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NARRATOR:
Africa's turbulent tip,
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where the mighty Atlantic unleashes
its fury against a rocky shore...
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and sets the stage for deep drama.
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Cape fur seals call it home.
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Protected from the elements by their
thick coats, they've come to hunt.
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Underwater, they're graceful
and streamlined acrobats.
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The nutrient-rich Benguela Current caters
one of the biggest banquets on Earth.
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As the tiny fish move like
quicksilver, the seals keep up.
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Their sensitive whiskers
detect vibrations from their gills.
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In the open ocean, they slice through
the water at 30 kilometers per hour.
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This small hunting party has traveled
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up to 200 kilometers per day
in search of food...
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before returning home to feed their
pups on South Africa's Seal Island.
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But first, they must face
one of Africa's deadliest.
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The great white shark.
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Six meters long and several tons
of white death. And she's not alone.
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The deep channel surrounding
Seal Island is patrolled
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by one of the largest populations
of white sharks on Earth.
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For an ancient creature,
she's surprisingly sophisticated.
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Jelly-filled sensors on her snout,
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home in on electrical pulses
from muscle movement.
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Specialized blood vessels
keep her core body temperature
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warmer for cold-water hunting.
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Seals have excellent vision
and immense stamina.
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But the great white has a killer strategy.
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She dives deeper, hidden by her
cryptic coloration.
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At 40 kilometers per hour, her
300 dagger-like teeth seal the deal.
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One place offers sanctuary from the
sharks' reign of terror--
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kelp forests.
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White sharks avoid the swaying fronds...
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which provide a tranquil oasis
for the seals...
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and a buffer against the pounding surf.
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Here, the subadults hone
their swimming skills,
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and search for prey hidden in the kelp.
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But they can't stay forever.
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More than just brawn, great whites
have a tremendous brain
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that coordinates their keen senses.
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Seals are clever, and the sharks
need to outsmart them.
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During the pupping season,
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South Africa becomes
the great white capital of the world.
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And despite their reputation as loners,
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these superpredators will hunt cooperatively.
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While most seals avoid the sharks
in the sea kelp forest,
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a straggler lets its guard down
for just a moment.
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As one predator distracts the group,
the other seeks its prize.
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On the cold western shores dwells another
gang of assassins-- Cape gannets.
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These large seabirds breed on islands
off the coast of Namibia and South Africa.
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Each year, tens of thousands
of Cape gannets
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leave their rookeries in the south
to fly over 1,000 kilometers northeast.
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Each winter, a jet of cold water
from the Southern Ocean travels up
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South Africa's Wild Coast
towards Mozambique.
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And with it, comes one
of the largest migrations on Earth...
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the sardine run.
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Driven by instinct, millions
of tiny fish turn the waters dark
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as they swarm along the warmer current.
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The mighty African current pulls
the cooler water along the coastline,
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sweeping the cold-water-loving
sardines with it.
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(tense music)
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As they soldier on, they use their
sharp vision to find plankton to eat.
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The gannets are on their way,
but they have company.
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Following the sardines
is a far deadlier army.
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A squadron of common dolphins
closes in fast.
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They slice through the water
at 30 kilometers per hour
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in a tight family formation.
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Pinpointing the sardine run
in the vast ocean is tricky business.
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But the dolphins
have an extraordinary tool:
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Echolocation.
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Their high-pitched clicking bounces
off objects and back to the dolphins,
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revealing the object's location,
size, and shape.
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Today, it sounds like a feast.
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Other dolphin families join the fray...
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creating a superpod,
thousands strong.
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They circle the shoal and corral
their prey into a tight bait ball.
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Relentlessly, the dolphins
take turns driving through,
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and gobbling up individual fish.
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They create a bubble net to drive
the sardines toward the surface...
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to launch a surprise aerial attack.
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The sea boils with the thrashing
of fins and fish.
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The Cape gannets arrive just in time...
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and dive into action.
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Like meter-long guided missiles,
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they hit the water
at up to 100 kilometers per hour,
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and plunge nearly 20 meters deep.
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Airbags around their skulls
help cushion the shock.
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Underwater, wings and webbed feet
allow them to chase the speeding fish.
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They can stay under for up to minute.
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The dolphins trap the fish at the surface
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as the bombardment continues
from all sides.
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Hours of relentless attack
decimates the bait ball.
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While the dolphins continue
to chase the main shoals,
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the gannets return to their rookeries
to feed their chicks.
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For many young gannets, this is their
first experience of the sardine run.
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For others, it is their last.
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Caught in the feeding frenzy, the
gannets risk breaking their necks,
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from the wrong angle of impact.
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The aftermath of the feeding frenzy
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sends a tantalizing smell of blood
and fish oils into the water.
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For sharks, it's the dinner bell.
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Sharks, the sea's most ancient predators,
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have trolled every ocean on Earth
for millions of years.
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Along with highly developed vision
and smell, a shark's refined senses
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and the ability to detect electrical
currents from their prey
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make them a constant threat.
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Tiger sharks, weighing up to a metric ton,
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are one of the ocean's largest apex
predators. But they're not picky eaters.
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Whatever crosses their path, dead
or alive, makes a suitable supper.
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NARRATOR: Tiger sharks have some of the
world's most powerful, bone-crushing jaws.
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They make quick work
of dead or injured gannets,
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before re-joining the trail of
the oil slick left by the sardine run.
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Dusky sharks, which usually
prowl near the ocean floor,
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also rise to the occasion
of the sardine run.
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These heavyweight, highly skilled killers
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have one of the strongest bites
of all sharks.
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An army of duskies starts rounding
up the shoal of sardines again.
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These sharks can devour a tenth
of their body weight in one feeding.
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One after the other, they torpedo
into the swirling ball,
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like a fish piñata, swooping up
mouthfuls with jaws wide open.
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Once the sardines pass, calm returns.
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At first glance, the reefs seem
quiet and peaceful.
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But in this bright coral arena,
daily battles for survival play out,
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and reef sharks perform at their peak.
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When these killers
descend in African waters,
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the vibrant reef becomes an
aquatic Hunger Games.
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As a pack, they stalk prey
hiding in the coral,
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aggressively, violently, and fast.
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Grouper fish spend most of their time
outside their hole,
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ready to duck in at the hint of danger.
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But there's no escaping
the sharks' electromagnetic sensors.
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And when a meal is served,
the gladiators battle it out.
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Reefs occupy less than one percent
of the ocean floor,
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but they are home to more than
twenty-five percent of marine life.
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The competition for food
and territory is stiff...
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and has produced some bizarre adaptations.
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This peculiar looking bottom-dweller
has mastered the art of the ambush.
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He's a crocodile fish.
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He lurks in the sand and debris.
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His mottled coloring mimics the seabed,
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practically invisible
as his prey comes to him.
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But sometimes, the hunter
becomes the game.
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Another pigment-changing predator,
with remarkable high-contrast vision,
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sees through the crocodile
fish's camouflage.
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Cuttlefish. With more than 20 million
specialized pigment cells,
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they can blend into almost
any background.
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That's not their only trick.
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Their body cavity acts like a jet,
propelling them at lightning speed.
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Among the ocean's
most intelligent creatures,
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the cunning cuttlefish's tactics include
hiding in plain sight to ambush prey...
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and rapidly changing color
to mesmerize their victim.
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But does changing its color work
on another with the same tactic?
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The crocodile fish, like many others,
never see him coming.
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The cuttlefish isn't the only
camouflaged assassin in the sea.
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In the warm waters off Mozambique,
coral reefs are plentiful and perilous.
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The domain of a
stone-cold killer.
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Besides his invisibility cloak, the
stonefish secretes powerful neurotoxins
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from the base of his dorsal spine.
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He's the deadliest fish on the planet,
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capable of killing a human
in less than an hour.
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The trade-off for looking like a stone
is that he's not a good swimmer.
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But then, he doesn't have to be.
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He can remain motionless for hours
until opportunity strikes.
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(suspense music)
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When the prey is less than
a body length away,
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he snaps open his jaws to suck it in.
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The stonefish shares the reef
with his equally deadly relative--
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the scorpionfish.
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Like the stonefish,
he vanishes among the coral.
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But unlike his motionless cousin,
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the scorpionfish will creep
closer to his prey.
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It uses its gill covers to seal its mouth.
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Snapping them open creates powerful
suction to deliver the kiss of death.
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(suspense music)
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While the scorpionfish boasts venom
and camouflage as its superpowers,
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the octopus tops it with camouflage,
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venom, jet propulsion,
eight super-sticky tentacles,
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and a hunger for scorpionfish.
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The octopus' shifting colors
help her track prey in stealth mode.
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Her superb vision sees straight
through the scorpionfish's
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own brilliant camouflage,
even at a distance.
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(intense music)
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The hunt is on.
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The octopus' jet propulsion
gives her an edge.
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But the scorpionfish lucks out,
finding a tight hole to slip into,
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cheating death, at least today.
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Undaunted, the hungry octopus
quickly spots her next victim--
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a stonefish.
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Its rock impression isn't fooling anyone,
especially the octopus.
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But there's the venom to consider.
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She deftly grabs the stonefish,
avoiding its poisonous fins,
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and delivers her own paralyzing toxin.
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She retreats to her lair
to enjoy the feast.
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On Africa's reefs, there's always
a bigger fish in the sea...
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and dropping your guard
could be the last thing you do.
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A nurse shark is on the prowl.
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He's a slow-moving bottom-dweller,
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but that's part of his unique
hunting strategy.
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Normally a night stalker,
he's coaxed from his cave
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at the promise of his
favorite food: octopus.
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Predator versus predator.
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Thanks to highly sensitive,
whisker-like barbels
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in front of his nostrils,
no nook or cranny is beyond his grasp.
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The octopus flees for a bolt-hole.
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Not fast enough.
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The shark's narrow mouth sucks
the octopus from his hiding place.
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The octopus' venomous beak,
like a knife at a gunfight,
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is no match for the
shark's deadly grip.
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On Africa's southeastern coastline,
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the ocean pounds against a rocky,
jagged shoreline.
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Sea and land wage a titanic war
with each pounding wave.
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And yet the most intricate
and delicate relationships flourish here.
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Brown mussels filter the minute
organisms brought in on the tide.
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Their strong glue affixes
them to the rocks,
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where the oystercatcher
tries to pick them off.
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When they fall into the surf,
the rock lobsters take over...
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cracking them like peanuts
with their powerful mandibles.
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Fast-growing juveniles consume up to four
percent of their body weight each day.
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They may never stop growing
over their 20-year life-span.
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When food is scarce,
the lobsters get crabby.
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Unlike their cold-water counterparts,
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warm-water rock lobsters lack heavy pincers.
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Instead, they march into battle
waving their big front horns.
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If threats don't work, they tangle.
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Ultimately, the strongest lobster
claims the mussel.
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Its powerful mouthparts sever the threads
that hold the mussel closed
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and crush the thin edge of the shell,
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selfishly devouring
its sumptuous meal alone.
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On the shoreline,
the competition is just as stiff.
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A red tide delivers rock lobsters
to kelp gulls by the hundreds.
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As more birds arrive,
a fight is brewing.
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A feeding frenzy erupts as kelp gulls
scramble to snatch rock lobster,
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crabs, and anything else
washed ashore on the red tide.
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The deadly tide occurs when powerful
winds churn the waters,
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stirring up algae from the deep ocean.
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In warmer water, the algae blooms,
sucking oxygen from the water
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and suffocating sea creatures.
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00:29:12,563 --> 00:29:16,083
The scavenging kelp gulls
couldn't be happier.
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00:29:26,443 --> 00:29:29,083
With sharp eyes and sharper bills,
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00:29:29,163 --> 00:29:32,563
they spot their prey
and greedily crack it open.
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00:29:43,243 --> 00:29:48,923
Without the gulls, the stranded lobsters
would rot under the African sun...
239
00:29:51,763 --> 00:29:56,563
so the gulls are performing a public
service by cleaning up the beach.
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00:30:01,403 --> 00:30:05,683
While kelp gulls fill the air
with riotous squawking,
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00:30:05,763 --> 00:30:12,403
along the reefs of Aliwal Shoal,
a hunter lurks as silent as death.
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00:30:16,923 --> 00:30:21,243
For a shark, he's extremely slow-moving,
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00:30:21,323 --> 00:30:27,683
but at three meters long and 160
kilograms, he's every inch a shark.
244
00:30:29,163 --> 00:30:33,123
The ragged-tooth shark's name says it all.
245
00:30:33,203 --> 00:30:38,283
Those choppers are adapted
for gripping, not tearing.
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00:30:38,363 --> 00:30:41,043
It often swallows food whole.
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00:30:51,683 --> 00:30:55,243
He's just as dangerous as he looks,
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00:30:55,323 --> 00:30:59,723
secretive, unpredictable, and aggressive.
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00:31:02,323 --> 00:31:08,323
Its long, muscular tail can propel him
in an instant, with powerful force.
250
00:31:16,803 --> 00:31:20,483
Raggies spend the day biding their time,
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00:31:21,923 --> 00:31:25,003
hanging out at reefs and shipwrecks.
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00:31:29,203 --> 00:31:36,203
Most sharks must keep moving to breathe.
Raggies are the only sharks that gulp air.
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00:31:36,283 --> 00:31:43,243
Pumping water over their gills gives
them a killer advantage-- stealth.
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00:31:52,843 --> 00:31:55,483
They gather along
their northern migration route
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00:31:55,563 --> 00:31:58,723
towards Mozambique's warmer waters...
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00:32:03,283 --> 00:32:08,283
stopping to rest at Aliwal Shoal,
where the caves provide shelter...
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00:32:11,603 --> 00:32:13,883
and plenty of prey.
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00:32:16,803 --> 00:32:21,283
Smaller schools of fish
swim close to the shark for protection.
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00:32:23,603 --> 00:32:29,203
These sharks use the art of surprise
to capture any unsuspecting victim.
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00:32:51,283 --> 00:32:57,403
With a quick sideways swipe of his head,
it snaps up its meal in one quick gulp.
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00:33:27,243 --> 00:33:31,803
Like bustling cities,
the reefs of Africa's deadly oceans
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00:33:31,883 --> 00:33:34,243
display a world of wonder.
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00:33:36,323 --> 00:33:40,803
Within multicolored formations,
gullies, and caves,
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00:33:40,883 --> 00:33:43,843
thousands of species of fish thrive.
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00:33:53,563 --> 00:33:58,363
And when a streamlined predator
slinks around for dining opportunities,
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00:33:58,443 --> 00:34:00,963
that's "a moray."
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00:34:03,803 --> 00:34:05,603
Slithering through the reef,
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00:34:05,683 --> 00:34:10,763
the moray eel worms its way
deep into crevices, looking for fish.
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00:34:28,403 --> 00:34:31,643
Its sharp, jagged, backwardly
curving teeth
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00:34:31,723 --> 00:34:34,803
and two sets of jaws offer no escape.
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00:34:39,363 --> 00:34:45,243
But as predators go, there's more
here than morays.
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00:34:45,323 --> 00:34:51,323
Whitetip reef sharks and gray reef
sharks hunt the eels.
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00:35:10,563 --> 00:35:14,043
While the whitetip reef sharks
patrol the bottom,
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00:35:14,123 --> 00:35:17,403
gray reef sharks cruise above the reefs...
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00:35:18,563 --> 00:35:21,723
leaving this moray eel no place to hide.
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00:35:23,803 --> 00:35:27,643
What's worse than being chased
by a hungry shark?
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00:35:27,723 --> 00:35:30,003
Being pursued by a pack of them.
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00:35:55,523 --> 00:35:59,123
The gang of whitetip sharks
claims the prize...
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00:36:00,763 --> 00:36:02,883
(intense music)
280
00:36:17,563 --> 00:36:21,483
while the gray reef sharks
can only watch from afar.
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00:36:25,083 --> 00:36:29,003
This time, they have to be satisfied
with leftovers.
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00:36:35,363 --> 00:36:39,123
As the sun sets, the ocean
grows agitated.
283
00:36:42,363 --> 00:36:47,963
Some large Cape fur seals head back
to colder waters after the sardine run.
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00:36:48,043 --> 00:36:52,563
However, these bulls
are about to join one last hunt...
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00:36:55,403 --> 00:36:59,403
courtesy of one of the fastest
predators in the ocean.
286
00:37:02,523 --> 00:37:06,803
The striped marlin can be as deadly
as any shark.
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00:37:06,883 --> 00:37:09,003
Weighing over 200 kilograms,
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00:37:09,083 --> 00:37:12,643
it can reach an impressive
110 kilometers per hour.
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00:37:12,723 --> 00:37:16,843
Armed to the teeth,
it uses its sword-like bill
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00:37:16,923 --> 00:37:19,443
to slash through shoals of fish,
291
00:37:19,523 --> 00:37:23,083
then returns to eat its stunned
and wounded victims.
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00:37:45,523 --> 00:37:50,803
When another streamlined assassin
joins the hunt, the deadliness doubles.
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00:37:52,203 --> 00:37:54,483
With a spectacular dorsal fin,
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00:37:54,563 --> 00:37:57,643
stretching nearly the length
of its three-meter body,
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00:37:57,723 --> 00:38:03,883
the sailfish is the marlin's faster
cousin, the fastest fish in the sea.
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00:38:04,923 --> 00:38:08,963
And it doesn't mind teaming up
to secure a meal.
297
00:38:16,003 --> 00:38:20,203
The risk of injury is always high
in a feeding frenzy...
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00:38:23,843 --> 00:38:27,363
especially with multiple predators involved.
299
00:38:29,923 --> 00:38:33,443
Seal bulls try to stay clear
of the marlin's bill.
300
00:38:44,563 --> 00:38:47,843
The hunt ends as quickly as it started.
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00:38:52,683 --> 00:38:57,643
Tonight, as a full moon
shines a spotlight on the sea,
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00:38:57,723 --> 00:39:02,803
night stalkers take the stage--
silvertip sharks.
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00:39:02,883 --> 00:39:07,963
Large, dominant, and easily angered.
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00:39:10,563 --> 00:39:14,443
A silvertip shark is so broadly ferocious,
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00:39:14,523 --> 00:39:19,323
it would attack a fellow silvertip,
even one larger than itself.
306
00:39:19,403 --> 00:39:23,123
A formidable predator,
with keen hearing and smell...
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00:39:26,123 --> 00:39:31,003
and exceptionally large eyes
that pierce dark, murky waters.
308
00:39:38,843 --> 00:39:42,643
Its long, broad snout hides dozens of rows
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00:39:42,723 --> 00:39:46,563
of deadly serrated teeth
it uses to saw through prey.
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00:40:11,723 --> 00:40:15,883
Its skin is like armor,
constructed of hard,
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00:40:15,963 --> 00:40:19,683
sharp, tooth-like denticles
instead of scales.
312
00:40:22,883 --> 00:40:27,803
Silvertips make sudden, unpredictable
moves to confuse their prey.
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00:40:29,803 --> 00:40:35,803
And by sensing vibrations in the water,
no prey or threat goes unnoticed.
314
00:40:38,563 --> 00:40:41,923
The shoal of fish creates a
doughnut-shaped ball,
315
00:40:42,003 --> 00:40:46,483
with rings of clear water,
trying to evade the attackers.
316
00:40:49,083 --> 00:40:52,083
But the silvertips can't be stopped.
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00:41:13,843 --> 00:41:16,803
At the bottom of the ocean,
an ambush predator
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00:41:16,883 --> 00:41:21,483
closely related to the shark
seemingly flies through the water.
319
00:41:23,363 --> 00:41:28,723
A stingray uses electro-sensors,
not eyes, to find its meals.
320
00:41:30,283 --> 00:41:36,163
Its serrated tail is tipped with a deadly,
venomous point to thwart predators.
321
00:41:41,523 --> 00:41:43,003
(tense music)
322
00:41:44,523 --> 00:41:46,563
And here comes one now.
323
00:41:48,763 --> 00:41:54,003
The rare broadnose, sevengill cow shark
slowly patrols the bottom.
324
00:42:12,843 --> 00:42:17,363
The stingray desperately looks
to hide on the sandy ocean floor.
325
00:42:19,083 --> 00:42:21,323
But the broadnose isn't fooled.
326
00:42:23,963 --> 00:42:28,163
The shark is surprisingly agile
as it slips around crevices.
327
00:42:44,243 --> 00:42:47,763
And when its senses lock
onto potential prey,
328
00:42:47,843 --> 00:42:49,963
it moves in a flash...
329
00:43:00,443 --> 00:43:02,883
foiling the stingray's plan.
330
00:43:02,963 --> 00:43:06,203
Now it swims for its life...
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00:43:14,483 --> 00:43:16,523
but not fast enough.
332
00:43:41,763 --> 00:43:46,243
Africa's oceans, vast and treacherous.
333
00:43:46,323 --> 00:43:50,043
While it teems with life,
it's a cauldron of death,
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00:43:50,123 --> 00:43:55,803
where hunter and hunted stir the waters,
just as they have done for millennia.
335
00:43:57,683 --> 00:44:01,163
Bloodshed brings balance
to this ancient ecosystem,
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00:44:01,243 --> 00:44:08,203
where, despite its size, there is nowhere
to run and nowhere to hide.