A Terrifying Submarine Encounter
Blue Planet II is a documentary produced by the BBC's Natural History Unit that premiered at the end of October, and serves as a sequel to The Blue Planet, from 2001. In a very special behind-the-scenes, the BBC Earth YouTube channel shared one of the most tense moments of filming, when the team descended in a submarine to 700 meters depth to see a group of sharks devouring the carcass of a whale. The submarine got too close, and the agitated sharks decided to explain how things are down there...
Sincere question: How crazy do you have to be to approach a shark? Beyond the explanations experts give, the demonstrations, and the calculated risk factors, the answer in my head is significantly. Granted: They are wonderful creatures, and human intervention has driven several species to the brink of extinction, which demands immediate action on our part to prevent that from happening, even with the enormous pressure generated by an industry that cares little about the fate of these magnificent animals. But anyone who sees a shark can recognize its power, intimidating and forceful. That said, let's imagine that power in action when someone decides to approach a shark and interrupt its dinner...
The Blue Planet II documentary team didn't need to imagine anything, because they experienced it firsthand aboard a submarine. Basically, what they did was submerge just over 700 meters to study the effects of a whale carcass on the area. A food source as abundant as that attracts a lot of attention, and when they arrived, they discovered a group of sharks enjoying the feast. The tension between them was very high, exchanging blows and bites, but the worst part came when they decided that the submarine was also competition. Unfortunately, in the video editing they decided to add some unnecessary sound effects, because it's more than enough to see the sharks hitting the submarine's dome, and trying to push it.
Personally, I'll keep the image of the shark expelling blood through its gill slits. Whoever wants to see the rest will have to get access to BBC One or BBC Earth and wait until next Sunday, or catch one of its repeats.
