My name is jeremy wade, aquatic detective and extreme angler.
I've been fishing the world for decades, investigating unexplained attacks
Where the finger of suspicion points to what lies beneath.
I've encountered all manner of stories in my travels around the globe.
Bodies recovered with strange and terrible marks.
Death by a thousand cuts.
Now my investigations have taken me out to sea,
Where the mysteries run as deep as the oceans.
I've heard reports from an island cluster in the atlantic
Of swimmers being ripped from the surface
And of divers disappearing, never to be seen again.
No bodies, no remains.
A tropical paradise rocked by unexplained deaths.
Could something be using these mysterious waters as hunting grounds for humans?
Tales of deadly sea monsters are as old as time.
But some stories are very recent.
In a chain of islands in the west indies,
Unexplained deaths have been attributed to a hideous underwater creature
That drags down helpless prey to his deep and secret lair.
Is this killer a figment of fevered imagination?
Or am i looking for a deadly real species?
I must call on all my years of investigation
To interrogate the myth and tease out the truth.
My first task is to head to the crime scene.
I'm taking a flight to the lucayan archipelago, part of the west indies
And the island of andros.
Underneath the island lies a hidden network of passageways through the rock.
Where these reach up to the surface, they form what are known as blue holes.
So this is a blue hole.
This is actually in the middle of the island.
And i'm just looking down into the depths.
There are more than 50 of these mysterious blue holes
Off shore and over 170 inland,
Which have a layer of fresh water over salt water.
Incredibly, 80% of them remain unexplored.
But depths have been measured close 1,000 feet.
What could be living down inside them?
Very clear water. Very dark water.
It's quite a spooky feeling looking down into that.
I've never seen anything like that before.
These island populations are an eclectic mix
Of african, european and asian cultures, giving a unique caribbean flair.
They're proud of their kinship with the sea.
Here, fishing is not just an industry, it's a way of life.
I skirt the coast south,
Towards the location of a recent mysterious disappearance
At an inland blue hole.
I'm on my way to meet a man who, apparently, can take me to the exact spot
Where one of these incidents happened.
Where somebody was plucked from the surface, never to be seen again.
Peter has lived on this remote part of the island his whole life
And was involved in the search for the victim's body.
Now, there was a story about some kids came from school.
I mean, wandering the back here and they were right over that area there
Because that's the shortest access to the blue hole.
The boys clambered down through a small passageway in the rock.
They swam here often and there didn't appear to be anything
Out of the ordinary about the water that day.
But the locals say something was waiting for them.
When the ball was thrown towards the middle of the blue hole,
One of the boys swam to retrieve it.
Three kids left. And two come back.
There was nothing found whatsoever?
Nothing. We don't find any remains.
There's nothing. No clothing.
Nothing.
And this always goes to the folklore that the lusca monster's taken them.
So the monster has a name.
The lusca monster is a half shark, half octopus type creature.
So it grabs you and push you in the shark mouth and eats you.
So that's quite a big creature,
Whatever it is, to consume an entire human being.
So do you believe the lusca exists?
I believe that there's a lusca monster in the blue hole, definitely.
Something that has this amount of labyrinths, anything could be under there.
It's interesting though that despite this belief,
It doesn't make completely keep out of the water.
They're careful.
But they still go in the water.
We all saw "jaws." we still go swimming, right?
Peter's description of the beast known as the lusca sounds outlandish.
But anything capable of suddenly dragging a person under
Would have to be big, fast, and powerful.
I have no idea what could be living in these very deep holes.
And i'm not dismissing anything yet.
But if i actually hooked something
From this high, sharp, rocky bank, i'd never land it.
And i'm told that after a number of fatalities,
Diving here is out of the question.
So i'm taking my rod to where the interconnecting tunnels meet the sea.
If there is a monster inland, it came from out here.
I can see schools of agile fish darting around.
I don't know what they are, but i'm reminded
Of schooling fish of similar size and speed...
The tiger fish of southern africa and the piranhas of south america.
Many teeth can make a light work of human flesh.
Maybe i'm not looking for just one killer.
Maybe it's a gang of flesh-Eaters.
All right. This water here is very shallow.
So i'm going to use a fly on the end,
Which actually is not mimicking an insect, at all.
It's mimicking a small fish.
It's quite silvery, quite flashy.
I'm gonna retrieve this in fairly short, rapid jerks
About 2 or 3 foot at a time.
The idea is that movement is going to register in the peripheral vision
Of any predator that's down there.
And then in theory what it does, it's gonna lock on.
I wait for a group to approach, and then cast out in front of them.
Underneath these salt flats lie the tunnels
That lead to the inland blue holes.
I want to find out what's feeding out here
And potentially entering those tunnels.
Sea fishing is not my area of expertise.
And this landscape is like nowhere i've fished before.
So i have no idea what i might find.
Here we go. Fish on.
I'm on the island of andros, in the atlantic,
Where the locals believe a monstrous predator with a taste for human flesh
Is using the blue holes as hunting grounds.
I'm just offshore casting into water that links to the blue hole,
Hoping to catch a toothy pack hunter.
As it gets closer, i can see it's a bonefish.
He's a very streamlined, fast fish.
They are in groups.
I was wondering if they were pack hunters
But looking in the mouth there, there's no teeth.
There's just quite rubbery lips.
So what's that speed for?
When they're feeding, they don't seem to be feeding
On anything that is particularly fast-Moving.
They tend to be, sort of like, grubbing around in the sand.
I reckon that speed could be all about getting away from something.
No sooner does the thought cross my mind, then the answer becomes clear.
There's a shark there. Shark.
A juvenile lemon shark prowling the shallows
May not be the size of a man-Eater.
But it's unlikely to be alone.
And since the mythical lusca is often described as being a large animal
With shark-Like characteristics,
I need to consider the largest known predators in these waters.
I'm heading north to visit a research program
That monitors the movements and behaviors of different shark species,
To try and find out more.
The place where i'm going now, is just a short hop away.
And in comparison to andros, it's just a tiny speck of land.
But what's special about south bimini, well,
People say if you want to see a lot sharks
In a short space of time, this is the place to go.
It's like someone has drilled a hole down through the flats.
Blue holes like this one in the sea bed are said to be every bit
As dangerous as the inland holes.
Mysterious disappearances, reports of fisherman dragged under,
Divers vanishing without a trace.
Horrifying tales all blamed on the lusca.
But could a shark be the culprit?
I meet up with shark scientist, dr. Samuel groover.
- Morning. - Well, welcome to the shark bed.
Good to see you.
Looks like i'm at the right place.
The bimini shark lab was established in the 1990s
And has been a hotbed of leading research ever since.
This location is known worldwide for it's extraordinarily high concentration
Of different shark species.
If there is a prolific man-Eater stalking these islands,
Dr. Groover is the person to help me find it.
In this region, there are stories of people disappearing in blue holes.
What would be your take on that?
That's not a story. That's happened.
That's real.
That's as real as can be.
But what are we talking about here?
A lot of people have been dragged down in those blue holes.
They went down without wanting to go down.
And they couldn't get up again.
From the point of view of the general public,
What is rightly or wrongly seen as the most dangerous shark in these waters?
The most dangerous shark in these waters, is the tiger shark.
They can get to 20 feet.
That's a really, really big animal.
Tiger sharks have this reputation of being sort of,
You know, the garbage collectors of the sea.
Is that a true characterization?
It is not only a fair description.
It's accurate.
If you look at the stomach contents of tiger sharks,
You find everything from other shark species to birds, to lobster, to conch.
And they eat humans.
They eat humans. They do eat humans.
So there are man-Eaters here.
But to explain the sudden disappearances, i need to find out if the sharks
Are making targeted attacks or just feasting on remains.
Either way, its huge size and lightening speed
Makes the tiger shark my main suspect so far.
Dr. Groover's team is tagging tiger sharks around south bimini.
By helping the scientists, i get a privileged chance to get up close
And assess this shark's deadly potential.
Okay. Here we go. I'm gonna put it in gear.
We set a series of baited hooks, the team's usual method for catching a tiger.
Sharks have been spotted inside the oceanic blue holes.
So could they be using the tunnels under the island to travel inland?
So that is the long line set.
Now, next time i see those hooks,
One or more of them could well have something else in them.
But i've successfully caught big sharks before.
So i'm also going to cast out a line of my own, just for good measure.
The stories i've been hearing have been
Of people being plucked from the surface.
So i'm not going to be fishing down on the bottom,
I'm putting a float about five feet away from the hook.
That's gonna keep the bait right about
Where somebody's feet would be if they were treading water.
I'm using wire because i'm after something with teeth,
And then a fairly meaty circle hook on the end.
I don't have to wait long for a bite.
Oh, here we go.
Could whatever's on my line, be the key to the mystery of the lusca?
It's on the surface.
I'm fishing the waters surrounding the tiny island of south bimini,
On the trail of a killer.
A large and aggressive creature with an appetite for human flesh
That the locals call the lusca.
Oh, here we go.
Almost immediately, i'm battling something large and powerful.
This is heavy.
Ugh.
It's on the surface. There it is.
It's still got strength in it.
It's a reef shark.
Here we go.
You can see the friction burns on my thumb, there.
There are at least four species of reef shark.
All smaller than the tiger shark, but they are sleek, muscular fish built
For speed with a mouth full of razor-Sharp teeth.
They're certainly not creatures you'd want to get on the wrong side of.
But are they man-Eaters?
17.
17, yeah.
Once the team has gathered all the data, i remove the hook
And release the reef shark back into the water.
One, two, three.
It actually swam off very strongly.
But the strength of that one on the end a line,
While it let me burnt my thumb.
And i think if that was attached to your foot,
For example, you'd have no say in the matter.
You'd just be under the water.
But what i'm wondering, is whether that would actually hold on to your foot.
Or whether it would just take a bite.
I think the only way to establish the bigger picture,
I've actually got to get into the water.
I want to see how reef sharks behave when presented with larger bait,
And how they react to a human in the water.
Soon it's clear from activity on the surface, that they don't feed alone.
Sharks are here... No doubt about that.
The bait's ready.
And down it goes.
I carry out my final checks before following the bait cage down.
Sharks all around me, all around me.
Ooh.
So these are reef sharks.
They're resident here of the reef.
And they're sizable. They're good size fish.
This is quite a spectacle.
Lots of fish.
They are very concentrated, very stirred up
And excited by the smell of the bait.
Caribbean reef sharks are common in these parts.
They can grow up to 10 feet in length, and on occasion have attacked divers.
They're getting very close.
They're going for the bait.
They're not going for me.
But only a few years ago, a diver right here had to fend off
An aggressive assault from a reef shark.
As their numbers increase around me, so, too, does their confidence.
Oh. That was coming right towards me.
I think it might be time for me to get out.
I need to get out of this situation but now my exit involves passing through
A pack of hungry sharks.
I have to try and keep calm and move slowly as the shark's acute senses
Can pick up my heightened heart rate.
And i'm already feeling pretty vulnerable.
Quite a frenzy going on.
They're everywhere.
That was pretty intense.
But whether they'd actually take somebody down...
I think they're capable of it.
But i don't think they have the motivation.
But in terms of actually clearing up remains
Down on the bottom... Well, having seeing the way
That they were going at that bait box,
Absolutely no doubt that they could do that.
No doubt at all.
One of the key features of a lusca attack is that no remains are ever found.
In a pack of reef sharks, i certainly found a potential body disposal team
But not the assassin itself.
Since last night, the team have been checking the long line.
And at last, there's something on it.
Could the assassin be waiting for me?
There's something big on the long line.
We're hoping that it's a tiger shark.
And actually, i can see a long shape in the water up there.
It's a very big shark.
It's very hard to see how big that is.
It's down several feet.
But this is definitely, you know, definitely a serious size fish.
It's on the surface. It's on the surface.
It's a big tiger shark.
Here we go. Dorsal, got the dorsal.
Got the dorsal here.
Many fish can be dangerous to handle.
But it's a whole other level
When the animal in question weighs hundreds of pounds
And has a mouth as wide as a garbage can, lined with curving, serrated teeth.
Once the shark is under control, the team sets to work.
347 centimeters, 12 feet.
About 12 foot total length.
That's over twice my length.
A shark of this size could easily snatch a full grown man from the surface.
So a child would have no chance.
Tiger sharks are solitary hunters
And are in the top three in terms of danger to humans
Along with bull sharks and great whites.
All right. Tie on, tie on.
Don't fool around. Pull the boat in.
And that was a transmitter just going in.
And there are a number of receivers around the islands here.
And that transmitter will speak to the receivers,
It will give information on where the shark goes
After today, after we released it.
I don't think i've seen surgery like this quite before.
Flip it the other way up, now?
Finally, i insert an i.D. Tag into the dorsal fin.
Beautiful. Expert.
Gonna get that tag on there and then we're good to go.
All right. Let's go, guys. Let's go.
The release is an absolutely crucial time.
Someone must get in the water to insure that when it's freed,
The shark stays up right and swims off strongly.
Today, that someone is me.
The ropes are released.
And i take hold of the fins of a shark twice my length.
Have i bitten off more than i can chew?
Before the break, i asked what these items have in common.
They've all been found in the stomachs of tiger sharks.
I'm investigating the mysterious disappearance
Of swimmers and divers from the blue holes
In and around the islands of the lucayan archipelago.
The culprit must've been large and powerful
And capable of negotiating the underwater labyrinth
That connects the inland blue holes to those out at sea.
So far, my main suspect is the largest predatory fish
In these waters, the tiger shark.
And i'm about to get up close and personal with one.
- Behind, behind. - Okay. Go.
As soon as the oxygen-Rich water flows through it's gills,
The shark will start to revive and may lash out.
So i need to be extra cautious once the ropes are off.
It's an incredible sensation.
I can feel the giant predator gaining power.
Then it's gone.
Massive animal. Massive animal.
There was a moment there, when i thought it was gonna turn around
And take a mouthful out of me.
But actually it just swam off.
So, what's that say about tiger sharks?
My close encounter with the tiger shark has given me pause for thought.
And because of its sheer bulk and shape,
It would really struggle to maneuver in enclosed spaces.
So i just can't imagine it navigating the narrow,
Twisting passageways to the inland blue holes.
As for the other sharks that i've observed here, i certainly don't feel
That they are behind these stories either.
But the trouble is where does that leave me?
What else is down there?
I know that when i reach a dead end in an investigation,
I need to interrogate the myth further.
And speak to the people who live with this legend.
Hello.
Tymer is a deep-Sea fisherman,
Who claims to have seen a shark-Like tentacled creature
Near an oceanic blue hole.
I'm told that one day you saw something very strange.
- Yes. Yes. - What was that?
And how long were the tentacles?
Yeah.
I mean, do you think this could've been a lusca you saw, even?
I remember when i was a kid having a strange picture book
Where the pages were divided so you can mix different animals,
Creating some weird, and sometimes, terrifying hybrids.
And that makes me turn my mind again to the lusca,
Supposedly part-Shark, part-Octopus.
Perhaps it's now time that i turn my attention to the octopus.
This feels different from any fish.
This is an octopus.
They are masters of camouflage.
They are shapeshifters.
They can blend in with the background.
They are amazingly intelligent.
They're just incredible animals.
It's a cephalopod.
So it's made up of a head and a foot.
And confusingly the foot, the bottom bit, has eight arms
And each one has powerful suction cups.
They have no skeleton, external or internal.
But they do have a very powerful beak in the middle of all those arms.
When they catch their prey, they deliver it to the beak.
And that will rip and tear the prey apart.
I recently saw some amateur footage from australia, perfectly illustrating
What amazing and surprising hunters octopus are.
Not bound by the limitations of fish,
It leaps from water and pursues it's prey over land.
It's a predator playing by a different rule book.
This is a juvenile caribbean reef octopus.
Adults can have a span of over four feet, tentacle tip to tentacle tip.
That's unlikely to harm a human
If we're to believe an octopus is somehow responsible
For stories of swimmers and divers gone missing.
However, in 2011, the remains of an octopus washed up on these shores,
Which if complete, could've spanned more than 20 feet.
Is this proof that giant octopus do exist here?
If the lusca is a big one of these,
That's actually quite a terrifying prospect.
If this beast was scaled up to the size of the creature
That's been described to me,
Could those tentacles pluck somebody from the surface?
Well, absolutely they could.
Could the beak tear you apart into pieces?
Again, absolutely.
Would anything be found?
Absolutely not.
Without a bone in it's body, a 50-Pound octopus
Can squeeze through a two-Inch hole.
So it would have no problem negotiating the narrowest
Of tunnels under the island.
Octopus are incredibly intelligent
And unlikely to be fooled by a bait on a hook.
If i'm to stand a chance of seeing one,
I'll have to go down into a blue hole myself.
Along with tymer's sighting, i've read of two others
That have occurred in or around an oceanic blue hole.
Boat captains have described a huge creature briefly breaking the surface...
And dark shapes shifting over the reef into the ominous depths.
Tymer has told me about the oceanic blue hole
Near to where he had his sighting.
I need to see what might be down there.
I have no idea what might be living in this darkness.
It's a dangerous, deep dive.
With all the caverns and crevices, it's very disorientating.
And the further i venture into the depths,
The harder it becomes to see the surface.
It's every bit the monster's lair.
And as the passages narrow, the idea that a shark large enough to take a person
Could negotiate this stony honeycomb, seems increasingly implausible.
An octopus, however, even a giant one, would have no difficulty at all.
I'm at about 150 feet in.
It's just absolutely black down there.
There's no way of saying how far that goes.
That's what might be down there.
But there's no way i'm going any further to find out.
It's time for me to, head on back out, i think.
Down at these depths, even rock formations can play tricks with your mind
And take on a sinister life-Like appearance.
I may not have seen anything big down there,
But i get the feeling something big might have seen me.
I've been jostling with the deadly,
Predatory qualities of both sharks and octopus.
Pitting them against each other in my mind.
Now, though, i've been sent extraordinary footage
That leaves nothing to the imagination.
This footage was shot at an aquarium in seattle, in pacific northwest.
Something was killing off their sharks.
So they staked out the tank with a camera to record any evidence.
As a zoologist, my natural reaction to this other than amazement,
Is to ask, if an octopus can catch and consume a shark,
Could a large one take down and devour a person?
I've uncovered a report from a man who has no doubt about the answer,
Based on terrifying personal experience.
I've got to find out more.
I'm on a quest to unravel the mystery of the lusca,
Described as a hybrid creature
With a ferocity of a shark and the grip of an octopus.
It said to have the size and power to hunt for people.
My investigation now centers on whether a giant octopus
Could potentially catch and consume a person.
I've seen this animal's amazing predatory behavior.
So i know in principle this is a possibility.
Now, it's just a question of scale.
There are 100 species of octopus.
And they can be found in every ocean around the world.
I'm taking a flight to washington state's puget sound to meet a man
Who had a terrifying encounter
With the world's largest known species of octopus.
Ron ault says he's lucky to be alive.
I've been diving puget sound since the '80s.
I've encountered many different octopus.
But the one encounter, the biggest on my mind, is,
I was working on northern puget sound...
Ron was dive fishing for sea cucumbers to sell to the fish market
When he came across something far bigger and much more valuable.
So i was going to the bottom, picking up the sea cucumbers.
In between two large rocks, i see a huge octopus.
And i went, $5 a pound.
So i grabbed the octopus and immediately it tried to get away.
And the next thing i realize, he pulled me up about 10 foot off the bottom.
But i had still had a hold of him.
All of a sudden, the octopus' arms went all the way around me.
And all i felt was the beak on top of head.
The mask started squeezing over to one side.
Every suction cup that i could feel against the suit, my hands, my face.
I could not get away.
As far as i knew, i could drown right at that moment.
Ron continued to fight the octopus
As his fishing partners pulled him to the surface by his tether rope.
So once you got to the surface, it took three of you to get it under control?
It really took a long time.
Eventually, we got it up on the boat.
With three of you, you were able to get it in the plastic box?
Yes. We threw a lid on it.
50 pounds of weight on top of that.
But the octopus actually pushed the lid up.
Over the side he went.
I've heard some stories from the atlantic
Of people being plucked from the surface.
Remains not being found.
Do you think that could potentially be octopus?
I'm sure.
The more i hear about these giant octopus, the more formidable they are.
If they are so stealthy, intelligent, and powerful
That they can pluck a shark from the water column and devour it,
Then what chance does a human being got in an underwater struggle?
Unless you're really lucky, like ron was,
There's only one way that's gonna end.
The dark icy waters of puget sound
Are a far cry from the tropical archipelago.
But both places are home to a number of octopus species
Which share the same predatory behavior.
For my best chance of an octopus encounter, i'm using a rebreather unit.
This circulates and refreshes the air i'm breathing
Without the release of bubbles, helping me to stalk a giant octopus
Without being noticed.
It's another very challenging dive.
And i struggle to adapt to the low light.
So, something lives here, by the look of this.
There's scattered shells.
What we've got here, looks like it is an octopus den.
And the thing is, not to be deceived by the size of the opening.
Oh!
Suddenly, i'm not sure i should be here.
My investigation into the legend of the lusca,
A deadly hybrid creature that stalks its human prey
In the blue holes of the caribbean, has brought me to the pacific northwest,
Where finally i've identified the lair of a giant.
What we've got here, looks like it is an octopus den.
And the thing is, not to be deceived by the size of the opening.
Oh!
Well, this is a giant pacific octopus.
The largest known species of octopus, and certainly
The biggest octopus i've ever encountered.
It's not showing any signs of aggression.
But it is in no way intimidated by our presence or our lights.
It squeezes through these tiny little gaps.
A creature like this would have no difficulty
Overcoming the rocky passageways beneath andros.
It seems to disappear and then reappear again.
Very impressive animal.
Incredibly, the octopus that seized ron would've dwarfed this...
Spanning between 15 and 20 feet.
What an encounter.
They grow bigger then this.
But this is an impressive animal.
And when it goes from walking to swimming,
This shape shifter does indeed look somewhat shark-Like.
Is this how the hybrid legend originated?
Looking right into his eyes.
Intelligent, aggressive, opportunistic, and incredibly maneuverable,
This secretive giant is a supreme aquatic predator.
Really makes you think, you know, thinking back to the blue hole,
What could be lurking in those crevices down there?
If the blue holes of andros were indeed to harbor a giant octopus,
It's easy to understand how it might've remained hidden.
And how in the labyrinths of the human imagination, this extraordinary creature
Could've inspired the legend of the lusca.