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00:00G'day I'm Dean Cropp and with a crew of young ocean explorers we are going on an
00:10epic adventure to visit some of the most pristine and remote parts of the coral
00:15sea. Hi I'm Loz I'm a firefighter. G'day I'm Tyler so my role on the boat is to
00:22take care of the crew if anything should happen to Dean. Hey I'm Div I'm bang into
00:26my highlanding my climbing adventures of any sort. I just swim with shark ox. My
00:31name's Annika otherwise known as Nunu. Hi my name's Melissa a little freaked out don't
00:36know what to expect. My name is Luis and I'm a musician from Brazil. There's seven
00:41of us crammed into my trusty catamaran barefoot. We're following in the
00:46footsteps of my filmmaker father Ben Cropp. Dad was a nature adventure filmmaker
00:52back in the 70s. He actually started out as a shark hunter then he became a
00:57protector of sharks. And I feel the same way. We'll see if things have changed and
01:05we'll make discoveries of our own. It's really wearing me out. As we sail across
01:12an ocean frontier to somewhere so isolated no one ever goes there and it's one of the
01:19most beautiful places on the planet. Wherever the winds and currents take us
01:25that storm was much worse than I expected. We'll find out just a little bit about
01:31ourselves. I'm not okay with this. And the wonderful world we live in. Come with us on an
01:40extraordinary coral sea adventure.
01:47It's the first morning of our blue water safari.
02:05So we're out of a bit of a secret North Coast location where one of our crew members has been
02:18there a bunch of days not seen anyone. We're gonna be the first people she's seen in a little while.
02:22So the next trip is to try and find her on the beach. We're picking up our last crew member Melissa.
02:30She's been hanging out in a crazy secluded spot on the north coast of New South Wales.
02:36Mel. Mel. Hey. Yeah, Captain's looking for you. You should be able to hear him. He's in a dinghy.
02:44Now, I didn't expect this to be an adventure. We haven't even started yet.
02:50Captain, can you see Mel? Mel, maybe wave your phone.
02:54No, I can't see anything yet. I'm at the beach. But do you know where she is?
02:59Mel, where exactly are you?
03:02She's just on the beach somewhere, Captain. Can you shine a light? I'll get her to shine one if she can.
03:10Oh, nothing. Where is she? Hang on.
03:14Okay, okay. Maybe he's got you. Just, yeah, keep shining it all the way.
03:20Yeah, yeah, I see her. I see her. She's down on the other end of the beach. Hang on. Stand by.
03:23He's got you. He's got you. Okay.
03:27Hi, everybody. Hi.
03:30Putting a crew together for a three-month voyage is really difficult.
03:34There are so many things to consider when you're asking people to live together for so long in a confined space.
03:41Welcome. Thank you. Welcome. Welcome. Thank you.
03:57I've got this crew of six. Some I know really well, and others I just don't.
04:03But everyone has a role to play on the boat.
04:06I don't know how they're all going to perform or how well they'll all get along with each other.
04:11A boat crew can really fall apart if you don't all get along.
04:15Things get really dangerous, and it's hard to survive months at sea with someone you don't like.
04:21My hope instead is that out here, lifelong friendships will be formed.
04:28It's so good. Bye, land.
04:42Bye.
04:43We'll miss you.
04:45And your granular beauty.
04:47Shootin' goodbye reception.
04:50Goodbye, Dad. Bye, man. Bye, Grandma.
04:54I don't know what to expect.
05:00I don't know what the weather will be, or what amazing sea life will encounter, or what dangers lie ahead.
05:06I don't even know if barefoot can last the distance.
05:10Whatever breaks, I really hope I can fix it.
05:14Time will tell, I guess.
05:16We've set the sails now, and we are heading offshore, out to Middleton Reef, away from civilisation, away from people.
05:26I'm so excited.
05:28Woo-hoo!
05:29Wish the wind would give us a better direction.
05:32Despite the wind not being perfect, there's this welcome buzz of excitement and expectation on board,
05:38Helped along by the arrival of our very special escort, this huge pod of Pacific bottlenose dolphins.
05:47They're coming back!
05:49Woo!
05:51Woo!
05:53This is an incredible sender for our adventure.
06:00Hey!
06:01I love dolphins!
06:06Woo!
06:08Woo!
06:09Woo!
06:10Woo!
06:11Hey, look at that.
06:12There's another 30 coming towards us.
06:14Woo!
06:16Woo!
06:17Woo!
06:18Woo!
06:19Woo!
06:20Woo!
06:21Woo!
06:22Woo!
06:23Woo!
06:24Woo!
06:25Woo!
06:26Woo!
06:27Woo!
06:28Woo!
06:29Woo!
06:30Woo!
06:31Woo!
06:33Those dolphins have made me a little more relaxed.
06:36And they've taken away that nagging feeling in the bottom of my stomach.
06:41Perhaps this expedition will be everything I hoped for.
06:45Adventure!
06:46I feel like we're really, really lucky!
06:48Woo!
06:50Woo!
06:56From here, is probably the toughest part of the expedition.
06:59We've got three full days hard sailing non-stop to Middleton Reef.
07:04Now we could run into a whale or submerged shipping containers, gear could break and
07:09the weather?
07:10Well, it can change so quickly.
07:12So the wind's getting a bit too strong for our screecher, and so it's just kind of plucking
07:34around a little bit.
07:35So what's this happening, Gabby?
07:39Well, the wind came up a bit strong, we're now hitting over 15 knots and that big headsail
07:45just can't handle over 15 knots.
07:47So even though we were going nice and fast and we're moving really well, and now we're
07:52just changing sails over, we'll go for the small headsail, put another sheet on it to
07:56pull it back.
07:57Just try and get everything trimmed so we can sail through the night without having to change
08:01too much.
08:02I've got to turn the boat into the wind, so we're head on.
08:09I'll blow the screecher hopefully back onto the boat and the boys can pull it down and
08:15we can all be safe.
08:16That sail change was actually quite fortunate for me.
08:28It's given me an early look into how the crew can work together.
08:32And you know what?
08:33They've done all right.
08:34Now, we're taking the same course my dad did out here to Middleton Reef, and when he was
08:48out here back in the 60s and 70s, he was hit by a five day storm.
08:52It almost completely scuttled his whole expedition.
08:55Now, the weather's holding for us, so I think we're going to be fine.
09:02To sustain ourselves at sea for this long, fishing will almost be a daily activity.
09:08Now we only catch what we need to feed ourselves.
09:13It always helps if the only thing you're catching are fish.
09:18Sometimes things don't always go to plan though.
09:20Hey, Liam.
09:21We have a problem here, man.
09:23We've got a fishing line around the prop, so we've got to free it up, or at least just
09:30check it, make sure that it's not all wrapped around it.
09:33Sometimes the prop spins so much that the line fuses onto the shaft.
09:38So we're going to hove to in the middle of the ocean, and I'm going to check the prop.
09:46As we're tacking, the boat reversed a little bit when we were running one of the engines,
09:51and as they tacked, we must have backed over the fishing line.
09:54And now it's trapped.
09:55It's caught and wound up on our prop.
09:59But if we keep running that engine, we could tangle it up so much that we'd damage it,
10:03and then we're in big trouble because we're out in the middle of the ocean.
10:06So Tuller's drawn the short straw.
10:08He gets to go in the water.
10:10But in some ways, it's better I'm here to control the boat, and it doesn't sail away on him.
10:16Just a note, it's about 4,500 metres deep here.
10:20You ready, Tuller?
10:23Okay.
10:24We're like 600 kilometres away from mainland Australia.
10:29There's four kilometres of water underneath us, and the engine's not working.
10:35This is actually a very dangerous thing to do.
10:48If a wave was to hit us suddenly, the boat could move, Tuller gets hit in the head, knocked out, and it's a long way down.
10:56It's a long way down.
10:57What's going on?
10:58It's very tumultuous.
11:02I don't know where they are.
11:04The boat is yang to do.
11:07I'm telling you what do you want.
11:09It is all that you're doing right now.
11:12I've system my car, right?
11:13Minutes ofeling coal, right?
11:14So there was the fishing line right around the prop, and it turned in such a way that
11:41it all got right in this middle section. Really hard to get out, especially with the boat
11:46going up and down all the time. You've got this prop shooting for your face. You've got
11:50to hold onto it and try and pry with a knife the rope out. And so you're holding onto the
11:54knife and you're moving as well. There's always a risk of stabbing yourself. And the boat greys
11:59up against me. Just small barnacle cuts, but in the tropics they can get infected really
12:05easily, so just going to treat them. But we should be good to go now. Should be good to
12:09start the prop and test it and see if it works. Yes! Well done Tyler. Nice work.
12:39What a beautiful morning out here. We call this a glass out. You don't get that this
12:50often in the middle of the ocean. It's completely flat. Absolutely zero wind. Which is massively
12:57horrible for us sailing. We can't get anywhere with this. But it is useful for one thing.
13:04A deep ocean swim. And it's not just a little deep out here. It's over 4km deep. And we
13:20are hundreds of miles from anywhere. And you get to swim in this endless visibility, this
13:37deep ocean that is almost, it's almost like having vertigo when you look down. It's like
13:43flying through a blue space.
14:00How many people in the world get a chance to do this? And it's so amazing, it's inspired
14:06Nunu to poetry.
14:09Our sails are deemed useless. So we pause our journey and enjoy this rare moment, gazing
14:16over the side down into the water. You would expect it to be deep dark blue, almost grey or
14:23black. You would be wrong. And pleasantly surprised, the sunlight dances into the depths, a royal
14:31electric blue invites us in. Together we slip into the warm blue ocean, nothing and no one
14:39around us. Four kilometres beneath our suspended bodies, we are merely tiny drops of life in a vast
14:47body of water that covers most of our beautiful blue planet. A unique treat. We dance and play
14:55in an oceanic wonderland.
15:09Nunu gets right into the spirit of it, breaking out the mermaid tail. Well, why not?
15:15I tried.
15:43Wait, is that a mermaid?
15:51For Divya and Louis, every ocean crossing comes with one constant companion.
16:01Seasickness.
16:04You know, like, when you wake up seasick, you spend the whole day seasick. Just the idea
16:09of recording something is making me feel seasick right now. It's just, like, annoying.
16:17But there's always that one annoying person with perfect sea legs.
16:23Nah, I haven't felt seasick at all. So I've been having a great time, actually. I've been
16:30reading books, my Kindle, working off my laptop, stretching. Not sure what everyone else is feeling
16:38crazy about, really.
16:44Are you feeling all right?
16:46I've been feeling all right?
16:59It's incredible out here, because all you see up the top are stars.
17:06There's nothing forever.
17:08And the sky is lit up, and now the sea is lit up.
17:15This is one of the greatest joys of night-time sailing.
17:20This glow, or bioluminescence,
17:23is caused by microscopic plankton called dinoflagellates.
17:28It looks very psychedelic.
17:31I just woke up.
17:33But I'm still dreaming. This is dreamland.
17:36What is this? Reality. It's incredible.
17:43When they're disturbed in the water,
17:45they give off this microsecond burst of blue-green light.
17:49And when there's millions of them,
17:51they're all joined together in this crazy, eerie sci-fi glow.
17:58And it's calm. The water's completely glassy.
18:03And there's just...
18:05There's just a stream of green fairy dust,
18:09kind of like powder when you're skiing.
18:11Whoa!
18:12Whoa!
18:13Whoa!
18:14Whoa!
18:15Whoa!
18:16Whoa!
18:17Whoa!
18:19It's just all so beautiful.
18:21Whoa!
18:22Whoa!
18:23Whoa!
18:30We're almost there.
18:32There's a shipwreck just here,
18:34and that means that we're almost there.
18:38How do you feel?
18:39I'm excited.
18:40After some late nights,
18:42the 2 a.m. till 6 a.m. shifts,
18:45I'm ready.
18:46I'm ready to get to land,
18:49not land, land.
18:52Can't call it land.
18:53There is no land.
18:55I'm excited.
18:56I'm excited to have some stillness,
18:59have some quiet place that we can just rest,
19:02not having this boat bouncing around,
19:05rocking with the crossing.
19:06So I'm really looking forward to have this anchoring
19:10Saturday Lagoon.
19:11I know it's beautiful there,
19:13so looking forward to it.
19:17We are almost there.
19:19It's been three days of sailing and motoring
19:22and rocking around,
19:24and here we are.
19:25We are just coming into Middleton Reef.
19:27Barely any sun left.
19:29We'll just make it into Anchorage for the evening.
19:32It's been such a good trip across,
19:34but I'm so excited to go explore this reef.
19:37It is so cool.
19:38And we can just see the runic,
19:40this big shipwreck just coming up on the horizon now.
19:44My dad called this place Tragedy Reef,
19:47and for good reason.
19:48The place is littered with shipwrecks.
19:51It's a totally submerged reef,
19:53really hard to see,
19:55and the outer reef edge is really treacherous.
19:58And the lagoon entrance where we want to anchor
20:00is super narrow.
20:02It's hard to find in daylight,
20:04let alone dusk.
20:09And we'll be there in about half an hour.
20:12And I think we've got barely half an hour of sun left
20:14to get into our anchorage.
20:16Whoo!
20:18Pressure's on.
20:21This is super borderline.
20:31That sun is right on the horizon.
20:34Still got about ten minutes to run to the reef entrance,
20:39five minutes, ten minutes to run to the reef entrance.
20:42And it's no coincidence that the wreck of the runics over my shoulder there,
20:49just to remind me if I get this wrong,
20:52what happens to you at this reef if you run into the reef.
20:57Now I've got much more complex navigation systems than they did back then,
21:03but I can't see in the dark.
21:04So I just need a little bit of light to get through this reef.
21:07Otherwise we've got to sit out here in the deep water and roll around all night.
21:11I don't want to do that.
21:13I've got my more experienced crew on the bow of the boat.
21:18They're checking for reef bombings and measuring the depth.
21:21Now I've got to get this right,
21:23or we'll end up as our own tragedy on this reef.
21:27Perhaps the crew have been feeling my stress about navigating this entrance.
21:35Tyler has found a way to break the tension.
21:39Not much light to see the things we could run into.
21:45Danger is all around us, yeah.
21:49We've pushed it right to the edge.
21:57This is much tighter than I would ever want to do this.
22:01But either we go in now,
22:04or we sit out here and drift all night.
22:08I don't really want to do that.
22:15Let's just drop Nunu on the reef over there
22:17and she can be a channel marker.
22:19She's so high-vis.
22:29I can see the entrance.
22:31Even though it's quite dark, I can actually see.
22:34I can see the reef.
22:38But it's really borderline.
22:40Four metres.
22:43Okay, nine metres.
22:45Seven.
22:47Six metres.
22:49Alright, sand coming.
22:53Three metres now.
22:57Very shallow.
22:58All right, everyone, we're safe.
23:13Woo!
23:14Woo!
23:15Woo!
23:16Woo!
23:17Woo!
23:18Welcome to Middleton!
23:19Alright, someone get the captain a beer.
23:20Get it yourself!
23:21I'm on it.
23:22You're fired.
23:23You can't fire me, I live here.
23:24Woo!
23:25Woo!
23:26Woo!
23:27Woo!
23:28Woo!
23:29Woo!
23:30Woo!
23:31Woo!
23:32Woo!
23:33Woo!
23:34Woo!
23:36Woo!
23:37Woo!
23:38Grazie.
23:39Well done.
23:40Well done.
23:41Well done.
23:42Well done.
23:43Woo!
23:44Woo!
23:45Made it.
23:46Bross.
23:47Nailed it.
23:49How exciting.
23:51You're welcome.
23:52Yes!
23:53And lime.
24:02So it's our first morning in Middleton and it's calm.
24:07It's crystal clear blue water and calm as anything.
24:11There is not a single soul in sight except for our little family on board and it's just
24:23a really nice time to get away from all the mayhem and really strip it back to what's
24:29natural.
24:30I want to see the sharks.
24:33I've been dreaming about my little sea puppies and I want to explore some more wrecks.
24:40I want to kind of get to know a bit more of the history and see what it's all about.
24:47We are surrounded by the carcasses of ships just scattered over the shallow reef completely
24:55surrounding this lagoon and it's really wonderful to get to know the history of these
25:01ships and why they crashed here and what happened to the crew and what remains in the
25:06sun that's just bleaching and rotting and rusting.
25:09So it's one thing to be able to see the shipwrecks from above when we cruise over the top of
25:13them and that's really so we can figure out which ones we want to go and see a little
25:16bit more close up.
25:17Today we're going to go and see the runic.
25:22The runic smashed on a middleton reef in May of 1961 while travelling from Brisbane to New Zealand.
25:29But by some miracle all 69 of her crew survived and they were rescued just days before a cyclone hit.
25:37That sealed her fight.
25:40Now we can get up close to it because usually the waves are going pow pow pow pow on the
25:45hull and the boat's moving and everything's a little bit crazy.
25:47You're not really sure if the anchor's going to hold where you want it to.
25:50And out here you really want to be as safe as you can.
25:52So today, because it's so calm and smooth and beautiful, we're able to take the dinghy
25:57right up to it and we can really get amongst this shipwreck.
26:00Get amongst this dead thing that still leaves some tales to be told by us going there.
26:06For we're the ones to tell the tales.
26:12My father came here and he was just taken aback by the beauty of this place and always shipwrecks.
26:20This treasure hunting thing is in our blood.
26:23We can't shake it.
26:24We love it.
26:26And I want to explore the whole place.
26:28I want to go everywhere.
26:29I want to check all of it out.
26:31It's not the smallest reef to swim around though.
26:34It's pretty long.
26:35It's just a place of wonder.
26:37It's a place of unknowns and it's got a really bad reputation.
26:42So nobody comes here.
26:44It's a very eerie and beautiful landscape and place to be to explore.
26:51The fish, you know, love living in and around these shipwrecks and the birds, the seabirds
26:56that here are, it's the only thing they have to perch on and live on.
27:00Yeah, they're all rusted and decrepit and slowly decaying.
27:06It's really awesome to see what happens to stuff when it's just left out here.
27:12And I cannot wait to check out underneath and go have a little swim.
27:19I wanna see you.
27:20Yeah, I see you and there.
27:21We going for you.
27:22And we going for a little bit.
27:24I'm not sure about it.
27:25Let's go.
27:26Yeah.
27:27Take care.
27:28Keep going.
27:29Look at me.
27:30We dive down and there's just huge anchors and big pipes and all this
27:59machinery and just pieces of metal that have been like twisted and bent over time and it's so much
28:05fun to dive through it and feel like a treasure hunter we saw massive rays we saw a huge black
28:11cod really big fish all the other different types of fish as well so many different colors it's so
28:16beautiful down there and all of them are so inquisitive because it's a sanctuary here that
28:20the fish come right up to you they've probably never even seen another human being before they
28:24come right up to you and they feel like little puppy dogs and the creatures here behave so
28:31differently to anywhere else because they're so not used to human contact which is a pretty
28:37wonderful unique experience you know the sharks and the fish are really curious about you because
28:43they're confused that they're not habituated they're not used to having you know groups of tourists
28:49around them they're just you know quite friendly and and it's wonderful to have that experience to
28:56swim with these creatures that are you know curious and gentle and also a bit wild you know it's it's
29:04it's not all roses there there are apex predators out here that we need to be aware of like tiger
29:09sharks so we are in their home we are visitors here this is their home so we have to respect that but
29:16but with gratitude it's beautiful it's really beautiful incredible I never knew my new favorite
29:26thing would be swimming with rusty stuff and fishes the shipwreck is just amazing it's really crazy to
29:42think about how over so many years it's just slowly eroded and rusted and not only that but like
29:48swimming around it is just tropical fish everywhere it's makes it look really beautiful though like
29:54this old man-made structures and these beautiful tropical fish that have decided to make it a home now
30:01I saw so many things that I've never seen before I saw a fish big like fins that came out flared out like this and lots of
30:18like fluorescent dots I saw a mangeray or stingray I'm not sure which one it was
30:26there were these really long needle nose sort of things there was one fish it kind of looked like
30:33a starfish but it was moving like an octopus and it was and that I picked up a rock and it was under
30:38there and I cracked away when I picked up the rock and I kept picking up the rocks I kept creeping back
30:43under more rocks the fish are of tropical varieties so they come in all sorts of different colors and
30:52shapes and sizes and and there's so much treasure that's down there there's so much copper that looks
30:58golden because it's been rubbed clean by the surf and by the cyclones in this area super vibrant like
31:06really colorful and all different kinds while you can be easily distracted by the beauty and wonder
31:17out here danger does lurk Middleton is famous for sharks you always have to keep your wits about you so
31:27for me there is this like buzzing excitement that is happening all the time you're one of the nature
31:35like feeling alive all the time always like checking if there's sharks around or or if there's like any
31:43big one around that you you're not aware before and then suddenly you can become dangerous
31:57I just turned around and I was looking at this shark and I was going he's a bit bigger than the other
32:17ones and I point him out to Nunu and as I point him out he turns side on and we just see these stripes
32:22down the side and it's a tiger shark tiger sharks are really dangerous I told everyone out of the
32:31water everyone get out right now and I hung back near the boat and he came right up to me a couple
32:36of times I got some really good shots but they're definitely a whole lot scarier he's a good three or
32:42four times the size of all the other sharks he's probably four meters long three meters four meters long
32:47that shot could definitely kill you no messing around he could absolutely kill you and then
32:57and then a tiger shark came through and also you can hear squealing through the snorkel and then goes get
33:06out of the water calmly swimming back to the boat as quickly as you can that was awesome so cool that
33:15was the one thing I really wanted to see a tiger shark so that was really beautiful that was awesome it was
33:22really cool baby shark do do do do mama shark do do do do mama shark do do do do tiger shark do do do
33:44so we just had a three and a half meter tiger shark come up to the back of the boat and just
34:13munch on the back of the boat and the dingy outboard and the dinky rope basically it was chewing
34:18everything that it could to see what was edible having a tiger shark bite the back of my boat is
34:23a big first for me that was a really intense thing to happen and I've been trying to work out why see
34:28back in my dad's day they were feeding the sharks all the time we can't do that out here so why did
34:34you come up and bite the back of the boat
34:41well all the excitement of us swimming around and splashing around with the whalers then getting
34:46up on deck and stomping around they can hear that underwater we even saw him have a go at the propeller
34:51underneath the boat the big steel propeller thing I don't know maybe they look like flippers or something
34:55like that and as he came around the back of the boat one of the bilge pumps in the engine room started
35:00up and that was enough that he wanted to have a taste he wanted to find out what this big thing was
35:05and he had a bite of the back of the boat and that's the thing about tiger sharks if you're in
35:11the water and he may not necessarily want to eat you but he wants to taste what you are he's inquisitive
35:17and a tiger shark having a taste of you having one bite would be fatal out here everyone was a
35:25little bit excited at the first instance because it's always exciting to see a tiger shark but then
35:29we started realizing how dangerous it was because this meant we couldn't go in the water anymore in
35:34that spot because the tiger shark would be there waiting for us having a go at our flippers I think
35:40tiger sharks are beautiful gorgeous I might not like them as much as I do right now if I was in the
35:47water with them well that's totally shut down diving for the rest of the day he's way too
35:53dangerous but from the safety of on deck on barefoot it's amazing we can sit here and watch this
36:00beautiful creature circle the boat this amazing killing machine we get to experience so close it
36:07really is awe-inspiring to see this amazing animal up this close I still will be swimming but I will have
36:14a always subconscious thought that there are creatures they're a lot bigger than us and
36:21they're in these waters they're close by there is so much more for us to explore here at Middleton so
36:27I really hope my crew can get up the courage to get back in the water tomorrow and yeah we have to share the
36:35ocean with a huge creature like that tiger shark every day but hey that's why I love this place
37:05got a lot of them I got ita
37:09yeah
37:12thank you
37:14congratulations
37:17guys
37:18very nice
37:21thank you
37:27thank you
37:29While it was exhilarating to see a tiger shark yesterday, this place is actually famous
37:58for a different type of shark.
38:01They're called grey whalers or galapagos whalers, and these guys are relatively harmless.
38:07And I really want the crew to have this experience of swimming with them.
38:11I just hope I can convince them to come in with me.
38:16So I'm excited, but a little scared as well.
38:20So we're in a spot where there's lots of sharks, little sharks, but still lots of them.
38:26I'm a little freaked out, don't know what to expect really, but I'm sure I'll be okay.
38:34The rest of the crew are pretty, they know what they're doing.
38:38But everyone else has a knife, so I'm a little bit worried.
38:44I don't have a knife, so I'm hoping I survive unscathed.
38:49So according to Dean, when they are feeding, there's a similar sound.
39:06So they just get, they just go get around.
39:10My dad actually got famous because he was a shark hunter.
39:13He would come to places like this to kill the sharks.
39:16You know, back then in the 50s, 60s, 70s, every shark was a man-eater.
39:21And camera, Tyler.
39:25And since then, we've learnt it's not like that at all.
39:30You know, a lot of these sharks are quite friendly, are quite exciting to swim with.
39:33You know, these little grey whalers are pretty safe when there's three or four or five of them.
39:40They're really inquisitive.
39:42They're amazing creatures to watch and swim with.
39:44And my father was one of the first people to realise that.
39:48And he started changing people's minds that we should protect sharks, not kill them.
39:53And I feel the same way.
39:54They are not what most people do.
40:24I know most people, you know, think that they're the most scary predators out there.
40:29And if you really look at the statistics, more people die from cows than sharks.
40:33And if you stop and think that they're actually just fish,
40:37and they're out looking for a meal that suits them.
40:40And when you see a little shark, they're usually looking for something smaller than them.
40:44When they see us, we're an apex predator to them.
40:47Especially these ones that we're swimming with, they're much smaller than us.
40:50So they're looking up to us as predators.
40:53And sharks are actually pretty lazy hunters.
40:56They will much prefer to scavenge for their food rather than ambush.
41:00And so these little sharky friends that are following us around are actually looking to us for a feed.
41:05They're looking to us to hunt, and then they want to steal our food.
41:08So, yeah, it's quite different to what you would expect.
41:11And if you stay calm with them, they will stay calm with you too.
41:14And if they can smell fear, like, you know, everyone says they smell fear, animals really do.
41:21I think the coolest part about swimming with sharks is the fact that it's such a taboo topic.
41:28You know, the media plays them out to be these really vicious things that will attack anything and everything.
41:33But swimming with them, you realize that they're really just gentle creatures.
41:36They're curious, but they're not that aggressive, attack anything.
41:45I don't want to portray them as that scary, vicious animal.
41:49I want to portray them as little, beautiful sea puppies that we get to play with.
41:55And not cuddle, but swim around.
41:58This is the closest I've ever got to them before.
42:04They would even rub up against you a little bit.
42:06And I thought they were rough, but they're actually a little bit slimy and slippery.
42:10They weren't bothered that we were there at all.
42:12They were perfectly happy just to swim along next to us.
42:15And we could stare into their eyes, and they could stare into ours.
42:18And we just had, we both had curiosity in each other.
42:22And so swimming next to something that didn't know what you were,
42:25they're such sensitive creatures.
42:28They can, they have all these, it feels like superpowers
42:30when you hear about the documentaries of sharks,
42:32the ways that they can sense blood and the electromagnetism of it all.
42:36And I could see it on top of their head as I swam above them
42:39because we were so close to these sharks.
42:44One of them came right up next to my arm right here,
42:46and it looked like he was going to be like,
42:48he's like, what do you taste like?
42:52You guys are weird. What do you taste like?
42:54Because they've got little bites all over them as well.
42:55And so they must have a little bit of pecking order play
42:58where they bite into each other and just teach each other who's boss.
43:02And so if they think we're one of them,
43:04then maybe they're going to try and have a little nip as well.
43:06And that's the biggest danger you've got, is a little nip, I think.
43:08I'm so glad I could convince everyone to get back in the water
43:21to swim with these amazing grey whalers
43:24and without being harassed by our friendly neighbourhood tiger shark.
43:28Oh, wait. Hang on a minute.
43:35That's a tiger shark, not a whaler.
43:37Everyone out. Out, out, out.
43:43Next time on Blue Water Safari.
43:50I think I'm more nervous walking through here
43:53than I am swimming with sharks.
43:55More people have been shipwrecked on this reef
43:58than have come here on purpose.
44:01There's something special here.
44:03My dad called it tragedy reef.
44:06People died here.
44:09See all this beautiful sea life
44:11and this gorgeous blue water.
44:14And behind her,
44:15it looked like there were more sharks than water.
44:17A little blue bowl of paradise.
44:23you
44:25A little blue one.
44:42A little blue one.
44:45Super good!
44:47Let's go!
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