The bull shark is the bad boy of the shark world,
thought to be responsible for more attacks on people
than any other shark.
Their ferocity is the stuff of nightmares.
Pound for pound, they are the ultimate killer shark.
Last year I travelled to Queensland, Australia to investigate three potential bull shark attacks.
The first in the surf zone at the mouth of a river.
The second on a man swimming at night in an inland lagoon.
The third on a thoroughbred racehorse 80 miles upstream.
At exactly the same time I was there, the biggest bull shark ever caught
was pulled out of a South African river popular with swimmers.
Upon hearing this, I instantly feared another deadly situation.
My name is Jeremy Wade, biologist and extreme fisherman.
I travel the world investigating stories of freshwater monsters.
That's a killer blow.
That's about the thickness of my leg.
This feels a good size fish.
I'm heading to South Africa,
to find out why sharks are leaving their patch and moving into mine.
That's a fish, dorsal and tail, dorsal and tail!
Ripped By mstoll
A series of unusual sightings in the Breede River, South Africa
kick-starts an investigation.
What the scientists discover
shocks both the scientific and the local communities.
For not only is this river inhabited by sharks,
it is home to the biggest bull shark ever caught anywhere in the world.
Measuring 13 feet in length, it is more than three feet longer
than the previous record.
A year later, the team is back to see if they can discover why it was here,
why it was so big, and if that giant was alone.
This is where I come in.
I'm just as puzzled as the scientists by what's going on here,
and my many years' experience of tracking down and catching monster fish from rivers
have got me the unique opportunity to join the investigation.
What we find out could help to answer the most important question of all,
is the presence of this known man-eater a human tragedy
just waiting to happen?
I'm more accustomed to searching for monsters in rivers that tumble from mountain passes.
Or investigating tribal myths in tropical jungles.
Places very remote from our modern world.
So this is going to be very different from anything I've done before.
This is the sleepy fishing village of Witsand,
in a remote corner of South Africa.
Not the place I would normally hunt for a river monster.
However, under the surface of this peaceful scene
lurks a monster bigger and more aggressive
than anything I have ever encountered.
But how can a saltwater shark survive in freshwater?
It is said that for most sharks, spending a day in freshwater
would be like a man walking on the moon without a space suit.
But bull sharks are different.
They have sensors all over their body
which sample the salt content of the water,
working in a way similar to our taste buds.
A special organ called the rectal gland
acts like an on-off switch, releasing or retaining salt as required.
It's their ability to move from shallow coastal waters
where they normally live, up into rivers
that makes them one of the most dangerous of all sharks.
I've investigated fatal attacks in Australian rivers
but bull sharks have also attacked in the Ganges in India,
the Tigris in Iran, in Lake Nicaragua
and even in the US, in New Jersey's Matawan Creek.
And now one has been found here,
in the Breede River.
Only this one was much, much bigger...
swimming undetected where people swim.
Perhaps freshwater rivers are no safer than the open sea.
So far, I only have a few photos and newspaper clippings to go on.
So, I meet up with shark scientist Meaghen McCord,
who brings me right up to date.
- What exactly happened last year? - We were here for three days' fishing.
On the third day we were up in that area up there
that's commonly known as Hunpunt.
Meaghen led last year's expedition which caught the bull shark,
known further up the coast as the Zambezi shark.
Suddenly, around three o'clock in the afternoon, our angler had his fish taken.
About two and a half hours later, we managed to see that it actually was a Zambezi shark.
- What are you hoping to find out this year? - First of all
we want to find out whether that shark was just a once-off in the system.
We're really counting on you to catch us another animal.
Normally I head out on my expeditions to unpick a riddle
and satisfy my own curiosity.
But this time I have a scientific team depending on me...
and the results could mean the difference between life and death.
This is the biggest fishing challenge I have ever faced
and if I connect with one of these sharks,
it could be the biggest fish I have ever hooked.
It's only now that I realise what I've gotten into.
The sharks in this river have a very specific way of feeding...
and that has actually given me quite a challenge in terms of what rig I use,
because I've got to come up with something that...
presents the bait actually in quite a delicate way
but at the same time is strong enough to give me half a chance
to get the shark in and, to be honest, at the moment,
I'm not quite sure how I'm going to achieve that.
Sharks have evolved the greatest sensitivity to electricity
of any animal.
Tiny pores around the snout, called the ampullae of Lorenzini,
detect minute electrical fields
produced by other animals in the water.
But they could also detect electrical micro-currents
produced by my metal hook and leader,
which is going to make bait presentation very difficult.
I'm basically just looking at what else I've got in my bag.
I've got various different types of wire.
I've got smaller hooks.
Yeah, I think I'll just have to play around with stuff for a few hours
and just see what I can come up with.
What I'm thinking of using is something like this.
The trouble with these sharks here is, if you fish too heavy,
they're just not going to take the bait, the bait isn't going to act naturally.
So hopefully something like that is going to work.
It's hard to believe that once I've caught a potential man-eater,
the scientists will release it back into the river.
Like putting a fox back into the chicken coop,
it's no surprise that this project is so controversial.
With my rig built, I team up with skipper Mark Wolf.
He has years of experience fishing the Breede River.
His knowledge will be invaluable if I'm to catch myself a big shark.
We head to the spot where the team caught the monster last year.
To catch sharks in the Breede River, you first need live bait.
This feels good bait size.
Very strong. There it is.
I only use live bait if I have to and this is one of those occasions.
- The sharks in this river will eat nothing else. - (Grunt)
That's why they're called a grunter. You can hear that noise it makes.
I'm hoping the grunter struggling on the line will have caught the attention of a shark.
I transfer it to my heavier gear and get it straight back into the river.
It's a very strongly swimming bait. It's about 30-40 yards off there,
and that's right off the line. It came in on one hook,
straight onto another one and out again.
It's possible, if there's shark in the area, they check that out on the way in
and they could well be sort of lurking around...
eyeing that up.
I'm using a balloon rather than a conventional float,
attached by a thin rubber band.
This allows the bait to swim freely in mid-water.
But when a shark takes, the balloon will break away,
so the shark won't feel any resistance,
which could make it drop the bait.
I will then begin a count of 20.
I have to know that the shark has properly taken the bait,
so that when I tighten up,
my circle hook will pull into the corner of its mouth.
I may only get one chance and I don't want to blow it.
It's just a case now of waiting.
On the surface, this place is an earthly paradise,
in sharp contrast to the picture underwater,
where there lurks a beast that is the embodiment of savagery.
Has a shark taken that, or is that the bait just running?
It's not shooting out at speed.
Ah, yes, yes, yes, yes! There we go.
One, two, three...
From the moment the bait's taken,
the speed of the run tells me this has to be a shark.
Anchor up, anchor up, please! Anchor up, anchor up.
And nothing else in this river could engulf a bait that size.
11, 12, 13...
Now I must keep a cool head and wait for a count of 20
before I engage the reel.
18, 19... Right, tightening up, tightening up, tightening up.
There's the balloon heading for the horizon.
Here we go.
Even with my harness absorbing a lot of the strain,
this is like nothing I've ever hooked before.
Oh, this sling's in the way. A little bit of an obstacle course.
This fish just feels so powerful.
Without even really trying, it's just taking line.
I've chased big fish all over the world
and experience tells me that this could be the biggest I've hooked.
More than capable of dragging me overboard if I make a wrong move.
It looks like it might come up.
Yes!
Just saw a fin break the surface.
Ah, it's coming left now.
It's quite a fast fish, quite lively, which is good,
cos it means it's tiring itself out.
That's it, keep on the line. Coming up, coming up.
There it is. I think that could be ready.
Oh!
What happened?
That shark felt as big as anything I've ever caught.
What went?
But I'll never know for certain.
Yeah. Look at that.
(Exhales) That's actually... That's bitten through the wire.
Bitten through the wire.
So that's a bite off. Ah.
Ah.
Score one to the fish.
I was overconfident. I thought I was bringing the shark in
but now I realise the shark was bringing the fight to me.
I could see it was large but it was not the 1,000-pounder caught last year,
which means there's more than one shark using this river,
and that's a concern to everyone living here.
I hate losing fish.
You're always haunted by the memory of the big one that got away
But it did tell me something.
It suggests that there could be a lot more shark in here
than anyone suspected.
Last year the team courted controversy.
After catching the 1,000lb bull shark from this South African river,
they ran a series of tests,
attached an electronic tag, and then released it back into the river.
So you got the tag in, what did you find out from that tag?
We really had no idea what to expect from this shark.
Over the course of the next 370 hours that we tracked her,
she'd move up and down the river
to within feet of people who were pumping for prawns in the shallow water
that was probably just up to mid-thigh.
And how far up did you track her?
We tracked her as far as 32km upriver,
which we thought was really amazing
and needless to say it sort of freaked out
the locals Witsand residents.
Many of the human residents were less than happy
that the world's biggest bull shark had been released
and was again swimming freely in their river.
But this wasn't the only bull shark that made the headlines that week.
Experienced lifeguard Sikhanyiso Bangilizwe
was keeping watch over a stretch of beach along the Natal shore.
He went out on a training swim on a route he had swum many times before.
The unprovoked attack came out of the blue.
Bangilizwe didn't stand a chance.
Close inspection of the wounds
on Bangilizwe's body
confirmed that it was a bull shark
that attacked and killed him.
Even though this attack happened 600 miles up the coast,
it still helped to stoke the anger in Witsand's riverside community.
Some residents were understandably concerned
that the world's biggest bull shark had been put back into their river,
and Meaghen had some explaining to do.
She even received serious threats for her part in releasing the shark.
It's still hard to believe that after I catch one,
the scientists will require me to release it back into the river,
where people fish and play.
But for now that will have to wait.
Too windy today to get out on the boat,
particularly now the wind is blowing against the tide.
But rather than sit around and do nothing all day, I thought I'd come to the mouth here.
I head down to where the river meets the Indian Ocean.
I put my bag down a couple of minutes ago.
I think it's half buried already. The sand just howling
off the dunes there.
One good thing about this spot here,
I've got the wind behind me when I cast.
I've fishing with a sort of cocktail
of sardine and small octopus on the end.
On the bottom, no float, just a lump of lead.
And the most likely thing that's going to pick it up is a stingray.
But there's also a fish called cob and something else called an elf
that might pick it up, so it's a bit of a lucky dip.
In no time at all, I get a bite.
Oh!
There's a bit of a ledge there. I'll just try and walk it back,
walk it back. It looks like a diamond stingray.
OK.
This is a stingray, relative of sharks.
It's a bit like a flattened shark.
Up onto the ground. And we've got a spine here on the back
This poisonous barb is used for protection.
Whoops! Here we go.
The gill slits are actually...
under the body there. See those gill slits?
There's the gill slits.
But if it was to breathe in there,
it would just be breathing in mouthfuls of sand and mud.
So the water intake is actually here, a bit like a snorkel.
But that would actually be a lovely shark bait.
But we've got no means of keeping it alive.
I think I might have a knock. It's doink, doink, doink, yeah. Hold on.
There might be something on there.
I think they call that a barbel round here.
I call that a catfish.
Only just cast it in and there's a whole sardine on there.
The rod just went for a big old bend.
This is a blue spotted stingray.
That is beautiful.
Well, this river mouth seems to be quite full of fish,
which could be one reason the sharks come up here.
They might come up here to feed, to breed, we don't really know.
They come up here for something, but it could be food in the water.
With the weather on my side again, I get my mission back on track.
Oh, oh, one, two, three...
I've been given a second chance.
Anchor up, please!
And I'm not going to let this one get away.
And it's running, that's running.
It's running.
Tightening up, tightening up, tightening up!
OK, right, we're on, we're on, we're on!
Look at that, it's really cutting sideways.
Oh, that was... It's really heart-stopping when it suddenly goes slack,
and you think it's off and then there's tension there again.
It's probably kicking or rolling on the line, even.
This apex predator is not accustomed to this kind of treatment.
Here he is.
Instead of running away, it's coming in to check me out.
I can't imagine what the shark is making of this experience.
He's gone again.
With a lot of fish, you see them up on the surface, close in,
you think that's it, they're nearly done now.
I think this one was coming up partly out of curiosity. "What's happening?"
Now he's checked me out, he's not coming anywhere near again.
Last time, the shark brought things to an early end by rolling on the line.
This one seems set for the long haul.
Two hours. Two hours.
It's a different phase of the fight now.
It was tearing around. You know, using speed in the early stages.
There it is again, there it is again! There it is again.
There's definitely some tactics going on.
The speed didn't work, so now just a bit of a war of attrition.
Ah! This is punishment.
Two hours into the fight,
the shark begins pulling the boat towards some shallows.
Under three metres now.
By now, the battle is beginning to attract attention.
This is turning into an event.
Everyone wants to see this shark.
I can see the fish, I can see the fish.
That's two metres.
If my line catches a rock, it could cut through
and the shark will be gone.
We've got to get away from the rocks here.
We're still in two metres now.
I've got a boat full of scientists relying on me to get this shark in.
The tension on board is palpable.
Four metres.
I've got the line. If it goes, it can go without the line catching anybody.
That line round the...
- Right, have you got it round? - Yeah.
- Good, OK, brilliant. Got a good hold? - Yeah.
OK.
This is my biggest catch ever and two and a half hours is by far my longest fight.
It's astonishing to think that I've hauled this beast from a river.
Yeah!
But I was lucky to get it in at all,
because it was foul-hooked in the side, snagged on a flap of skin
between the gill slits.
The scientists want to know why the sharks are here.
Right, this is like a sort of... Time is of the essence,
and they are starting to pump water to irrigate the gills.
That buys a little bit more time.
Last year's giant catch was a heavily pregnant female,
which led the scientists to assume she was in this river to deliver
her two-foot long pups.
Our expectation is that this fish, too, is female.
Three, two, one...
It's a male!
Our first catch and we have answered one of our questions.
It looks like the Breede River is a place where sharks come to feed.
Three, two, one.
Nine and a half feet and with an estimated weight near 500lb,
he's one of the largest bull sharks ever caught anywhere,
and I'm returning him back into the river.
I've just caught a giant but I'm not off the hook.
The scientists want me to try for another, and this time even bigger.
There is heated controversy about returning the sharks to the river
where people swim and play.
But unlike bull sharks elsewhere in the world, these bull sharks have never attacked a person.
So what makes the Breede River sharks so unusual?
Hunting for clues, I talk to local fishermen who fish these waters for grunter and cob.
Copus Veade is a fisherman and a kite surfer.
He's been here for 50 years and has had his fair share of shark encounters.
And any thoughts why that might be?
And you're confident that if you just take basic precautions,
you're perfectly happy to go in the water.
Ugene Beukes is one of only a handful of commercial fishermen left in Witsand.
His knowledge of sharks has been passed down through his family.
Are you surprised that no people have been attacked?
I've had a call from Paul, one of the team,
that there's been a shark attack right off the harbour wall.
- This is the victim, is it? - It was incredible.
I'd just put the boats alongside
and heard a giant splash about 20 yards off the harbour wall here.
There was a giant pool of blood, the fish floated up to the surface.
One of the reasons bull sharks got their name
is because they are known to ram their prey before they kill it.
This can clearly be seen by the marks along the side of this cob.
So you reckon it's actually just hit it from the side
and then when it's floundering in the water, just came along and just...
I mean, that... that is just muscle,
- but that's a killer blow, isn't it? - Straight through.
A battering ram, armed with razor-sharp teeth.
That's about the thickness of my leg. Disconcerting.
And it's gone right through the backbone, as well, clean through.
This is actually the biggest cob that I've seen so far
and that is without the final third
which is out there inside a shark.
Witnessing how they hit monster-sized prey
makes me even more determined to land a monster-sized bull shark.
Before I try again, I have the opportunity to discover
exactly what the Breede River bull sharks are doing
that sets them apart from bull sharks in other rivers.
We head out to track the shark that I caught and released.
The acoustic tag, which we secured to the back of the shark,
transmits a signal which we hear as a ping on our hydrophone.
The clearer the sound, the closer the shark.
It's a bit further up, yeah?
Maybe the hint of something. We might be just out of the main range.
We end up 20 miles upriver in search of the tagged shark.
Apparently the guy there just said
"You mustn't catch sharks here cos we swim here."
Erm... I'm not quite sure what the logic of that is.
I think, whether we catch them or not, they're here.
Apparently, the big one last year was tracked right past these houses
on several occasions.
Yeah, meanwhile...
The one that we're looking for at the moment, no sign,
or, should I say, no sound of it.
We turn and retrace our steps back downriver, searching as we go.
Eventually we come across a group of fishing boats just off Witsand.
A couple of fishermen have just had a very close encounter with a shark.
Teeth marks there, teeth there.
Just trying to get a look at that.
He had him in its mouth.
The shark tried to steal their catch as they brought it in.
So I know there's a shark here, and it's hungry.
Ah, there's a beep already, yeah?
We've found the tagged shark that I released yesterday.
87, 81. That's sort of straight ahead.
So, it's actually 9... Oh, oh. 98.
They hydrophone signal peaks at 100,
so 98 means the shark is within yards of our boat.
Worried about having my hands close to the water now.
83, there we go. That's like...
one o'clock.
According to the hydrophone, the fish has been, you know,
right under that boat
I'm just listening to the beeps and looking at the screen
and when I get the strongest signal, I hold it here, I look up
and look, it's just pointing straight at the boat.
The Breede River bull sharks have learnt to shadow fishing boats,
waiting for fish to be hooked, then taking them off the line.
It's very specific, systematic behaviour.
There are no records of bull sharks doing this anywhere else in the world...
and I just witnessed it firsthand.
It's like a protection payment.
The sharks steal a percentage of the fishermen's catch
and in exchange they leave humans alone.
At least for now.
Normally, one of the first things you've got to do
is locate the fish but here, even though we've got a lot of water,
I don't have to go looking for the shark,
they're going to come looking for me.
To many, it's the stuff of nightmares,
a heavily populated river that's also home to massive hungry bull sharks.
Leaving the tagged shark behind, we move on.
Mark points out areas that we have to avoid.
There's been some very big floods on the river
which washed in, I think, 70-odd of these jetties here.
Catching a shark is going to be challenging enough anyway,
but if my line, under tension, touches anything like that,
that shark has gone.
I head to a spot where the big female was tracked several times last year.
I'm actually now about 12 miles upriver but this is a good spot.
Very deep hole there, about 90 foot, perfect sort of lurking place.
And they actually tracked the fish last year in this spot,
several times.
It's very, very quiet up here.
I've had the bait swimming around here for over an hour
and there's nothing doing at all.
It's very attractive, it's just about 10 or 12 feet down,
very, very visible to anything.
Nothing doing, so I head back downstream.
Doing the opposite to what I normally do.
Normally I'd be very quiet,
I'd be fishing quite a long way from the boat.
But from what the local fishermen say,
and from what the science team are finding out with the tags,
these fish come close to the boats and check them out.
They could be underneath and because the water is not very clear,
we wouldn't even know they're there.
I think something's taken our bait but it's not running at the moment.
Here it goes. Four, five, six, seven, eight...
- (Reel whirs) - Ah, here we go, here we go!
Here we go, here we go, here we go!
Oh! What happened there?
Line went.
That looks like that line's been rubbed.
It might have gone round a snag.
Anyway, so close. That was a take, that was a definite shark.
Catching another shark is proving tricky.
Ohhh!
Far more difficult than I imagined.
I'm going to have to get into the mind of the sharks.
I know that the Breede River sharks have learnt to steal fishermen's catches from their lines.
Unique behaviour, not recorded in bull sharks
in any other river in the world,
which may explain why they grow so big.
They will actively hunt down fishing boats,
lie in wait until the fishermen make a catch
and then bolt in to take an easy meal.
My plan is to position myself right next to the fishermen
and let the sharks come to me.
Yep, lots of activity on the river today.
That's going to get the sharks quite excited.
I set up seven miles upriver.
In a spot close to where the team
landed the big female shark last year.
But well away from this year's tagged shark which was last located
near the river mouth.
The tracking team are out searching for him right now.
There's boats generally around the river. I think the sharks today are going to be active.
This is their big feeding day, when the humans do the work for them.
The biggest bull shark ever recorded was caught in this river,
and I'm determined to catch another.
Then the tracking boat appears.
Oh, no! Meaghen's making signs like this.
It's checking us out, yeah?
It looks like the tagged shark is actually around the boat
and I had no awareness of that until the tracking boat turned up.
There's been a shark circling the boat
for quite a few minutes, apparently,
and we were totally unaware of it.
We're being shadowed by a giant shark, which is clearly hunting.
From now on, we'll keep Meaghen on board with the tracking equipment.
This way I'll know exactly when the tagged shark is nearby,
so I can get my bait out of the water before it strikes.
- It's close! - (Hydrophone pinging)
This is just really frustrating. It's proving so hard to keep away from that tagged shark.
It's covering such an area of water.
It's right behind us now.
We just popped it in when we arrived.
This is one of the favoured spots.
All clear and about five minutes after anchoring, we're getting a signal.
The shark's right under the boat.
Catching it again would not be a good idea
because at the moment we've got a stable situation.
It comes along, it's taking fish from fishermen's boats and everybody's happy.
OK, the fishermen aren't too happy but that is its main source of food.
If anything makes the sharks wary of fish near boats,
they could start feeding in a more opportunistic way,
which might not be good news for the people around here.
So very important to avoid hooking that fish again.
If I hook the same shark again, or if anyone else does,
it may become wary of its normal food source
and start searching for other prey.
We move on once again.
We're learning so much about the behaviour of the bull sharks in this river,
the scientists are desperate for me to make another catch.
The capture of the male shark told us that they're probably here to feed.
The tracking showed us that they're following fishing boats
for an easy supply of food.
Catching another big one would confirm the Breede River
as home of the monster sharks.
I've left the tagged shark several miles upriver
and set up just off the town of Witsand.
This is what I use for Nile perch, things like that, 80lb line.
So, a big shark on here would be very interesting.
I might just try pulling the bait a bit.
If a predator's watching, sometimes just a little bit of movement...
It's thinking, "Do I want it? Don't I want it?" It's got time to think.
If you move it, it can be like a reflex, they'll just hit it.
Something had a go. Yeah, wait a minute.
The balloon's gone. One, two, three...
This could be the monster I came here for.
It knows it's hooked now.
This feel's a good size fish.
It's running, it's running, it's running.
Only a shark in this river runs with this power and speed.
But I've got a problem.
Oh, wait a minute. What's happened there?
It suddenly went slack. I don't know if that's round something.
Argh! That is actually snagged.
I've already lost one shark to a broken line.
I don't want to lose another.
I can still feel the fish. If we can go back, Mark...
Just get it off that snag, whatever it is. This is not good.
I think we're clear. I think we're clear.
Oh, the line is a bit shredded there.
Oh, that line is in a bad way.
This shark has taken the line round some debris on the bottom
and even though it hasn't gone through,
it's very badly frayed.
I'm only on about, I don't know,
might only be 50% strength on the line.
My line is wearing through.
But if I try to bring the shark in too quickly, I could lose it.
I'm just so nervous cos I know the line's not in a good way.
One hour and one mile further upriver.
A friend who's caught bull sharks said to me bull sharks are not something like a mako shark,
which is a real speed merchant.
A bull shark is very solid, very muscular.
It'll take you for a walk.
I feel like a six-year-old child taking a Rottweiler for a walk.
It feels bigger and stronger than the other shark.
It's just getting more lively all of a sudden. It's right under the bow.
If we can go left... All right, OK.
Three miles from where I hooked the shark
and it's still pulling the boat.
People who say catching fish doesn't cause any pain, they're wrong.
My back is killing me.
Not to mention where the rod butt is jammed. Oh, dear!
It's going to be an interesting colour, I think, after all this.
As the hours pass,
the shark continues to drag the boat up the river.
This totally not normal in a river.
I had a giant stingray on for two hours,
but we've gone past that, it must be two and three-quarters now.
The fight is now heading towards its third hour.
The shark has taken the boat and me four miles upriver.
It might come up, it might come up!
It's coming towards the surface.
That's a tail, that's a fish! Dorsal and tail, dorsal and tail!
First time it's broken the surface.
It's going to show again.
There's the dorsal.
It's under the boat, it's under the boat! Back, please!
Back, back, back, back!
Here we go.
Right, now, absolute concentration.
If I say let go, just let go, all right.
OK.
The gaff is necessary to hold the head up,
but it barely punctures the tough skin.
Bloody hell!
It's not really gaffed, is it? This is going to break the bloody gaff!
This shark has battled with me for three and a half hours
and dragged the boat five miles up the river.
- Get to the bank, I think. - We need to get to the bank.
Never had a fight anywhere like that long before.
That's almost double the fight I had with a freshwater stingray,
and those things glue themselves to the bottom.
Wow! (Weary laugh)
- Pull! - The gaff's now out.
This bull shark is definitely larger than the last one I caught.
We'll keep it alive while the team take samples, measure it,
and insert the acoustic tag.
Then get it back into the river.
Sharks can't actually pump water over their gills,
so I'm wedging the mouth open with a bit of wood
and just shoving water in its mouth.
It's another male bull shark.
Nine feet 10 inches long and more than 500lb,
the biggest fish I've ever caught
and one of the largest male bull sharks ever landed.
Tags are there, samples taken, parasites, all the rest of it.
Very quick operation, but this thing, having been so strong for so long,
is now just feeling a bit like I am.
So we just need to get it... get it revived.
Sharks trigger a primal fear like no other,
and even though it's utterly exhausted after fighting with me for nearly four hours,
this bull shark can still prompt a nervous run for land.
Two catches, proving that last year's shark was not a fluke,
and that the Breede River is home to some of the largest bull sharks
anywhere in the world.
When I first came here, I never imagined that what we would find out
would take the investigation so far forward,
and actually provide likely answers to some of the big questions
about the sharks in this river.
It seems that they come here
during the warmer months of the year to feed,
but it's not a random feeding strategy.
Instead of wasting energy by chasing free-swimming fish,
they are actually taking their food from anglers' lines,
like plucking fruit from a tree.
It's a very efficient way of feeding and perhaps this explains
why the sharks in this river are so big.
This easy food source also possibly explains
why there have never been any attacks on humans.
And as long as the numbers of those small fish remain healthy,
this remarkable coexistence between humans and potential man-eaters
should continue.
Ripped By mstoll