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Documentary, River Monsters S09E02 Ice Cold Killer
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00:01I'm Jeremy Wade.
00:08I've traveled to the ends of the earth in search of river monsters.
00:13Tracking down aquatic killers in raging rivers,
00:17dense jungles,
00:20and remote coral reefs.
00:25But now, in the chilly waters off the coast of my native England,
00:29a monster has come to me.
00:31It was enormous. It was like Jaws.
00:35What is this mysterious creature in my own backyard?
00:38And what's it doing here?
00:40Is it a new predator to fear?
00:42Some of the encounters I've had have been incredibly scary.
00:46I consider them to be like an opportunistic predator.
00:50My investigation will take me to the roof of the world
00:53to find out what's living in the mysterious frozen seas
00:56around Arctic Greenland.
00:59Oh, yes!
01:00This is a big one!
01:01And on to the icy Norwegian fjords.
01:04Fishing deeper than I've ever fished before.
01:08Yes, yes, here we go!
01:09And once I've taken down a mill,
01:14I was thinking about some scans.
01:15Featuring Ôsse прод hiện the area for me and a Mengem �'
01:17andatreon,
01:20Another minor implications.
01:21valentine,
01:28On this British beach, one day in 2013, something very unusual washed up on the shore, a mysterious
01:43nine-foot-long sea monster.
01:49The creature was discovered on the sand shortly after sunrise.
01:53Boat captain Andrew Douglas was one of the first on the scene.
01:58Is this where it was?
02:00I got a call to say there was a bit of a creature or something on the beach.
02:03So word was spreading?
02:04Word was spreading, the locals were starting to talk.
02:06But when I got here, you know, it was a monster.
02:13Monica Cornall was on a morning jog when she stumbled across the bizarre beast.
02:18I was thinking, oh, it's probably a dead seal.
02:21And as I got closer, I thought, well, maybe it's not a seal, maybe it's a whale.
02:25And it wasn't really until I looked closer at it.
02:29It had teeth like a shark.
02:31It was enormous.
02:33It was like jaws or something.
02:35The discovery sent shockwaves through the quiet seaside community.
02:41Initial consensus was that it was some kind of monster shark.
02:45But what kind exactly?
02:51It turns out this shark specimen was so unusual and so important that scientists wanted it preserved.
02:57So it was put on ice.
02:59It was transported almost 350 miles to here, the Natural History Museum in London.
03:04I've been granted permission to go behind the scenes to the Tank Room, which houses one of the most important fish collections in the world.
03:18This is where the museum stores some of its rarest and most bizarre underwater specimens.
03:23Many of these strange-looking creatures were collected nearly 200 years ago by world-travelling naturalist Charles Darwin.
03:33But I'm looking for a more recent addition, the mysterious Northumberland sea monster.
03:41Its guardian is fish curator Oliver Crimin.
03:45Jeremy?
03:46Good to see you.
03:47It's in here, is it?
03:48It is.
03:49I'm about to come face-to-face with the creature from the beach.
04:08That's a Greenland shark, isn't it?
04:10It certainly is.
04:11And what is that doing on a beach in the UK?
04:14Well, we don't really know.
04:16Its distribution is in the North Atlantic and the Arctic, but we haven't encountered them in the UK very often at all.
04:23Is this a dangerous shark, potentially?
04:26Well, because we know very little about its biology, generally speaking, they've been out of sight in deep, cold water.
04:34It has been surmised to be a scavenger, but there's no reason why this couldn't dismember active prey.
04:42So we basically don't know.
04:44We don't know.
04:48Now, the Greenland shark is not entirely new to me.
04:53I have met this monster once before.
04:57Three years ago, in the dead of night, I hauled one of these giants from the freezing depths of a Norwegian fjord.
05:04Also known as sleeper sharks, they're said to be slow-moving and docile.
05:12So at the time, I had no reason to think it was anything other than harmless.
05:17So much so that I even got in the water with it.
05:21But what if I'd got it wrong?
05:25Fresh research into this shark is making me question that decision.
05:33The little-known sharks can grow to the size of a great white, and they bite with four times as many teeth.
05:39And I'm uncovering frightening stories about these sharks right across the cold waters of the North Atlantic.
05:46If there is a cold-water killer lurking in my backyard, I need to know.
05:53According to my research, the best place to begin my investigation is here, a country that gave the shark its name.
06:03So I'm heading north, to Greenland.
06:1180% of the landmass here is covered in solid ice.
06:16And with just 56,000 inhabitants, Greenland has the lowest population density of any country on Earth.
06:25This is just amazing. I'm almost speechless.
06:28It almost feels like another planet.
06:30It's actually my first time here in the Arctic Circle, and that white down there is not land, it's ice.
06:39And this being a field, the water underneath the ice is phenomenally deep.
06:45And the creature I'm after lives way down below the ice.
06:52Sightings of Greenland sharks are rare.
06:56But one group of people do encounter these reclusive beasts.
07:00Inuit ice fishermen.
07:05So I'm heading to the fishing port of Umanac, 400 miles north of the Arctic Circle.
07:11It's five degrees below freezing.
07:24With a population of around 1,300, Umanac is one of the biggest towns in Greenland.
07:30There are no roads in or out.
07:33And for four months of the year, the sea is solid ice.
07:37So the fishing fleet goes nowhere.
07:42I really feel like I've come to the end of the world here.
07:45It just looks so different from anything I've experienced before.
07:49But it's a sensory thing as well.
07:50You feel it.
07:51It is just so cold here.
07:52And it suddenly occurs to me, I'm not on a frozen beach.
07:55I'm actually standing in the middle of the harbour.
07:57I'm on sea ice.
07:59It's the first time in my life I've actually walked on the sea.
08:02The harbour feels deserted.
08:05But eventually I'm directed to a few fishermen out on the ice.
08:09My mastery of Greenlandic non-existent at the moment, but they look like cod to me.
08:26Nice-sized cod.
08:28The locals here are mainly Inuit, the indigenous people of Arctic Greenland, Canada and Alaska.
08:34And they've fished these waters for 5,000 years.
08:41Oh, you have one?
08:43You have one, huh?
08:43Yeah.
08:44It's a long way to bring the line in.
08:46Good size?
08:48Can you show?
08:48Big one.
08:49A big one?
08:51Oh, I can see it.
08:51I can see it.
08:52I can see it.
08:53There it is.
08:57Thanks to antifreeze proteins in their blood, cod thrive in cold Arctic waters
09:03and are clearly abundant here.
09:06Do you let the bait go down to the bottom?
09:16Slowly getting some life back to my right hand.
09:24Ah, we're here.
09:25So, we're on the bottom.
09:33Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.
09:44That's the fish on.
09:46My first, I was going to say ice-caught fish.
09:48I haven't caught it yet.
09:52That was another kick.
09:56It's going on forever.
09:58Oh, I can see something.
09:59Here it is.
10:02There it is.
10:07It's my first ever ice-caught fish.
10:09I'm going to get it off the hook and have a proper look at it.
10:15So, this is an Atlantic cod.
10:18And I actually used to fish with these when I was a kid off the beach in England.
10:21And I don't think I ever caught one.
10:23I think this could be my first cod, which makes it sort of doubly memorable.
10:26Who'd have thought, all those years ago, I might catch my first cod here in the Arctic Circle?
10:33I asked the fishermen about Greenland sharks.
10:36But apparently, they don't haunt these shallower waters.
10:39Do you know people who catch sharks?
10:41To find them, I'll need to head out to deeper water.
10:46Far from the safety of the harbour.
10:48Greenland sharks are most often encountered by long-line ice fishermen, like Paluk.
11:08He fishes the deeper waters an hour from the town to feed his family and sells whatever surplus he gets.
11:16The sea ice we're walking on is seasonal.
11:22Although it's a couple of feet thick, it can easily fracture in the areas around icebergs.
11:28If this iceberg tips can make waves under this ice, so the ice will crack it?
11:33Yeah.
11:35Most of the icebergs that plague the North Atlantic come from this coastline,
11:39including, it is said, the one that sank the Titanic in 1912.
11:47We break open the fishing hole and prepare to haul up two and a half thousand feet of hand line.
11:55Yeah, my fingers are cold already. I haven't even started.
11:59Thankfully, Paluk is using what's probably the biggest fishing reel I've ever seen.
12:04Only 800 metres to go.
12:10Paluk tells me that deep water scavengers often take part or all of his catch
12:15before he can get it to the surface.
12:19And his prime suspect is the Greenland shark.
12:25Not too fast.
12:26I'm hoping that bite marks on Paluk's catch will provide clues about what's hunting down there.
12:35Stop.
12:47I'm in the Arctic, on the trail of the elusive Greenland shark,
12:52investigating whether it poses a threat to humans.
12:57I'm hauling in a long line, which I'm hoping will show evidence of shark activity
13:01deep beneath this frozen field.
13:04Got the halibut, the first one.
13:09We have some halibuts.
13:11Fantastic.
13:15That's actually quite promising.
13:17That's something like ten or a dozen hooks.
13:19Five fish so far, it's not bad.
13:20This is good news for Paluk's dinner table,
13:23but it's not helping my investigation.
13:27I don't see a single shark bite.
13:30But this catch does at least give me an insight
13:33into the creatures that share the dark depths with the Greenland shark.
13:37Gosh, that's weird looking.
13:38We call it a two-piece shoot.
13:40That's a deep water species.
13:41Look at those eyes.
13:43You can also live at the thousand metres.
13:46Right.
13:47Down there where there's not much light.
13:48This fish has a bony skeleton,
13:52but others down there are built on soft cartilage,
13:54including the Greenland shark and this creature.
13:58That's just a strange looking thing.
14:00It's killed itself all up.
14:01This is a kind of skate.
14:02This is actually a relative of the Greenland shark.
14:05We call it nulyak.
14:06Nulyak, this one.
14:07It means wife.
14:08Why do they call it that?
14:09It's a wife for the shark.
14:10As night falls and temperatures drop to ten below freezing,
14:14we waste no time getting back to town.
14:18I'm a bit disappointed, in a way.
14:20No evidence at all of Greenland sharks,
14:23which is actually making it look less likely
14:25that I'm going to see one.
14:28My ice excursion with Paluk didn't further my inquiry,
14:32but he was able to give me a useful contact for tomorrow.
14:42Next day, we plan our fishing around the sun.
14:46Here, in the Arctic Circle in winter,
14:49there are very few hours of sunlight,
14:51so I make sure I'm down at the harbour promptly.
14:55Most fishermen in Umanac try to avoid the Greenland sharks
15:02that rob their lines.
15:05But there is one man who actively seeks them out,
15:09and he's agreed to take me on an expedition to catch a shark.
15:14Simi has been going after these huge beasts for 30 years.
15:18He uses the meat of these sharks to feed his pack of sled dogs,
15:22so, unusually for me, this will not be a catch-and-release mission.
15:27Are these ones still dogs?
15:28Oh, it's been the gap.
15:30Can I help?
15:33Dog sleds are the traditional Inuit means of transport on the ice
15:36and have kept communities connected through winter
15:39for thousands of years.
15:41It's like having an unruly fish on the line.
15:46Greenland dogs are renowned for their loyalty.
15:48They have even been known to protect their human keepers
15:53from polar bears.
15:55So that's the last dog tied up.
15:57It looks like we've got one, two, three, four, five...
15:59It's going with six.
16:01Go and get the sled sorted out.
16:13Pure-bred Greenland dogs are famed for their stamina.
16:16They can run 100 miles a day for seven consecutive days.
16:24The shark fishing grounds are near the edge of the sea ice.
16:29The water underneath us is extremely deep,
16:33around 3,000 feet,
16:35and the ice here is thinner and vulnerable to cracking.
16:39When we get to the chosen spot,
16:48we immediately secure the dogs.
16:51With no rocks or trees around,
16:53we tether them to the ice.
16:56If they ran off,
16:58we're a very long way from the town.
17:01Simi favours the warmth of his polar bear pants
17:04over any man-made fibres.
17:07But the fur does get me thinking.
17:09This far from help and with nowhere to hide,
17:12we are vulnerable to polar bear attack.
17:15Do they have them around here?
17:17Come on.
17:18He doesn't think they're around here at the moment,
17:21but they do sometimes come here.
17:22I think just the idea that there's polar bears
17:23anywhere around here is quite disturbing.
17:25The ice here is about a foot thick
17:32and takes some cutting.
17:35Good.
17:35We've hit the seawater.
17:38Just push it underneath.
17:45Go on.
17:47We have an ice hole.
17:52Fishing.
17:52Ice fishing with hand lines
17:55hasn't changed much in hundreds of years,
17:57although hooks made from animal bone
18:00have been replaced by stainless steel.
18:02Slightly more serious hook,
18:04and then that's not ordinary line.
18:05That's cable.
18:06That's wire cable.
18:07So even the Greenland shark's really big, sharp teeth
18:10shouldn't cut through that.
18:13We've got a big lump of rock on the end
18:14to make sure it keeps on the bottom.
18:15And then we've got a strong chain.
18:18Simi unwraps his secret weapon.
18:20Days-old seal meat.
18:23That is horrible.
18:25But to a Greenland shark,
18:26that smells like dinner.
18:28Get that on the hook.
18:30And then 3,000 feet of line,
18:34ready to drop into another world,
18:36where the water is pitch black
18:38and under intense pressure.
18:40Go on.
18:41Yeah, go on.
18:42So another one.
18:45Yeah, get a knife.
18:46So all the bait's in the water,
18:52and it's now pulling down fast.
18:55It's about the same distance to the bottom here
18:58as it is to the top of that mountain.
19:01Everything's very still up here on the surface,
19:03but there's a current.
19:04Even with that rock and chain on,
19:06it's not going straight down.
19:07It's going slightly that way.
19:11The current will carry the smell out to sea,
19:14and if we're lucky,
19:15draw sharks onto the bait in pitch darkness,
19:17it's half a mile beneath us.
19:21Again?
19:23We have the bottom.
19:26That's just a terrifying depth,
19:27and that is just way deeper
19:29than anything I've ever fished before.
19:31The fishing that I normally do
19:33is often about waiting.
19:35But out here, that's simply not an option.
19:38We would freeze to death.
19:40The Inuit way is to retreat to camp
19:46and return the next day.
19:53That evening, in the last glimmers of daylight,
19:56I joined Simi and his family
19:57for a traditional meal.
20:05They've turned some of yesterday's halibut catch
20:09into a stew, and it's delicious.
20:13That's very tasty.
20:15Sharing food is an important part of Inuit culture.
20:20Communities will pull together
20:21to ensure that no one,
20:23including strangers, goes hungry.
20:29Next morning, rested and refreshed,
20:32we're back on the ice.
20:35It's five miles to the fishing hole,
20:39and the dogs seem eager to get there.
20:43The extreme long line
20:45has been down for over 12 hours.
20:49With 3,000 feet
20:51between us and the bait,
20:52there's no way to know
20:54if we've got something on the line.
20:56In my car?
20:57In my car.
20:57Maybe, maybe.
20:59This is the one Greenlandic word I'm picking up.
21:02Until we haul it up.
21:05We've got a long haul
21:08getting the rock
21:09and getting the hooks up from the bottom.
21:12Something like three quarters of a mile.
21:15And over here.
21:17Take a wrap, a wrap, a wrap.
21:20Off we go.
21:24It could be wishful thinking,
21:25but this feels heavier
21:27than the weighted line
21:28we dropped down yesterday.
21:29I think it's...
21:31Yeah, it's more.
21:32Here you go.
21:33Yeah.
21:34I hope you're right in the morning.
21:35Yeah.
21:36There could be something
21:37on the end of this
21:38other than that lump of rock.
21:39Feels like more of an effort.
21:42Walking in relay
21:43gives us a chance
21:44to catch our breath.
21:47It's a bit like
21:48hauling something
21:50that could be
21:51a thousand pounds plus in weight.
21:54Twice the height
21:55of the Empire State Building.
21:56Something like that.
21:59But half an hour
22:00of heavy hauling
22:01brings the end of the line
22:02to the surface.
22:06One, two, one.
22:07Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.
22:09I'm in the Arctic
22:19investigating the mysterious
22:21Greenland shark.
22:23And I'm helping Simi,
22:25a local Inuit,
22:26catch one
22:26to feed his pack of dogs.
22:30We've hauled in
22:31more than half a mile
22:33of line
22:33and it looks like
22:34there's something on the end.
22:36Line, chain.
22:38Oh!
22:39Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.
22:41Yes, there's a fish.
22:42We have a fish on.
22:43We just need to get the chain
22:44up.
22:49Oh, yes.
22:52This is a big one.
22:53How do we get it
22:54through the hole?
22:57The shark isn't fighting.
23:00It probably died
23:01on the line overnight.
23:03Right.
23:04The hole isn't big enough
23:06for the shark,
23:07so just cutting
23:09more ice.
23:13Two, three.
23:16It still feels like
23:18it's stuck.
23:20Looks like we're going
23:20to need a bigger hole.
23:21I never like to see
23:25a dead fish,
23:26but it's all part
23:27of survival here
23:28for the Inuit.
23:30This shark will feed
23:31Simi's dogs
23:32for weeks to come.
23:35This is a big head.
23:36How big is the rest of it?
23:37This could be the moment
23:38if the hole's big enough.
23:39OK, really?
23:40It's a big animal.
23:44Yes, is that coming?
23:48Yes, it started to come.
23:49I think it's...
23:50It's a good ten foot or so.
23:53I think there's still
23:54more to come.
23:55This is a perfect opportunity
24:03to further
24:04my investigation.
24:06It's out.
24:09It's a big animal.
24:10This is massive.
24:10This is huge.
24:11Let's have a look at it.
24:12It's a female.
24:14A very shark-like
24:15tail,
24:17that asymmetric tail.
24:19The fascinating thing
24:20about sharks
24:20that we always want
24:22to look at
24:22is the jaws,
24:23the teeth.
24:24And the Greenland shark
24:25has these very pointy teeth
24:27on the upper jaw.
24:28That's for gripping.
24:29But then on the lower jaw,
24:31you've got these
24:31almost square-shaped teeth
24:33with almost like
24:34a chisel blade
24:35on the end.
24:36They're definitely sharp.
24:38But are they sharp enough
24:39to attack and kill?
24:42The other thing here
24:43is the nostrils.
24:45Thinking of my baits
24:46in the context
24:47of this place,
24:48we're talking about
24:48a depth of water
24:49a couple of thousand feet deep.
24:51The bait is just
24:52a tiny speck
24:54in that immensity
24:55of water.
24:56And this managed
24:57to find it.
24:57And the way it found it
24:58is using its sense of smell.
25:01Simi starts to prepare
25:02cuts for his dogs.
25:04But the meat will have
25:05to be cured
25:06before they can eat it.
25:08High levels of urea
25:09make fresh Greenland shark meat
25:11toxic.
25:14This is my chance
25:15to find out
25:16how and what
25:16these sharks eat.
25:18under the ice.
25:19So here's all the guts
25:19that's coming out.
25:24This is a halibut.
25:26This is quite a big halibut.
25:27There we go.
25:28That's the head.
25:29And look at that.
25:34That's part of
25:35somebody's fishing net.
25:36That's quite a big fish in there.
25:38What fish is this?
25:42It's a cod.
25:43It's a cod.
25:45Now, this is interesting.
25:46That might be a cod
25:47that died of natural causes
25:48and this came along
25:49and fed on it.
25:50Or they might actually
25:52take living fish.
25:53I'm wondering if Greenland sharks
26:03are more than just scavengers
26:05so I need to find out
26:06what else they eat
26:07and how they eat it.
26:10But I'm not going to find
26:12those answers
26:13in this ice-covered sea.
26:17I've got to drop my line
26:18in more temperate waters.
26:27I'm heading 1,500 miles
26:29across the Atlantic
26:30where I've heard about
26:31a Greenland shark study
26:32that's underway
26:33off the coast of Norway.
26:36Tromsa is a fishing port
26:37with a long history
26:38of whaling and seal hunting.
26:42And today,
26:43this small island town
26:44is leading the way
26:45in the study of Arctic animals,
26:47including the Greenland shark.
26:48I head to the Arctic University
26:57where a team of scientists
26:58are trying to unlock
26:59the secrets of this
27:00elusive animal.
27:06Danish scientist
27:07Julius Nielsen
27:08made headlines
27:09with his cutting-edge research
27:10into aging these sharks.
27:15His study revealed
27:17that the largest
27:17and oldest
27:18Greenland sharks
27:19could be 400 years old
27:21or more,
27:23meaning that some specimens
27:24alive today
27:25might have roamed
27:26the North Atlantic
27:27at the same time
27:28as the Mayflower.
27:31But Julius also
27:33has fascinating evidence
27:34on how Greenland sharks feed.
27:36Yes.
27:38And he's sure
27:38they have the tools
27:39to take out live prey.
27:41The teeth in the upper jaw
27:43is like a fork
27:44where it can hold the prey
27:45and then in the lower jaw
27:47it's like a razor blade
27:48it's actually working
27:49like a knife.
27:51So when the shark
27:51does like this
27:52and then it can make
27:53these circular wounds
27:56and circular chunks
27:57that they eat.
27:59So you're saying
28:00it would do almost
28:00like a 180
28:01or it just does a spin?
28:03360 rotation
28:05actually is what I imagine
28:06that they can do.
28:08And Julius has the evidence
28:09to back up his theory.
28:11First, this picture
28:12this is a beluga whale
28:13in an ice hole
28:15somewhere in the high Arctic.
28:17Right.
28:17As you can see here
28:18one of the whales
28:18has a very big circular wound.
28:21So that's definitely alive
28:22isn't it?
28:22That's not a dead creature.
28:23No, exactly.
28:24This is a live whale
28:25that has a very, very
28:26distinct wound.
28:27So imagine that the shark
28:29gets a bite on here
28:30and then it just
28:31twists around
28:32circular wound.
28:34And actually it's difficult
28:35to imagine any other animal
28:36in the Arctic
28:37that could cause
28:38this exact wound.
28:40It appears only Greenland sharks
28:42are capable of inflicting
28:43this type of injury.
28:46Julius also has photos
28:47of circular bites
28:48of seal flesh
28:49found inside
28:50Greenland shark's stomachs.
28:53If Greenland sharks
28:54take live prey
28:56and are capable
28:56of attacking creatures
28:58far larger than themselves
28:59would they go after humans?
29:10I meet with Canadian
29:11marine biologist
29:12Chris Harvey-Clark
29:14one of very few people
29:16in the world
29:17who have dived
29:18with these sharks.
29:20Have you ever felt
29:21that you might be
29:22on the menu
29:23or they might be
29:23thinking along those lines?
29:25When I first started
29:25diving with these animals
29:26I had no idea
29:27what they were going to do.
29:28People sort of thought
29:29they were big sleepy
29:30catfish type animals
29:31that really were not
29:32particularly predatory
29:33or were not
29:34particularly curious.
29:36Well it turns out
29:37that they do all kinds
29:38of things we never expected.
29:41Chris' rare footage
29:42shows just how close
29:43he got to these sharks
29:45in the St. Lawrence River
29:46in Canada.
29:47They will leave you
29:49and then they'll go out
29:50and they'll come around
29:51and they'll get back
29:51on your six o'clock position.
29:53They do it again
29:54and again and again.
29:55They want to come back
29:56and see just what's going on
29:57and curiosity
29:58is a predator trait.
30:00Some of the encounters
30:02I've had have been
30:03incredibly scary
30:04particularly bad visibility
30:06when the animal
30:07encounters you
30:07despite your best efforts
30:09I've got mirrors
30:09on my camera
30:10my head's on a swivel
30:11and bang.
30:13That gives you pause
30:15and it also makes me think
30:16about how these animals
30:17actually can kill
30:19agile, smart prey.
30:24This is disturbing stuff.
30:26These sharks displayed
30:27no fear of Chris
30:28in the water.
30:30Perhaps they consider
30:31humans potential prey.
30:34Would these sharks attack?
30:36I need to get one
30:38on the end of a line.
30:40Only by doing battle
30:42with one of these beasts
30:43will I be able to get a sense
30:44of what it's capable of.
30:46Yes, yes!
30:58I'm in Arctic Norway
31:03investigating the true nature
31:05of the mysterious
31:06Greenland shark
31:07and I'm heading
31:09150 miles south of Tromsø
31:11to the deepwater fields
31:13around Andoja Island.
31:21I've discovered
31:22that there's more
31:23to this elusive shark
31:24than meets the eye.
31:25To find out
31:32if they pose
31:32any threat to people
31:33I'm joining scientist
31:35Julius Nielsen
31:36and his team
31:37on the Vorgsfield
31:38where Greenland sharks
31:41congregate
31:41at this time of year.
31:49Morning.
31:50Morning.
31:51Good to see you.
31:52Good weather, eh?
31:53We're going to pool
31:56our resources
31:57to catch one
31:58of these sharks.
31:59My target
32:00will be a large adult
32:01for the most accurate
32:03gauge of this animal's power
32:05and today's conditions
32:07are perfect.
32:09We need calm water
32:10to handle big sharks safely.
32:13However,
32:13the long-range forecast
32:15is not so good.
32:17An Arctic storm
32:18is on its way
32:19so the pressure is on
32:20to catch a shark quickly.
32:21Boat captain Thor Eivind
32:25is a veteran
32:26of these expeditions
32:27and knows this fjord
32:29like the back of his hand.
32:37So this is a more
32:38sophisticated version
32:39of what I was using
32:40in Greenland.
32:41I mean, there
32:41it was a bit of chain
32:42on the end.
32:42You need metal
32:43down here by the bait
32:45because otherwise
32:45the shark's teeth
32:46are just going to
32:47chomp through it.
32:47So on the end
32:48of the wire
32:49we've got
32:49very thick nylon.
32:53Good to go?
32:54Yep.
32:56Using a rod
32:57on line
32:57to catch
32:58what could be
32:58a one-tonne fish
33:00is a massive challenge.
33:03But it's my chance
33:04to finally see
33:05what this monster
33:06can do.
33:09This fjord
33:10plunges to a depth
33:12of 1,500 feet.
33:13my bait
33:15is a tiny speck
33:16in an impossible
33:17volume of water.
33:24After several hours
33:25there are signs
33:26of activity.
33:29What do you reckon
33:29that I've missed?
33:30There's definitely
33:30something, isn't it?
33:31But does that look
33:32more like a small fish?
33:33Yeah.
33:34You see the rod
33:36making some movements
33:39there?
33:39Yeah, you see?
33:40There, there, there.
33:41There, definitely.
33:41But fishing at such
33:43enormous depths
33:44it's difficult
33:45to read the signals.
33:47The only way
33:47to know for sure
33:48is to bring the line up.
33:51That feels
33:53like it might be something.
33:57Reeling in 1,500 feet
33:59of line
34:00can take 20 minutes
34:01of effort.
34:04I'm certainly quite curious
34:05to see what this bait
34:06looks like
34:07because it's
34:07taking a lot of attention
34:10from something.
34:11There it is.
34:14Right.
34:17Oh, yeah.
34:18So this is more like it.
34:20Yes.
34:21Something has bitten
34:22the bait in half.
34:25I think definitely
34:26a shark has caused this
34:28but it's just not
34:28taking all the bait
34:29and didn't take the hook.
34:30Would you guess
34:31that's a smaller one
34:31or no way of saying?
34:32No way of saying.
34:34Right.
34:34That's a good sign.
34:35That's a good sign.
34:36Good sign.
34:36Something has been...
34:37Okay, right.
34:38It's confirmation
34:39that we're fishing
34:40in the right spot
34:42but we're one day down
34:44with no shark
34:45and we won't have
34:47good weather for long.
34:48The next day
34:53we're back on the water
34:54but the wind direction
34:56has changed.
34:57Cold Arctic air
34:58is sweeping in
34:59from the north.
35:01The storm is close.
35:02Okay, got that?
35:07Yeah.
35:08After a couple of hours
35:09I feel a pull on my line.
35:12That's it.
35:12Okay, here we go.
35:13It's going to wind down.
35:15And this time
35:16it feels bigger.
35:21Yes, eventually.
35:22Yes.
35:23Yes, yes.
35:23There is something.
35:25Can someone just hang on
35:27to me though?
35:27Just to...
35:28Thanks.
35:29Whatever is on the line
35:31it's fighting
35:31and bringing it up
35:33is not easy
35:34from a wet moving deck.
35:37There's definitely
35:37a weight on here.
35:38A considerable weight.
35:43The last time
35:44I landed a Greenland shark
35:45was in the middle
35:46of the night.
35:48An encounter in daylight
35:50will be far more revealing
35:52but I can't relax
35:54for a second.
35:56I've probably got its head
35:57and the whole body
35:58tilting up at the moment
35:59so if it actually beats
36:01its tail
36:01it's helping its way
36:02to the surface
36:03but if I pause
36:06to take a breath
36:07and if it gets its head down
36:09suddenly my work's
36:12a lot harder.
36:13My arms are burning
36:14but I've got to keep reeling.
36:16I may not get another chance.
36:18Yes, yes.
36:19Here we go.
36:20It's on the surface.
36:21There it is.
36:22Wow.
36:23Yeah.
36:23It's the second one
36:38we've been talking about.
36:41This is very, very unusual.
36:57Even after 15 minutes
36:58on the line
36:59this supposedly sluggish shark
37:02is thrashing with the energy
37:03more like I'd expect
37:04from a great white.
37:06This is surprising.
37:06I've never seen
37:07a greenland shark
37:08with this kind of movement.
37:11I've never seen one
37:12this much alive.
37:13Normally they are slow
37:14and doors out
37:15really interesting.
37:17Wow.
37:18You want to try it?
37:19Yeah.
37:21A noose is secured
37:23around its tail
37:24to prevent the shark
37:25from spinning.
37:33Jeremy,
37:34213
37:34213
37:35I've got
37:36213
37:38It's 7 feet long
37:40and weighing 250 pounds
37:42I'm told
37:42it's a 40-year-old juvenile.
37:45Yeah.
37:45Can we let go?
37:49There we go.
37:49Off we go.
37:51Vertical.
37:53Seeing this energetic
37:55behaviour on the surface
37:56feels like a breakthrough
37:57in my investigation.
37:59That shark
38:00was definitely
38:01very much alive.
38:02It was
38:03smashing his tail
38:04back and forth.
38:05It surprised you
38:06the activity?
38:07Definitely.
38:07I have never seen
38:08a greenland shark
38:09with this kind of movements
38:10before.
38:11That was exactly
38:12what I was
38:13kind of hoping
38:13or expecting
38:14that they could do.
38:17This dramatic encounter
38:19suggests to me
38:20that this shark
38:21might be something
38:21of a Jekyll and Hyde character.
38:24A normally docile scavenger
38:26that can suddenly
38:27turn on the aggression.
38:28But we need to know more.
38:32Julius needs a larger shark
38:34to tag
38:35and I need to do battle
38:37with a full-sized adult
38:38to see what power
38:39it can wield.
38:43We fish on.
38:48The hours pass
38:50with no further action
38:51on the line.
38:52When something
38:56does finally
38:57break the surface
38:58it's big
38:59but it's not a shark.
39:02Well I've seen
39:03lots of strange things
39:04filming with the monsters
39:04but this is definitely
39:05a first for me.
39:06Sitting in a boat
39:07and next thing you know
39:07there's a submarine
39:09appearing alongside.
39:10Seeing this submarine
39:19gets me thinking
39:20about what life
39:21must be like
39:22for Greenland sharks
39:23living at extreme depth
39:25under immense water pressure.
39:29This is a
39:31aluminium
39:32drinks bottle.
39:34Empty.
39:36Seal it up.
39:38When I say it's empty
39:39I mean technically
39:39it's full of air
39:40but air at one atmosphere
39:41of pressure.
39:43I'm going to throw this
39:43in the water.
39:44Actually if I threw it in
39:45just like this
39:45it would float.
39:47So
39:47a couple of big
39:50weights to take it down
39:52and to record
39:55what happens to it.
39:57Waterproof camera here.
39:59Just set that running.
40:02A Greenland shark
40:03has been observed
40:04over 7,000 feet down
40:06from a robotic submersible.
40:09This experiment shows
40:11what happens
40:12at just a fraction
40:13of that depth
40:14and pressure.
40:20That's actually 100 feet.
40:23I'm going to stop it there
40:24and bring it up.
40:27That's the camera
40:27and there we go.
40:33This is a metal object
40:34that's been crushed
40:35at 100 feet.
40:37The Greenland shark
40:37in this fjord
40:38lived down at 1,500 feet
40:40so where the pressure
40:40is actually 15 times
40:43what did that.
40:45As a land animal
40:46who occasionally splashes
40:48around in the shallows
40:49it's just very hard
40:50to imagine
40:51what it's like living
40:53in a world
40:55without light
40:56with just such
40:56immense pressure.
40:58We fish on
40:59as the Arctic storm
41:00creeps ever closer.
41:11Looks like the weather
41:13forecast was right.
41:14It's continuing
41:15to deteriorate the weather.
41:17We've got a bit
41:18of rain starting now.
41:20It's really just hoping
41:21that we get something
41:21before it gets
41:22that much worse.
41:25But so far
41:25nothing really
41:27happening today.
41:31Just as I fear
41:32my window of opportunity
41:34is closing
41:34a sign from the deep.
41:38Is that something?
41:39No?
41:46I strap in
41:48just in case.
41:49This is definitely
41:50my last chance
41:52to land something big.
41:53Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.
41:55You have something?
41:56Yes!
41:58It's actually pulling.
41:59Oh, you're on my back.
42:00Somebody on that back.
42:01Somebody on this handle here.
42:04Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
42:05That's rolling, it's rolling.
42:07Potentially dangerous
42:08because it rolls
42:10too far up that line.
42:15There's a very strong pull here
42:16in the way
42:17that the rod
42:17is levering me
42:19and I've got feet
42:21on a slippery deck.
42:23This is a couple of times
42:24I've just been quite worried
42:26about disappearing
42:27over the edge.
42:28There's no doubt
42:29that whatever is on my line
42:30has monstrous power.
42:32Here we go.
42:33Lean back.
42:33Lean back.
42:34Yep.
42:35That's it.
42:35Yep.
42:36Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.
42:38Yes.
42:46I'm in Norway
42:50with what feels like
42:51a monster shark
42:52on the end of my line.
42:55Here we go.
42:56Lean back.
42:56Lean back.
42:57Yep.
42:58That's it.
42:59There it is.
43:01Ah, yes.
43:02Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.
43:04It's a white one.
43:06It's a very white.
43:09It's a feisty one.
43:10It's a very feisty one.
43:12It's a 10-foot Greenland shark.
43:14Where's the other end?
43:15Here.
43:16So it's a big male shark.
43:18We can see from the clusters
43:19that they're very well-developed.
43:21Julius and I have just minutes
43:23to examine, tag,
43:24and release this shark.
43:25The process punctures the thick skin
43:29but doesn't harm the animal.
43:32These satellite tags will record
43:33how far and how deep this shark swims
43:36over the next six months.
43:39For me, though,
43:40it's all about size and power.
43:44So this is the girth.
43:45So that is how wide around the body
43:51this animal is.
43:52I reckon this shark weighs
43:55around 700 pounds.
43:58Julius estimates it's roughly
44:00200 years old.
44:02It's one of the biggest
44:03and certainly the oldest fish
44:05I've ever caught.
44:09It's truly awe-inspiring
44:11to look at this creature up close,
44:13a monster that few people ever see.
44:17And this daylight encounter
44:18has told me what I needed to know.
44:22Well, this is what I came to Norway for.
44:26What I wanted to see was
44:27a live Greenland shark
44:30in the daylight
44:31up on the surface
44:32so I could get a really good look at it.
44:34And also, the other thing
44:36was just feeling it on the line.
44:38The sharks that I pulled in
44:39didn't seem like docile scavengers.
44:42Their powerful bursts of energy
44:44were those of a beast
44:45that can react fast to moving prey.
44:48A hunter that knows
44:50its own strength
44:51and how to use it.
44:53Add to that
44:54the highly specialised teeth
44:55and you could be looking
44:57at a very capable predator.
44:59Today,
45:00we have made a significant step
45:03towards getting
45:04a much fuller picture
45:06of this very, very strange
45:07elusive shark.
45:09But does the Greenland shark
45:12pose a threat
45:13to people in the water?
45:15Certainly, knowing what I know now,
45:17I'd think twice
45:18about jumping into the water
45:19with another one.
45:22This shark appears
45:23to have a temperament
45:24that can shift
45:25from unassuming scavenger
45:27to powerful killer
45:28in a heartbeat.
45:31And until we know
45:32what flicks that switch,
45:34I just hope
45:34that this mysterious
45:35Jekyll and Hyde monster
45:37remains deep
45:39under the Arctic ice,
45:41well away from here.
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