Hi my name is Steve Backshall I'm in the shark sanctuary of the Bahamas filming my CBBC show
are sharks dangerous every shark species has to be respected many of them are big animals with
big teeth that said their danger to us as human beings is massively overstated there are around
about 10 human fatalities recorded from sharks every year but to put that in context you are less
likely to be killed by a shark than you are to be killed taking a selfie which sharks are friendly
probably my favourite ever shark encounter was with one single blue shark where we're filming
Deadly 60 it stuck with us for about three hours and it seemed to enjoy physical contact it wasn't
interested in the food in the water it seemed much more interested in pushing its nose into our hands
because it enjoyed the sensation I don't know can you call it friendly it certainly felt that way
how far away can sharks smell blood people say that sharks can sense blood from as much as a
mile away what science definitely knows is that you can super dilute blood and sharks can still
sense it so even as little as one single drop of blood in an Olympic swimming pool sized area of
water and a shark can sense it how do sharks sleep well in a very different way to us they don't lie
down close their eyes and start snoring but they do shut down part of their brain and give that
part of their brain a bit of a break while the rest of their brain still takes care of simple
motor functions like breathing and oxygenating their blood how do sharks communicate this is a
really exciting growth area in Marine Biology so first of all we know that they communicate with
body language by using physical size and by using the alignment of their fins and the way they move
in the water to communicate with each other but also we're starting to understand that they do
use sound like just about every other kind of fish we don't know quite how it works yet but this is
going to be something that in the future is going to be incredibly exciting so watch this space
will sharks eat other sharks absolutely yes here in the Bahamas we've been filming lemon shark
pups in the mangroves they're hiding in there to avoid being predated by other sharks even other
larger lemon sharks there are even some species that will eat their siblings while they're still
inside their mums yuck which sharks are endangered well the simple answer is most of them the sharks
that head into waters such as the Ganges and the Borneo the Ganges Shark Borneo Shark those are
critically endangered and will probably go extinct within my lifetime but then there are other really
well-known species like the the great Hammerhead that we're filming here in these Waters that are
also critically endangered and oceanic white tips that were once perhaps the most numerous large
predator on our planet in some parts of the range have lost 98 of their numbers so the short answer
is most of them [Music] what sharks are in the UK well a surprising amount we have many such as the
taupe the starry smooth hound the basking shark the porbeagle the thresher the mako but there
are also some what are known as vagrant visitors so things like scalloped Hammerheads have been
found in British waters Greenland sharks there's even a strong possibility that occasionally great
whites pass through our waters are sharks scared of dolphins well yes and particularly the largest
species of dolphin the Orca which is decimating great white sharks which it turned out is one of
their favourite foods but I've been underwater when bottlenose dolphins had turned up and big
sharks like scalloped Hammerheads all leg it well they haven't got legs but you know what I mean
why do sharks attack humans well the truth is that very rarely happens but when it does it
can be things like mistaken identity perhaps a surfer at the surface in a dark or murky
water appearing like a seal that they might be wanting to target or it can be that you're
diving in water that is there's murky at dusk and dawn when they're at their most active kind
of what it means is that you have to know and understand and respect sharks and if
you're ever in a place where they might be learn about their behavior and adapt yours accordingly
amazing questions they have really put me to the test [Music]