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  • IT'S SHARK WEEK, AND THIS IS YOUR "DAILY BITE."

  • THERE HAVE BEEN SOME INCREDIBLE DISCOVERIES

  • IN THE DEEP BLUE SEA SINCE LAST YEAR,

  • AND GREAT WHITE SHARKS HAVE BROUGHT US

  • SOME OF THE MOST JAW-DROPPING,

  • FROM MILLIONS OF YEARS AGO, RUBBING FINS WITH THE MEG...

  • TO BREACHING ALL NEW HEIGHTS THIS YEAR.

  • THIS APEX SPECIES IS A FORMIDABLE PREDATOR,

  • AND WE'RE NOW OBSERVING NEW STRATEGIES

  • IN THEIR ATTACK ARSENAL.

  • ONE OF THEIR MOST RECENTLY DISCOVERED TACTICS IS KELP.

  • SEALS TEND TO FEEL SAFE HANGING AROUND A PROTECTIVE KELP FOREST,

  • BUT RECENT RESEARCH FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI

  • ACTUALLY SHOWS THEY HAVE REDUCED CORTISOL LEVELS

  • WHEN THEY AREN'T WORRIED ABOUT BECOMING LUNCH.

  • BUT RESEARCHERS INSIDE AFRICA

  • HAVE SPOTTED WHITE SHARKS LURKING IN KELP.

  • WITH THE SEALS' GUARDS DOWN,

  • THESE HUNTERS CAN USE IT AS A SORT OF CAMOUFLAGE

  • AS THEY STALK OUT THEIR UNSUSPECTING PREY.

  • AND THERE'S EVEN NEW PROOF THAT SUGGESTS THE GREAT WHITE'S

  • HUNTING ABILITIES HAVE BEEN SPOT-ON

  • FOR A GOOD 11 MILLION YEARS OR SO.

  • NEW FOSSIL DATING RECENTLY REVISED THE DATE

  • OF MEGALODON'S EXTINCTION

  • FROM 2.6 MILLION YEARS AGO TO 3.6 MILLION YEARS AGO --

  • RIGHT BACK TO WHEN GREAT WHITE SHARKS

  • WERE ALSO ROAMING THE OCEANS.

  • IT'S POSSIBLE THAT GREAT WHITE SHARKS

  • LITERALLY STARVED THE MEG INTO EXTINCTION

  • BY OUT-HUNTING IT.

  • NOW, THE ABSOLUTE COOLEST HUNTING TACTICS

  • PROBABLY GO TO THE BREACHING GREAT WHITE SHARKS

  • OF SOUTH AFRICA.

  • THE WORLD GOT ITS FIRST GLIMPSE OF THE JAW-INSPIRING BEASTS

  • BACK IN 2001

  • WHEN "SHARK WEEK" DIRECTOR JEFF KURR

  • CAPTURED THE PHENOMENON IN SOUTH AFRICA'S SEAL ISLAND.

  • WHAT'S REALLY INCREDIBLE IS THE SHEER SPEED

  • THAT GREAT WHITES ARE ABLE TO ACHIEVE

  • TO PROPEL THEIR ONE-TON BODIES

  • THROUGH THE SURFACE AND SNATCH UP THE SEALS.

  • THE RESULTS ARE JUST TERRIFYINGLY BEAUTIFUL.

  • UNFORTUNATELY, THE TWO-DECADE-LONG STUDY

  • THAT BROUGHT US YEARS OF AIR JAWS

  • HAS DISCOVERED THOSE ACROBATIC SHARKS

  • ARE DISAPPEARING FROM SOUTH AFRICA.

  • DR. NEIL HAMMERSCHLAG AND CHRIS FALLOWS

  • HAVE DOCUMENTED OVER 8,000 SIGHTINGS

  • SINCE THE YEAR 2000.

  • AND SOMEWHERE AROUND 2015,

  • THE NUMBERS DROPPED OFF DRAMATICALLY.

  • THINGS GOT EVEN QUIETER ON THE SURFACE IN 2017

  • WHEN THEY BEGAN DISAPPEARING ENTIRELY FOR MONTHS AT A TIME.

  • MY FRIEND DR. NEIL HAMMERSCHLAG

  • EXPLAINED HIS FINDINGS IN A NEWLY PUBLISHED PAPER

  • WITH AN EXCITING TWIST AT THE END.

  • WE KNOW THAT MANY SHARK POPULATIONS ACROSS THE GLOBE

  • ARE DECLINING, WHICH RAISES A REALLY IMPORTANT QUESTION.

  • WHAT ARE THE ECOSYSTEM CONSEQUENCES?

  • WHAT HAPPENS WHEN AN APEX PREDATOR

  • DISAPPEARS FROM AN AREA?

  • AND UNFORTUNATELY, TO THIS DAY,

  • TRYING TO OBTAIN THAT TYPE OF DATA HAS BEEN REALLY DIFFICULT

  • BECAUSE MOST STUDIES ARE SHORT-TERM.

  • HOWEVER, A LONG-TERM STUDY

  • AND COLLABORATION BETWEEN CHRIS FALLOWS AND I

  • REVEALED SOME REALLY NEW, EXCITING DATA

  • THAT'S HELPED PROVIDE INSIGHTS

  • INTO HOW AN ECOSYSTEM MIGHT CHANGE

  • FOLLOWING THE LOSS OF AN APEX PREDATORY SHARK.

  • IT'S CRAZY TO THINK THIS PLACE

  • THAT WAS FAMOUS FOR BREACHING GREAT WHITE SHARKS

  • NOW IS VOID OF GREAT WHITES.

  • BUT IN THE ABSENCE OF GREAT WHITE SHARKS,

  • WE DOCUMENTED SOMETHING THAT WE COULDN'T PREDICT --

  • ANOTHER APEX PREDATOR MOVING IN.

  • THE SEVENGILL SHARKS.

  • SEVENGILL SHARKS RESEMBLE PREHISTORIC SHARKS,

  • HAVING SEVEN GILLS INSTEAD OF THE NORMAL FIVE

  • THAT MANY MODERN-DAY SHARKS HAVE.

  • IN THAT PART OF THE WORLD, IN FALSE BAY,

  • SEVENGILLS WERE KNOWN TO AGGREGATE

  • NEARLY 20 KILOMETERS AWAY IN KELP FORESTS.

  • WE HAD THOUGHT THAT ONE OF THE REASONS THAT THE SEVENGILLS

  • WERE HANGING OUT IN THESE KELP FORESTS

  • IS BECAUSE THEY PROVIDED A REFUGE TO GREAT WHITES,

  • BECAUSE OTHER THAN GREAT WHITE SHARKS,

  • THESE SEVENGILLS DON'T ACTUALLY HAVE ANY NATURAL PREDATORS.

  • AND THE THOUGHT IS WHEN THE WHITE SHARKS HAVE LEFT,

  • THESE SEVENGILLS ARE ABLE TO MOVE TO SEAL ISLAND

  • AND TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE VOID LEFT BEHIND

  • BY THE ABSENCE AND DISAPPEARANCE OF WHITE SHARKS.

  • WHAT THIS LONG-TERM STUDY REALLY SHOWED

  • IS THAT ECOSYSTEMS ARE COMPLEX,

  • AND WITHOUT AN APEX PREDATOR LIKE THE GREAT WHITE,

  • THE SYSTEM CHANGES.

  • AND FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 20 YEARS,

  • WE SAW THE EMERGENCE OF THIS OTHER APEX PREDATOR

  • MOVE INTO THE AREA -- SOMETHING THAT WE COULDN'T HAVE PREDICTED.

  • WE DON'T KNOW WHY THE GREAT WHITE SHARKS DISAPPEARED

  • OR WHERE THEY'VE GONE, HOWEVER, WHAT I CAN TELL YOU

  • IS WE'VE DOCUMENTED A NEW SPOT IN SOUTH AFRICA

  • THAT IS A GREAT WHITE SHARK HUNTING HOT SPOT.

  • WE WERE ABLE TO GO THERE

  • AND FILM FOR THIS YEAR'S "SHARK WEEK"

  • IN A SHOW CALLED "AIR JAWS STRIKES BACK."

  • AND AT THIS SITE, WE'VE SEEN SOME INCREDIBLE,

  • NEW HUNTING BEHAVIORS OF WHITE SHARKS

  • THAT HAVE CHANGED THE WAY WE LOOK AT SHARK/SEAL INTERACTIONS.

  • THE GREAT WHITE SHARK DISCOVERIES THIS YEAR

  • HAVE ONLY JUST TAPPED THE SURFACE

  • OF WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT THESE LIVING DINOSAURS.

  • "SHARK WEEK" SCIENTISTS HAVE UNCOVERED SO MUCH MORE,

  • LIKE THE REAPPEARANCE OF THE LARGEST GREAT WHITE SHARK

  • ON RECORD -- "DEEP BLUE"...

  • [ INDISTINCT SHOUTING ]

  • ...AND SOME NEVER-BEFORE-SEEN PREDATION

  • IN SECRET HUNTING GROUNDS AROUND GUADALUPE.

  • STICK WITH US ALL "SHARK WEEK" LONG

  • AS WE CONTINUE TO BRING YOU THE COOLEST DISCOVERIES IN SHARK.

  • IN THE NEXT EPISODE OF THE "DAILY BITE,"

  • WE'RE GONNA CATCH UP WITH THE FASTEST SHARKS IN THE OCEAN

  • AND THEIR RACE AGAINST EXTINCTION.

♪♪

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