but to the environment and hopefully other countries have realized that a live shark is going to keep their waters healthy keep their fish populations strong a dead shark isn't doesn't do much good it's only good for them one time I am very proud to be a Bahamian and proud of our country and the stance that it has taken in conservation in protecting sharks it's estimated that a single live shark is worth as much as $200,000 in tourism revenue over its lifetime its ecological value is inestimable [Music] studies in the Bahamas and the Caribbean have shown that where sharks are keystone species their depletion could ultimately destroy coral reefs [Music] their role in the food chain is crucial if the Sharks are gone so - goes a rich ecosystem one that feeds local people and keeps visitors coming back now being blessed to grow up with all this healthy marine environment here in the Bahamas lots of sharks with oceanic whitetips hammerheads reef sharks tiger sharks I hope that they're here for my grandchildren my great-grandchildren for many generations beyond that that they can enjoy this wonderful resource and I am very optimistic that many of these species that are now threatened are going to be able to bounce back and that human beings are going to understand how important it is to live in balance with these very important creatures that inhabit our waters [Music] [Music] [Music] you

Channel: Real Wild

Views: 64,401

Rating: 4.6020408 out of 5

Keywords: nature documentary, full documentary, documentary movie, big cats, wildlife documentary, discovery channel, national geographic, natgeo wild, Nature documentaries - topic, Animals - topic, planet earth, david attenborough, Full Animal Documentary, wild animals, wild animal, shark attack, underwater photography, shark bite, shark hunting, the blue realm, cana media, biggest sharks, shark in trouble, shark in danger

Id: Ca5qwwJm15k

Length: 44min 38sec (2678 seconds)

Published: Thu Apr 11 2019