Sharks With Jacques Cousteau

[Music] oh the shark hammerhead or white tip tiger shovels or blue Whaler by whatever name he is a fearsome brute an almost perfect killing machine with finely balanced instincts of curiosity and caution he comes out of the remote past virtually intact A Primitive creature that can be traced back in a direct line over 180 million years he is one of the most puzzling species of the sea to understand him he must be met on his own terms in his own environment this is the challenge that awaits custo and the men of the Calypso Calypso is then route to a Red Sea Island where we hope to find sharks we have begun our search for the shark we do not know where he will come from nor what attracts him most but we do know that wherever other fish have gathered the shark will soon appear [Music] the divers have come as friends with food and once the fish are sure they mean no danger fulong and Ruiz are overrun by them the white tip shark with a record of unprovoked attacks on human beings even for the experienced diver there's danger attached to their tanks is a shark belly a weapon to bump and butt the white tip away until they can reach safety fulo and Ruiz form a back-to- back [Music] defense without unnecessary movement to agitate the shark's interest they start to the surface knowing that away from the ocean floor they're also vulnerable from beneath the with the Shar nothing is predictable so it is a relief to have F Ruiz and Philip back on Deck we know now the place is right we can mount our major experiments and sharks in this [Music] area most Specialists agree that sharks are attracted by Blood but if there is no blood what will attract them to an alien presence a diver is it sight or smell the mutilated diver is not a man at all but an experimental dummy named Arthur to learn why the shark attacks we started with arur fully equipped and filled with Rags he looks like a diver but he lacks one thing scent to find which is the stronger sense sight or smell arur is filled with fish the shark cannot see always the shark is cautious the Primitive computer of his mind total all the factors that must be present before he acts drawn by smell he stalks arur testing for possible resistance only when he is sure that his victim cannot Escape that there is no danger for him will he become aggressive this pattern of instincts has maintained the survival of his species for hundreds of millions of years no today we begin one of our most significant assignments to trace the migration of sharks are they sedentary or do they travel from Island to island or ocean to Ocean across great distances in location over a selected Reef the divers will be asked to Mark a wide variety of sharks for later identification head diver canaway makes the tag team assignments Ruiz will do the tagging guarded by fulong phip Will photograph it is vital that the tag be placed at a specific spot that will not injure the shark or impair its movement the target area is at the base of the doal fin [Music] depending on the circumstances the divers will use a long spear or short dagger to Mark the shark Barbed hooks with a red tag attached will be placed in the hollow end the red tags give date and location and bear requests that when found they be returned to custo headquarters in Monaco the divers will be working near the surface during tagging and therefore are most vulnerable to provide them with a safe shelter in the open sea we have designed special anti-shark cages [Music] [Music] the blue Whaler is one of the most Splendid but unpredictable of all sharks he follows the whales to prey on the sick the young the defenseless in the sea diffused afternoon sunlight a bullfight like ritual has begun a shark passes back and forth while a man searches for the right moment to place his Bondo it is a k a bull fight without Cape or kill but with the same Mastery over self and fear [Music] that Goen now the heat in the Red Sea has averaged 105° during the day but water conditions remain excellent for filming today we will fish for sharks looking for evidence that our tagging operation has been effective cisto has observed the tagged sharks are the boulder more Curious ones of the species and therefore most likely to to appear again the boldness that brought the Sharks close enough to be tagged will probably bring them in after bait Splash and scent alert the creature ironically the formidable eater does not need much food he can live more than a month without eating without food he will stop growing but he will survive [Music] [Music] once the shark is hooked he will not fight for long the Killer is fragile he's skeleton is made of cartilage he has no bones it is probable that the jaring fight at the end of the line has fatally dislodged his vital organs yet the Shark dies slowly mortally wounded he will still swim for hours the most important part of tagging will be the knowledge gained over a long period by the recovery of the tags 3 weeks ago this was tag 3 weeks ago so the this Shar is not swimming in the open ocean he's living there around the reef instead ENT a Shar I think it's very important it will take a great many tag recoveries to finally establish the migrating patterns of the Sharks Dr Eugene Clark has originated unique experiment for testing shark ability to learn and make visual discriminations on board the Calypso she will recreate the experiments for custo man to try in the open sea the key is a strip face Target Dr Clark's Target will help test all of the shark sensory capabilities sight sound and smell [Music] off the sakin islands Dr Clark divers fulo templier and Dr fris will set up twin targets one is vertical striped the other horizontal in some cases the learning ability of a shark is believed to be roughly that of a domestic rat if this is so it should be possible to train them to come for food in answer to visual [Music] Clues bait is attached to the horizontal strip Target while a vertical striped one is left bare of food when the shark takes food a pipe is wrapped to confirm the shark's contact with the correct Target the shark tends toward the vertical either for reasons of eye structure or habit from seeing others striped fish after cautiously veering toward the vertical the shark finally takes the bait from the horizontal Target [Music] [Music] again the shark first examines the vertical Target before seeking the food on the horizontal [Music] one after a period of weeks when the training is successful the Sharks will ask for food by hitting the bare horizontal [Applause] [Music] Target we think that the pressure waves generate ated by a fish in trouble will bring the shark because the shark's flanks are paved with nerve endings his whole body is a large antenna for receiving infrasonic impulses from great distances at the start no shark had been seen in the area the live fish troll through the water attracted the shark in less than 2 minutes now we will concentrate on the problem of repelling the shark with a bait fish canway makes a shark repellent sandwich for years it has been believed the most effective repellent was copper acetate mixed with a powerful dye packets of shark Chaser like the one in Keno sandwich were given to Airmen who might be forced down in the sea it was good for morale at best [Applause] we will try the newest sha protection device with canway riding shotgun on a small launch jip custo tests the latest US Navy shark Shield the inflatable Johnson shark screen a life ring with a large plastic bag attached concealing a man's scent and camouflaging his body custo directs the operation watches his son take the safety line then splash the water to attract the shark he orders Philipe taken aboard the shark is come too close with divers standing by in case of emergency custo allows a broader test three men floating amidst sharks apparently all the creatures seas are dark confusing objects with no limbs or feet to bite it no familiar shapes and no [Music] smell the Johnson screen is the most effective shark protection yet [Music] devised we have tracked the shark through the Red Sea the Gulf of Aiden and the Indian Ocean there is still one major experiment remaining under the cover of Darkness do sharks feel more protected and are they less [Music] wary at night the shark's Superior sense of smell and sensitivity to vibrations give gives them an advantage over the diver night is more fine more mysterious more frightening [Music] a [Music] [Music] [Music] two harrowing hours invisibility limited to the pool of light around the cage now it is as if they have come back from Hell through the night and entered Dawn the operation continues drawing more and more sharks to the Calypso the spearing of a fish increases the agitation of all the creatures and lures an unexpected Predator a grouper when weighing upwards of 200 lb the incident ignites an explosion the full-fledged frenzy of sharks in the sea divers keep the shark swarming near the cages with handheld bait [Applause] again the most aggressive of the sharks are those already tagged the divers must drive them away to allow others to come [Music] close the primary goal is to observe both underwater and on the monitors above the feeding [Applause] but this one is sure you see the label uh below the doal thing it's not unusual [Music] [Music] hello listen to me closely yes comeand down we are finished come up quickly rear deck bring up the cages so we close the story of the shark many myths are gone we are sure the shark sees well possesses a refined sense of smell and is extraordinarily well equipped to receive specific vibrations for more than six months we have studied him and often felt endangered by him occasionally he will appear in our nightmares [Music]