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00:00They cover two-thirds of our planet.
00:07They hold clues to the mysteries of our past.
00:12And they're vital for our future survival.
00:18But the secrets of our oceans have remained largely undiscovered.
00:23I win!
00:25Yes! Yes!
00:28Explorer Paul Rose is leading a team of ocean experts
00:32on a series of underwater science expeditions.
00:37For a year, the team has voyaged across the world
00:40to build up a global picture of our seas.
00:43We are doing some pretty uncharted research here.
00:46That is psychedelically awful!
00:49We're here to try and understand the Earth's oceans
00:52and put them in a human scale.
00:57Our oceans are changing faster than ever.
01:00I've never seen ice like this before!
01:04There's never been a better time
01:06to explore the last true wilderness on Earth.
01:22That's good. Perfect.
01:25The team is about to explore
01:27the sparkling blue waters of the Mediterranean Sea.
01:33The remnant of an ancient ocean,
01:35this temperate sea is now home to over 700 varieties of fish
01:40and almost 10% of the world's marine species.
01:47Surrounded by the continents of Europe, Asia and Africa,
01:51its coastline is one of the most densely populated in the world.
01:57And the human pressure on this sea
01:59is magnified by 100 million visitors each year.
02:04Most people think about the Med as a holiday destination.
02:07It's hot, sunny, there's nice sandy beaches,
02:10but it's an ecosystem under pressure.
02:14Western civilisation developed around these shores,
02:18but now human activity is threatening to ruin this sea.
02:22The Mediterranean has been critically important
02:25for so many thousands of years, but the evidence is there.
02:28The Mediterranean is a shadow of what it once was.
02:33The team is here to explore the profound effect
02:36that man is having on these endangered waters.
02:42Quite a bit of life here, but no large fish.
02:46On this expedition, environmentalist Philippe Cousteau
02:50investigates the delicate balance of marine life here
02:53and tries to protect one of man's most feared predators.
02:58The great white shark is definitely the holy grail, so to speak,
03:02and to search for them here in the Mediterranean is fantastic.
03:08You actually can't see a way out.
03:10It is like you're surrounded on all sides.
03:14Marine biologist and oceanographer Thuny Marteau
03:17braves treacherous caves for evidence of some of the greatest changes
03:21to have shaped this sea.
03:24This cave is like a time capsule.
03:26This was once all dry land.
03:31Maritime archaeologist Dr Lucy Blue explores how the Mediterranean
03:35gave rise to one of Europe's first superpowers.
03:39The sea is often seen as that big, dangerous expanse of blue
03:43that stops people moving around,
03:45but the Mediterranean is quite the opposite.
03:47It was a superhighway for millennia.
03:55The expedition will begin at the centre of the Mediterranean,
03:59in the waters between Italy and the island of Sicily,
04:02the Straits of Messina.
04:05The team is here to search for a prehistoric creature
04:08that's increasingly threatened.
04:11One of the largest predatory sharks in the world,
04:14but one of the most rarely seen, the six-gill shark.
04:19Typically, they're found in about 2,000 metres,
04:22around 6,000 or 7,000 feet of water.
04:24We assume they ride up in the middle of the night to feed
04:27and then return back to the depths before the day.
04:30To have them here, in about 40 metres of depth,
04:33where we can get down and see them, is just super rare.
04:36There's only a few places in the world where they've been found.
04:43If he's successful, expedition leader Paul
04:46will be one of only a few people ever to encounter this shark.
04:52Filming this vulnerable creature could give us a chance
04:55to learn more about this deep-ocean animal
04:58facing threats from fishing, pollution and habitat destruction.
05:04We tend to think that obviously they've been filmed and studied loads,
05:08but they haven't.
05:09So when I realise a glimpse is a success,
05:12it really puts pressure on to an ice dive.
05:18This rare opportunity is because of the peculiar underwater geography here.
05:24The Straits of Messina are a bottleneck connecting two deep-sea basins.
05:31Tides and currents create upwellings,
05:34powerful surges of turbulent deep-sea water
05:37that are forced up and through this shallow, narrow channel,
05:41dragging up rare creatures normally only found in the depths.
05:47The danger is that with these big overfalls, as we call them,
05:51and upwellings, that I'll get drawn to the surface quickly.
05:54And it could be that I could come all the way to the surface
05:59and I can't afford to do that because I'd get decompression sickness,
06:03I'd get the bends.
06:04And it can be serious enough that I can end up, you know,
06:08tonight, I could do that dive, 40 metres, get blown to the surface
06:12and be in a wheelchair the rest of my life.
06:15Adding to the risk, this dive has to be made at night, around the new moon.
06:21There are only a few nights when conditions are right,
06:24with tides strong enough to pull the sixgill up from the deep.
06:31At midnight, Paul heads out into the inky waters.
06:38He will head the dive team, with Philippe as his standby.
06:45I think this is an absolutely incredible opportunity to see a sixgill shark
06:49because we know so little about these animals.
06:52And the more evidence that we can gather about what they're doing down there,
06:56the better.
06:57The better for us to understand them,
06:59and also the better for us to hopefully protect them.
07:05Right, Paul's good to go.
07:07Slow.
07:12Down we go.
07:14Good luck, mate.
07:19We're moving pretty fast, actually.
07:22There's a real sense of purpose.
07:28Sharks are crucial to the health of our oceans.
07:31The sixgill is almost identical to sharks from 200 million years ago.
07:37A living fossil that offers an insight into our prehistoric sea life.
07:44There's a lot of activity down here. We're swimming like the blazes.
07:50The night dive reveals some of the sea's nocturnal marine species,
07:55like the moray eel.
08:02Paul swims by something that could entice a sixgill into the area.
08:08It's not a shark, but it's a beautiful octopus.
08:12Octopus as well as fish and small sharks are part of the sixgill diet.
08:20But no sign of our shark, I'm afraid.
08:29The rescue boat is tracking the divers' lights,
08:32but diving at night in a strong current is a worry for dive supervisor Richard Bull.
08:38No matter how many times we've checked it, I'm always thinking,
08:41what haven't we spotted? What is going to go wrong?
08:44When things go wrong when you dive in, it's bad.
08:48Do you know what I think the worst thing is? A missing diver.
08:54Paul still hasn't seen a shark.
08:57He's swimming against an exhausting three-knot current,
09:00so he's rapidly using up his air supply.
09:10Suddenly, the rescue boat loses sight of the divers 40 metres below.
09:21To avoid decompression sickness as they ascend,
09:24Paul and his team need to breathe the pure oxygen the rescue boat is carrying.
09:30If we can't find them, the O2 tanks that they need for decompression that hang under the boat
09:35won't be there when they come up, so it's very dangerous.
09:39Mike Kazik is in charge of communications.
09:47Paul, surface?
09:49Yeah, just reporting. We've started to leave the bottom.
09:54We've lost you.
09:55We've lost you, so I need someone with lights to shine them to the surface so that we can track you, OK?
10:02Roger, roger.
10:13Keep your light shining up, Paul. Keep your light shining up.
10:16Keep your light shining up.
10:24At last, through the gloom, the divers' lights are spotted.
10:28Let's get some oxygen. Oxygen is going in now, and we're right over the top of them.
10:33You can see the cylinders. Well done. Thanks, guys.
10:37You know, your heart skips a beat for a second, but we found them.
10:42The relief that the team is safe is matched by frustration that they fail to find the six-gill shark.
10:50Oh, what a disappointment. We have just swapped our little legs off.
10:57You know, a bit tired from the exercise, but disappointed, really, blindly.
11:03I felt that we would find him. We did.
11:11The next night at midnight, Paul dives again.
11:21Right, we're picking up the pace again.
11:27But after another exhausting swim, the dive ends.
11:32No sign of our shark.
11:35Sorry, guys.
11:42The team is beginning to understand why sightings of this shark are so rare.
11:51I look at the size of the strait and the small area that we can cover,
11:56although it feels like a whopping great big area.
11:59I realise it's a real needle in a haystack job, this.
12:02Got one chance left tonight.
12:06It's the last night of the new moon.
12:08It's the last night of the new moon,
12:11when the tide could bring the six-gill shark up from the depths.
12:15So Paul has pushed his equipment to the limit
12:18to give himself as much time as possible underwater.
12:23I've got the biggest cylinders I can carry and swim fast with, pumped to the absolute max.
12:28I mean, it's our opportunity to learn something about them and help study them.
12:32So it means a lot.
12:34Six-gills aren't aggressive to humans,
12:37so to increase his chances of attracting one,
12:40Paul is attaching a bait bag to his dive belt.
12:44It's not that that great lump of tuna attracts the shark to bite you,
12:50but it grabs the lump of tuna and heads off into the deep, dragging you with it.
12:55And I think that's when you've got to be prepared to get rid of it.
12:58Survival. It's a strong instinct, isn't it?
13:04At 1.30 in the morning, the final dive begins.
13:18I do have to tell you, Philippe, it's absolutely perfect.
13:26We've slowed down a bit because we've come across a John Dory.
13:31It's a fantastic-looking fish.
13:34Identifiable by the dark spot on the side of its body,
13:38this fish is another food source for predatory sharks.
13:42But we've got no time to waste, that's for sure.
13:49What are you seeing down there, Omer?
13:51Communications with Paul have failed.
13:55No, we've got nothing. I don't even hear you speak to me.
13:59Unaware that Philippe can't hear him, Paul presses on with his search.
14:05But I can't see anything. Where's the shark?
14:10Come on, baby. Where are you?
14:15Paul is down to his last ten minutes of air when he gets a signal from one of his dive team.
14:21Oh, wow.
14:23Surface, Paul. Surface, Paul.
14:26I am with a six-gill shark.
14:30Can you believe this?
14:38This is one of the largest predatory sharks in the world.
14:43It's a rare encounter with a mainly solitary animal
14:46that spends much of its life at the bottom of the sea,
14:50diving to depths of 2,000 metres.
14:54Look at those eyes. It's got those great green eyes.
14:58The eyes of deep-water sharks like the six-gill can reflect light.
15:03It's a rare encounter with a shark that spends much of its life at the bottom of the sea,
15:08diving to depths of 2,000 metres.
15:12It's a rare encounter with a shark that spends much of its life at the bottom of the sea,
15:17diving to depths of 2,000 metres.
15:20The eyes of deep-water sharks like the six-gill can reflect light,
15:24enhancing their vision and allowing them to see in the gloom of the deep sea.
15:31One, two, three, four, five, six. Yeah, there you go.
15:36Most sharks have evolved to have just five pairs of gills.
15:40But the six-gills on this shark make it similar to sharks dating from 200 million years ago.
15:46It's like swimming with a living dinosaur.
15:49The sixth gill is thought to help them breathe in the oxygen-depleted waters of the extreme depths.
15:56That's not the only primitive feature.
15:59Its teeth and the structure of the jaw mean it closely resembles fossils of sharks from the Jurassic period.
16:19Six-gill sharks spend most of their life at extreme depths, where they can't be reached,
16:25so rare film like this will help scientists to study them.
16:31Oh, bloody, there it goes.
16:40The six-gill shark is the largest shark in the world.
16:43It's the largest shark in the world.
16:50I don't know what's going on. Not a good sign.
16:53Philippe still doesn't know what's happened, but as the divers begin to ascend, contact is restored.
16:59OK, Paul, surface. What did you see down there, Robert?
17:02We're now slowly coming up to our first stop.
17:09But we've all got big grins.
17:12Paul, surface.
17:14Confirmed. Did you see a shark? Did you see a six-gill? Over.
17:18Roger, roger. I saw a six-gill shark, and he was a beauty.
17:23And it was a wonderful experience.
17:26We were in contact for five or ten minutes.
17:30Five or ten minutes. Of course, the five or ten minutes, the comms were out.
17:34I began to wonder if we'd see him before we ran out of air.
17:38That's brilliant.
17:39Guys, it's worth the effort. Totally worth the effort.
17:47That is fantastic.
17:49Paul, my man. How was it?
17:53You'll never believe it.
17:55I just swam down, and just when I was thinking, burning up too much air trying to find this,
18:01he just came straight in.
18:04Just as smooth and as easy as you like.
18:09Sharks play a crucial role as predators in our seas and oceans, weeding out the sick and injured.
18:16But numbers are decreasing rapidly.
18:22Later in the expedition, the team will investigate how another shark could be at risk in this fast-changing sea.
18:29Since 1970, fishing in the Mediterranean has increased by almost 50%.
18:35Now conservationists warn that this entire sea is in danger.
18:41The problem with the Med is because technology has advanced so swiftly in the past 50 or 60 years,
18:47and because it's such an enclosed area, this is a place where the technological advances are going to have the most impact.
18:54And that impact is particularly felt by an iconic species of the Mediterranean, the Atlantic bluefin tuna.
19:02They're pretty incredible animals, and they're fast, and they're warm-blooded.
19:06One of the few fish that are warm-blooded, so they're very complex, very interesting animals.
19:10And they're ocean-roaming all over the world.
19:13And they're very highly prized.
19:14The value of the estimated total bluefin tuna catch in the Med is around 400 million pounds.
19:20This has triggered the rise in industrial fishing.
19:27Philippe and marine biologist Thuny are heading off to investigate one of the more recent developments in the Mediterranean.
19:34They're going to look at how the bluefin tuna catch in the Med has changed over time.
19:39Philippe and marine biologist Thuny are heading off to investigate one of the more recent developments in the harvesting of this seed, a tuna farm.
19:51It almost looks like a kind of rubberized pen you'd see at an amusement park for people to go splash around in.
19:57This is going to be full of tuna.
19:59And ironically enough, this is pretty much the only place I'm ever going to see such large schools.
20:05Anymore?
20:06Anymore.
20:08There are now over 40 offshore tuna farms in the Mediterranean.
20:12Go on, go for it.
20:15Go for it.
20:22Just look at the size of the net. It's huge.
20:26In one way I was really looking forward to seeing these tuna because I've never gotten to see them before in the wild.
20:33But seeing them swimming in circle after circle over and over.
20:36Yeah.
20:5820,000 to 30,000 tonnes are caught each summer in vast dragnets and towed to the tuna farms.
21:05While these tuna have just recently been caught, they'll be fed regularly to fatten them up.
21:12And then once they've reached a certain size, about 200 to 300 kilograms, they'll be taken to the mainland where they'll be shipped to Japan.
21:22These wild bluefin tuna have migrated here from the Atlantic Ocean to spawn in the warmer waters.
21:28They swim with their mouths open to force water over their gills.
21:33If they stop, they suffocate.
21:36Look at that blue stripe. That's what gives them their name bluefin tuna.
21:40It's a beautiful blue colour.
21:45This farm operates within the law, but conservationists believe the high value of this tuna means some fishermen are exceeding quota limits.
21:53What's more, some are even flouting restrictions on the size of the tuna they catch.
22:00The fear is that more and more tuna farms are catching juveniles.
22:04Yeah, this is depleting the population before they even have a chance to procreate and start the next generation.
22:11And that's pushing the bluefin population here to the brink of extinction.
22:16Scientists believe that as much as 20,000 tonnes of bluefin tuna are caught illegally in the Mediterranean every year.
22:25The Med's most iconic fish, and the traditional fisheries it once supported, are now close to collapse.
22:33It doesn't just have an implication for the Mediterranean, it has an implication for the Atlantic as well,
22:37because the bluefin tuna are caught illegally in the Mediterranean.
22:41It doesn't just have an implication for the Mediterranean, it has an implication for the Atlantic as well,
22:45because they're a migratory species.
22:47For the survival of the Mediterranean economy and survival of Mediterranean traditions that have been in place for thousands of years,
22:54you have to maintain a population of that species, and that isn't happening.
23:03The exploitation of this sea is no new phenomenon.
23:07Man's influence has been felt here for millennia.
23:11Some of the greatest civilisations in our history have used the Mediterranean to their advantage.
23:20Maritime archaeologist Dr Lucy Blue has been working in the Med for much of her career,
23:25exploring how this sea is uniquely important in the development of Western civilisation.
23:32This is where cultures developed around these shores.
23:35The sea in this instance, I think more than anywhere else in the world,
23:38actually facilitated the communications and the development of these civilisations.
23:45The Romans ruled this sea over 2,000 years ago and became one of humanity's first superpowers.
23:54Lucy has brought the team to the Egeri Islands to the west of Sicily.
23:59She wants to search the wreck of a Roman cargo ship for any clues to what was being traded
24:04and how far these routes stretched across the Mediterranean.
24:10It's 1st century BC, so it's, you know, the early part of the Roman period,
24:16where they'd just taken Sicily over, so it's about development and expansion.
24:22They're going to dive to just one of hundreds of Roman wrecks that have been discovered in the Med.
24:28Clear evidence of the scale of traffic around this sea in ancient times.
24:34OK, so we're going to moor up to the buoy that you can see over there, where the other boat is.
24:39Yeah.
24:40And there's a shot line there, it goes down to 12 metres,
24:42and basically that just slips down quite gradually to about 24 metres.
24:47Yeah.
24:49Clear.
24:51On your mark, clear.
25:01The wooden structure of this shipwreck has long since disintegrated.
25:05What remains is some of the cargo it carried, a mound of amphorae, enormous ceramic containers.
25:18Just getting a first glimpse of the amphorae on the seabed, and it's really quite remarkable.
25:25And although I've worked on a number of shipwrecks over the years,
25:29I've never actually seen such a large number of amphorae concentrated in one spot.
25:37The wreck dates from around the 1st century BC, that's over 2,000 years old.
25:48MUSIC
25:58Now that's a fairly intact one there.
26:02But what were the Romans trading?
26:05Can I grab that end?
26:08What have you got?
26:10I've got 120.
26:14They're huge!
26:15Huge!
26:17From the shape and the fact that they were lined with bitumen or pitch, they likely carried wine.
26:24Probably would have carried about 20, 25 litres of wine.
26:30You can see the shape of them, it's perfectly made to slot into the hull of the vessel.
26:35This is how they would have stored them, sort of one on top of the other in the hull of a Roman merchantman.
26:42Having found out that these amphorae are likely to have carried wine,
26:46Lucy now needs to look for any clues that might reveal who produced it.
26:51There's one here that has the name of the family that produced the wine.
26:57Papia.
26:59Based in southern Italy, the Papia family were a powerful dynasty of winemakers
27:04who exported it around the Mediterranean.
27:06It's likely that they were transporting them from Sicily, maybe even to North Africa.
27:12This would have been part of the general trade in wine and olive oil,
27:17gara, which is a fish paste, that was being conducted around the Mediterranean at this time.
27:28This is a record of a trade that linked two continents
27:31This is a record of a trade that linked two continents
27:35and the scale of this operation shows how effectively the Romans established trading routes around the Mediterranean.
27:43There are about 40 amphorae here, but these are only a fraction of the original cargo.
27:50There used to be about 400 to 500, but these have been taken by looters.
27:55It's a big problem in the Mediterranean.
28:02Treasure hunters have damaged and stolen many of the rich but fragile historical remains
28:07that scatter the floor of the Med.
28:13To protect what remains of these amphorae,
28:15this underwater archaeological site is being monitored 24 hours a day by CCTV.
28:22The pictures are fed to the nearby island of Favignana, where they're monitored by police.
28:28Buongiorno.
28:29Possiamo guardare?
28:31Prego.
28:32Grazie.
28:33What was that?
28:34Just to ask permission. I want to have a little respect.
28:37Oh!
28:38We've got some visitors.
28:39There's Paul right in front of the camera.
28:41And there's Lucy.
28:42Lucy!
28:43Lucy!
28:44Lucy!
28:45Lucy!
28:46Lucy!
28:47Lucy!
28:48Lucy!
28:50I think this whole project is so unique,
28:53the fact that they're very interested in the conservation of these relics.
28:56It's kind of sad that they had to in the first place, but it's very cool that they did.
29:01Since CCTV was installed, not a single Roman amphora has been stolen.
29:07The cameras protect what remains of this valuable site,
29:11a record of how the Mediterranean Sea enabled civilisations to expand.
29:20For the team's next mission, Paul and Tuni are heading off to Majorca
29:25to look much further back in time.
29:29They'll be diving underground to search for evidence of huge changes
29:33which transformed the whole Mediterranean.
29:37Changes that helped bring people here in the first place.
29:50MAJORCA
29:53Majorca lies in the western Mediterranean.
29:56Beneath the island's east coast is a vast network of flooded caves.
30:04This cave system is connected to the sea,
30:07but Paul and Tuni must drive several kilometres inland to reach the entrance.
30:13In these flooded caves are unusual formations that you can only see.
30:18Apparently you can pick them up in the Bahamas and a few other spots,
30:21but this is a really rare opportunity to learn more about the Med.
30:27It's probably the most dangerous bit of diving we're going to do.
30:30Yeah, because that's making me feel better.
30:40Oh, here we go.
30:41That looks like a cave.
30:43It doesn't fill me with joy, it has to be said.
30:45It doesn't look very inviting.
30:48Paul and oceanographer Tuni will be searching for proof
30:51of when Mediterranean sea levels dropped many thousands of years ago,
30:55changing the coastline and creating the ideal conditions for people to spread and settle.
31:04They'll have to brave a perilous section of flooded caves.
31:08And though they're both trained cave divers, this is a dangerous task.
31:14There's a definite sense within me that this is a risky dive.
31:17As soon as you can't get to the surface, there's a lot of opportunities for things to go wrong.
31:26They're hoping to examine rare rock formations deep inside the earth.
31:43The dive begins with a claustrophobic entranceway.
31:48Here we go.
31:51Yeah, the trick here, Tuni, is going to be head first for sure.
31:56Just have to take our time as we go through this squeeze.
32:01Visibility's gone to next to nothing.
32:06Very, very, very tight indeed, this.
32:09You couldn't possibly go through much smaller of a space.
32:17One hand at a time. One hand at a time.
32:23It goes down as well.
32:26Tuni and Paul dive further and further down below ground into the cave system.
32:33What a brutal start. It's no visibility. It's very cold.
32:38Here we go.
32:43As they travel deeper into the network, they reach a mysterious water haze.
32:50Here we go. Halocline coming up, Tuni. Look.
32:56This haze, or halocline, is caused by light rays diffracting as they pass through the different densities of clearer freshwater and denser saltwater.
33:06It's the first sign these inland caves are connected to the sea.
33:11I love the fact that you've got freshwater above and seawater below,
33:16and then you get this crazy kind of live cordial effect where the two meet.
33:21I've never been able to see density before.
33:26Physics in action.
33:30Coming out of that halocline, look how clear it is now.
33:34Oh, that is beautiful.
33:45The divers emerge into the crystal clear water of an enormous cavern.
33:52Wow, Tuni, look at the size of this room.
33:55This is just incredible.
34:03Wow.
34:11I'd always fancied being an astronaut, but maybe this is as close as I'm ever going to get.
34:16Instead of outer space, it's like the cave divers used that word, inner space, and it's very true.
34:28Deep inside the earth, they've found what they've been looking for.
34:31Spectacular sculptural rock formations that shouldn't even be here.
34:38We've come underwater here, below sea level,
34:42and yet we're seeing these stalagmites on the bottom and the stalactites from the ceiling,
34:48which means that this cave was once dry because those things only form in dry caves.
34:55These majestic structures are formed over time by mineral-rich water dripping into dry caves.
35:02To find them in this flooded cave is proof that the sea level was once much lower than it is today.
35:12And these rare bulbous formations around the stalactites and stalagmites,
35:16found almost nowhere else on earth, can reveal when the sea level changed.
35:22This bulge was formed when the sea level was here.
35:26Lapping water deposited minerals, which created this blancmange-like structure.
35:33By dating these mineral deposits, scientists can build up a chronological record of changing sea levels in the Med.
35:41So the sea level's been going up and down over hundreds of thousands of years.
35:46This evidence proves that 60,000 to 80,000 years ago, the Mediterranean Sea was shallower.
35:54Lower sea levels exposed new ground and created land bridges between islands.
36:00This allowed early humans, who'd migrated out of Africa,
36:04to move around the Mediterranean, settling on its coasts and islands.
36:08This cave is like a time capsule. It proves how much the Med has changed.
36:12And that's had a huge influence.
36:19The Mediterranean has been host to humanity for hundreds of thousands of years.
36:28Today, over 150 million people live around its shores.
36:32That number almost doubles in the summer, with the influx of holidaymakers.
36:40Pollution, fishing and coastal development are putting enormous stress on these fragile waters, threatening marine life.
36:51Rare species are most likely to suffer.
36:54And one of the Med's most endangered species is the sea urchin.
36:58Many are surprised to learn it's here at all.
37:02Philippe wants to investigate why the Mediterranean is home to one of our most feared predators, the great white shark.
37:18People think, oh, Jaws, sharks are these monsters of the ocean coming to eat you.
37:23But sharks are critical to the health of the marine environment because they're apex predators.
37:28They have a perfect place in their ecosystem, balancing and keeping it healthy.
37:33They are beautiful.
37:38These great whites were filmed off South Africa.
37:40They're most likely to be found there or off California and Australia.
37:44The clear waters of the Med might seem an unlikely habitat for this predatory shark because of a limited food supply.
37:53But there have been rare sightings to suggest the great white is living here.
38:02This extraordinary footage was recorded ten years ago by a photojournalist.
38:07This extraordinary footage was recorded ten years ago by a fisherman on holiday in the Med with his son.
38:18It shows a great white shark circling the fisherman's boat before tearing chunks from a small thresher shark he'd caught.
38:37But sightings like this are extremely uncommon.
38:41There's some video of great whites in the past.
38:45But any evidence that we can gather to prove that great white sharks live in the Mediterranean would help us to protect these incredible creatures.
38:58To investigate why great whites could be here, the team is heading to the middle of the Sicilian Channel to the tiny island of Lampedusa.
39:06To investigate why great whites could be here, the team is heading to the middle of the Sicilian Channel to the tiny island of Lampedusa.
39:11This must be him. He's headed right for us.
39:14That is my man. All right, finally.
39:17Good morning.
39:19How are you, man?
39:23They'll be working with patron of the Shark Trust and world expert on great whites in the Med, Ian Ferguson.
39:30We're ready for you.
39:32Ian's been looking for the great white here for over 15 years and he's convinced there's a pattern to the occasional sightings.
39:41Have the sharks that have been caught in this particular month in this area just been pure one-offs or are they actually here for a reason?
39:48And my long-standing hypothesis is that the animals are here and the reason they're here is to give birth.
39:55The Sicilian Channel is the only location in the entire eastern Atlantic region where both pregnant and newborn great whites have been sighted.
40:06Ian believes this could be one of only a few nursery areas identified anywhere for these endangered sharks.
40:13It's an area of great importance. It's obviously a very important habitat for them and we need to get to understand why is this area so important and what can we do to protect the sharks.
40:25So what might make this a suitable breeding ground?
40:31The proposal is to come round here, a deep dive there on the wall, you know, 40 metres, to check out the habitat really.
40:40The idea behind all this is that this could be potential feeding. This is what great whites like to eat.
40:46Toonie and Lucy dive to look for any evidence that this might be a great white nursery.
40:55Lucy, there's a shoal of damselfish just here. They're very, very territorial fish.
41:01They seem to be quite a productive area we're in.
41:07Well, that's a big grouper.
41:10Bottom-dwelling fish like this are a typical part of the diet of juvenile great whites.
41:15Because this is such a great place for fish, it's also a great place for sharks.
41:21And there's further evidence to support Ian's theory.
41:25This shallow shelf is typical of the habitat young great whites need.
41:30It keeps away predators like blue and mako sharks that don't hunt in shallow areas.
41:35But at the surface, events take a turn for the worse.
41:41I've just been to see the captain, and it's Gail's forecast. It'll be 25 knots plus,
41:46which is, you know, at sea, isn't that bad.
41:50But it's a bit of a challenge.
41:53I've just been to see the captain, and it's Gail's forecast.
41:57It'll be 25 knots plus, which is, you know, at sea, isn't that bad.
42:0125 knots plus, which is, you know, at sea, isn't the worst weather.
42:06But from what we've got in mind, it's never going to work.
42:12With the wind picking up, it's urgent to get Tooney and Lucy back on board.
42:18All divers, all divers, surface.
42:21We need to get out of the water as soon as possible.
42:32Yeah, the wind's really picking up now. Wind's really picking up now.
42:36So we've pulled the divers back early. We've pulled Tooney and Lucy back early.
42:40We've got the main engines running now.
42:43We're going to get the guys in and run for Lampedusa fast.
42:51The storm's an unwelcome delay to their investigation of the great white in the Med.
42:56It's a totally different sea out there, isn't it? Yeah.
42:59Yeah, it's like a little seaport there, and it's getting rougher by the minute.
43:15Next day, the storm has subsided.
43:18Keep pulling on yours, Philippe.
43:20And the team decide on our last, hugely ambitious attempt
43:22to gather direct evidence laying a bait trail of chum, pulped oily fish,
43:27to try and attract a great white to the boat.
43:30We're going to deploy the most fantastic shark cage on the planet,
43:34get some people in there, chum and chum and chum,
43:38see if we can find some great whites.
43:46Everyone's aware it's a long day,
43:49Everyone's aware it's a long shot.
43:52They now only have a few days to create a chum slick,
43:56big and nasty enough to attract a great white.
44:02You got it? Yeah, bung it, bung it.
44:06Give it a bit of a shake to start it off.
44:11Bung it.
44:14It's just revolting.
44:16It's horrible, isn't it?
44:20Overnight the fish obviously starts to deteriorate,
44:24so what I'm trying to do is just get the fish mashed up.
44:27It's going to be a very strong mix,
44:29and obviously what we're trying to achieve is a very strong odour trail,
44:32like a corridor for the sharks to follow right up to the boat.
44:36That smell is totally revolting.
44:40Great white sharks have a highly developed sense of smell.
44:43With tiny holes in their snout,
44:46it's thought they can detect minute drops of blood
44:49in water from up to three miles away.
44:54Right, going in. That's it, speed is everything.
44:57Although they have the reputation for being man-eaters,
45:00great whites rarely attack humans.
45:03But Philippe can take no chances
45:06and uses the cage to keep Shark Watch underwater.
45:09Man, it's rough down here.
45:12If we get a hint of seeing a great white shark in the net,
45:15it doesn't matter how uncomfortable we are.
45:27Long day, long night. We've just got to keep going.
45:30And we're doing everything we can to keep our chances high.
45:34The whole team is going to be on watch,
45:37and we're just going to keep at it. All hands, 24 hours.
45:42The team keeps chumming through the night,
45:45and the oily fish slick attracts a tantalising abundance
45:48of sea life towards the boat.
45:51It's just gone midnight,
45:54and the chum slick is suddenly coming alive.
45:57What is that, a flying fish?
46:00These fish have long fins on their sides,
46:03which they use to fly above the water
46:06for around 50 metres to escape from predators.
46:08As well as flying fish,
46:11there are needlefish and a pelagic octopus.
46:14Fantastic. Slick's working, then.
46:17The conditions are right,
46:20and the smelly chum slick is buzzing with life.
46:23Great whites often hunt at night,
46:26using their sense of smell to locate their prey.
46:29So Philippe returns to the cage.
46:32All right.
46:35It is a little bit late,
46:38a little choppy, but still good conditions,
46:41and I'm not giving up hope.
46:44The last sighting of a great white shark
46:47that we know of in the Mediterranean
46:50occurred right around here about a year ago.
46:53What's even more exciting is that the great white sighted
46:56was a juvenile, only about five feet long,
46:59which makes it a critical place for the great white shark.
47:04So even the slightest sign of great white activity here
47:06could be significant.
47:12We'll see, man. We got all night.
47:15Let's see what happens.
47:18Listen, you know, that's all we can do.
47:21With only a few hours left of the expedition,
47:24Ian is on dawn watch.
47:27Then, as morning breaks...
47:30Guys, we've had a chum bag pull down.
47:37One of our mesh bags, the red ones, has been pulled out.
47:40It's great news, right?
47:43It takes a lot to pull that out.
47:46It's good news. We're in. Something's happening.
47:49So we have definitely had a shark that's responded to our chum.
47:52Well, it certainly wasn't those fish that yanked this off.
47:55It's happening, isn't it? Can you believe it?
47:58Encouraged by the encounter,
48:01the team tries everything to lure the shark back.
48:06We've got it.
48:12But as the expedition ends,
48:15the bite is the closest they get
48:18to finding evidence of this endangered creature.
48:22That's it.
48:25It's a tantalising end to the trip.
48:28Down a bit, mate.
48:31But perhaps not such bad news for the shark.
48:33Although it's a slightly perverse way of looking at it,
48:36one side of me is somewhat relieved
48:39that the animals still remain so cryptic and so distant from us
48:42that we're finding it, with all of our effort,
48:45difficult to actually get them to come to us,
48:48which is a shame for us, but possibly good news for white sharks.
48:55We've only ever explored maybe 5% of our oceans.
48:58And in a sense, I think that not finding the great white
49:00is an extension of that mystery.
49:05As the team have seen,
49:08humankind is encroaching more and more on this sea.
49:11The great white might not be able to avoid us for much longer.
49:20During this expedition,
49:23the Mediterranean has revealed some of its many secrets.
49:25Can you believe this?
49:31The team has uncovered proof of this sea's dramatic past
49:34and explored the long relationship humans have had with the Mediterranean.
49:41The expedition has also shown how humans
49:44can put untold pressure on a delicate ecosystem.
49:48Quite a bit of life here, but no large fish.
49:51It's quite a bit of life.
49:53Quite a bit of life here, but no large fish.
49:57I'm not comfortable with always using the word fragile around the Earth,
50:00because I don't think it's a fragile planet.
50:03I actually think it's very, very robust.
50:06But the Mediterranean Sea,
50:09because it's surrounded by so much input
50:12and there's so much stock being taken,
50:15we're asking so much of this small sea
50:18that I think anybody that came and experienced what I just have,
50:20I think it would totally reset
50:23people's thinking and attitudes towards the Mediterranean Sea.
50:29This sea is many things to many people.
50:32A holiday destination,
50:35a historical treasure chest,
50:38a food resource for millions.
50:41It's a rich and diverse environment
50:44with a precious history and a vital future,
50:47both of which need securing.
50:50It's a rich and diverse environment
50:53with a precious history and a vital future,
50:56both of which need securing.