Sea Turtle Fights for Life in Tiger Shark Attack Love Nature
Transcript
00:00 Dolphins prefer to hunt where the odds are stacked in their favor.
00:05 The school of sardines feeding on plankton offers the perfect opportunity.
00:11 The entire pod can feed in one place.
00:15 The dolphins corral the sardines into a tightly packed ball and take turns fishing.
00:23 [music]
00:42 The commotion alerts one of the ocean's greatest hunters, the copper shark.
00:51 It detects the vibrations emitted by the panicked shoal of sardines.
00:59 The trail leads the predator directly to its prey.
01:08 A second shark joins the hunt.
01:13 But its sights are set on a target much larger than the sardines.
01:19 A manta ray.
01:24 Sharks prefer to hunt in murky waters, using stealth to stalk their target from behind.
01:44 Filter feeders, like this manta ray, can fall victim to the shark's cunning.
01:51 [music]
01:57 Like the schooling fish, manta rays feed close to the surface, where plankton is most abundant.
02:06 A pair of specialized fins unrolls to guide plankton into its enormous mouth.
02:15 But the manta's throat is no larger than a human fist,
02:19 and as a result, its diet is restricted almost exclusively to plankton.
02:29 Because they're so big, manta rays don't make an easy meal for a shark.
02:35 Many survive an attack, but the scarring and bite marks remain.
02:41 Evidence of the manta having been in the wrong place at the wrong time.
02:58 The ocean's largest fish also feeds on its tiniest organisms.
03:08 As if skimming the cream off milk, a whale shark slurps up the sheets of plankton that collect on the surface.
03:19 In a single day, one whale shark will filter nearly enough water to fill two Olympic-sized swimming pools.
03:32 A mouth as wide as a bathtub sucks in the plankton.
03:39 A set of gills fitted with filters traps the tiny organisms.
03:49 A loggerhead turtle.
03:52 The largest of all hard-shelled sea turtles, loggerheads are carnivores.
03:59 It's come to feast on crabs and shellfish hiding out in the seabed,
04:04 and on the planktonic jellyfish that ride the current.
04:13 But a hungry visitor approaches.
04:22 The tiger shark has just one thing on its mind.
04:30 Food.
04:34 The tiger shark is one of the ocean's most feared predators.
04:41 At 15 feet long, it's also one of the largest.
04:49 Tiger sharks live in both the open ocean and the coastal areas of tropical and subtropical waters.
04:59 Often called the trash can of the sea, the tiger shark is known for its voracious appetite.
05:07 From stingrays and smaller sharks to car tires and license plates, the tiger shark will eat just about anything.
05:17 No creature is safe.
05:23 The loggerhead takes a short recess from feeding to catch a breath of air.
05:29 But she's spotted.
05:40 The shark strikes from below.
05:46 A death like this is commonplace at the top of the food chain,
05:51 but would not be possible without plankton providing the base for all life in the sea.
05:58 The ocean wanderer's journey has come to an end on the reef.
06:03 Here, sea lions take advantage of the schooling fish brought to their doorstep by the fresh influx of plankton.
06:17 Agile and flexible, sea lions are master swimmers.
06:23 This young hunter whizzes past after a school of jackfish.
06:41 Methodical and relentless in its pursuit.
06:50 From hundreds of fish, its focus belongs to just one.
06:59 But the sea lion's presence invites another hunter.
07:12 A great white shark.
07:17 Nearly 20 feet in length, weighing as much as a rhino, with an appetite to match.
07:29 It's the world's largest predatory fish.
07:38 A hunter 400 million years in the making.
07:44 The great white shark is one of evolution's greatest triumphs.
08:08 The shark advances slowly.
08:11 Though its torpedo-shaped body and powerful tail can propel it through the water at speeds of more than 20 miles an hour.
08:21 The sea lion colony appears to be on high alert, but the determined sea lion continues its chase.
08:36 At last, it's rewarded with a meal.
08:43 The sea lion swims off with its catch, unaware of impending danger.
08:53 The great white homes in.
08:59 In these deeper coastal waters, predatory sea lions quickly become prey.
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09:18 [BLANK_AUDIO]