24 June 2023 , 11:14
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Chaos ensued during the filming of a new Netflix documentary series, as a crew encountered a series of terrifying shark attacks off the coast of Hawaii.
The crew, working on the Netflix docu-series "Our Planet II," narrated by renowned British biologist Sir David Attenborough, faced back-to-back encounters with tiger sharks, resulting in a dramatic boat explosion and an emergency landing.
The crew had set out to capture underwater footage around the Hawaiian island of Laysan, where tiger sharks were known to congregate near the shallows.
Their objective was to document the behavior of Laysan albatross chicks, which spend their initial months learning to fly in the area. However, the team's plans took a perilous turn when the sharks turned aggressive.
The encounters with tiger sharks resulted in one "exploded" boat and an emergency landing (Getty Images)According to Huw Cordey, one of the show's producers, the crew embarked on inflatable boats to get closer to the albatross chicks. Unexpectedly, two tiger sharks attacked the boats.
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"It was like something out of 'Jaws.' The crew was panicked and basically made an emergency landing on the sand," Cordey recounted.
Toby Nowlan, a producer and director for the documentary's first and third episodes, also described the harrowing ordeal.
He explained that while on the inflatable boats, the crew noticed a rapid surge of water heading towards them. In a horrifying spectacle, a tiger shark lunged at one of the boats, inflicting significant damage.
"The whole boat exploded. We were trying to get it away, and it wasn't having any of it. It was horrific. That was the second shark that day to attack us," Nowlan revealed.
Our Planet II, consisting of four episodes each approximately 50 minutes long, was released on Netflix on June 14. (Matthew Conor Robinson/Netflix)Remarkably, the crew managed to reach the shore safely, as they were just 328 feet away.
However, their troubles were not yet over. After patching up the damaged boat, they deployed a rubber dinghy, only to encounter a giant travallies, large marine fish that launched an attack, disabling the dinghy's motor.
Nowlan found the behavior of the sharks they encountered "extremely unusual" and attributed it to their heightened hunger due to a scarcity of natural food sources.
"They were incredibly hungry, so there might not have been enough natural food, and they were just trying anything they came across in the water," he speculated.
Despite the terrifying encounters, shark attacks are statistically rare, as affirmed by Kayleigh Grant, founder of Kaimana Ocean Safari in Hawaii.
Grant emphasized that people should not fear sharks, clarifying that they are misunderstood creatures and crucial for maintaining a healthy and balanced ecosystem.
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"Our Planet II," consisting of four episodes each approximately 50 minutes long, was released on Netflix on June 14.
The series follows various animal populations as they adapt to an ever-changing planet, featuring remarkable creatures such as humpback whales, polar bears, bees, sea turtles, and gray whales.