[narrator] The Great Hammerhead shark.
One of nature's most highly evolved predators.
Little is understood about these massive sharks
until now.
Hammerheads may be coming closer to U.S. shores
than ever before.
[man] Get out of the water.
So a team of researchers are racing to find...
[diver] Here's a hammer!
-[narrator] ...catch... -[man] Watch out!
And ultimately tag One of the largest predatory
sharks on Earth.
Of the more than 500 different types of sharks in the world
few are as fascinating at the great hammerhead.
Their incredible evolutionary adaptations have shaped
the great hammerhead into the ultimate hunter.
But this supercharged shark still remains a mystery to scientists.
Evolution of the shape this perfect predator for its environment.
They're highly specialized.
They're highly evolved and quite intelligent.
It's sleek. It moves fast.
I like to think of them as the Ferrari of the ocean.
Even in a group as diverse as sharks
the great hammerhead stands out.
Their trademark feature is that unmistakable
hammer shaped snout known as the cephalofoil.
It allows the shark to move and hunt more efficiently.
Like the front of a race car the hammer provides the shark
with lift and agility.
With just moving that cephalofoil forward or up or turning
there can be dramatic changes in lift.
So if you can imagine a hammerhead moving at speed,
sprinting very quickly turning on a dime
it can move that cephalofoil, and in a second grab that prey.
It's pretty incredible.
[narrator] With eyes positioned on opposite sides of the cephalofoil,
the hammerhead has almost 360-degree vision.
[Neil] The fact that they have their eyes
so wide apart you might think that
well, they're gonna have this big blind spot in front of them,
but as they swim they slowly move their head back and forth
and they can actually sweep over a large area.
[narrator] By moving its head side-to-side
the shark maximizes its range of vision.
This gives them exceptional depth and distance perception,
crucial advantages in finding and catching prey.
[Neil] What normally if they just swam straight
would have a very limited field of view,
they actually have a very wide stereo field of view.
[narrator] The cephalofoil may provide another sensory advantage.
All sharks have a highly developed sense of smell,
but a hammerhead's nostrils are farther apart,
which scientists believe gives them a greater ability
to sense prey.
[Neil] They might have this increased ability
to sense smells because their nostrils or their nares
and have this stereo smelling ability by just changes in concentration
from one side to the other,
helps them locate exactly where that source is coming from.
[narrator] In fact, they may have the strongest scent
tracking ability of any shark.
Sharks have patrolled the oceans for over 400 million years.
Long before dinosaurs even existed,
but hammerheads are relative newcomers
having only emerged in the past 20 million years.
In that comparatively short period of time.
the great hammerhead has evolved into the ultimate hunter.
Shark researcher, Dr. Neil Hammerschlag
has devoted his career to studying massive predators
like the great hammerhead.
[Neil] The thing about hammerheads is
their arguably one of the most recognized species on the planet.
Its features are so pronounced just looking at it,
but it's not a species that will come up to you.
In order to interact with it
you gotta earn it.
[narrator] Great hammers are growing increasingly rare,
but in recent years warmer waters are bringing sharks
closer to U.S. shores.
Dr. Hammerschlag and underwater cinematographer
Joe Romeiro are on their way to the Bimini Islands
just 50 miles off the coast of Miami.
Their goal, to get in the water and come face to hammer
with some of the largest predatory sharks on Earth.
[Joe] I've been in the water with a lot of different types of sharks
and some of them I've just come across,
some of them I knew I was gonna see,
but a great hammerhead was something that I really had to look for.
It took years of my life to actually see a great hammerhead.
This literally is the unicorn of all sharks.
[narrator] Neil and Joe arrive in Bimini
to take advantage of an incredible seasonal event.
[Neil] During the colder winter months
great hammerheads will actually aggregate here.
Bimini is, uh, really strong for these particular animals.
Be it the warm water of the shallow flats.
Be it the metal structure of the shipwrecks that surround the island.
We're actually able to go there
and at a certain time of year we know that they're there.
[narrator] But the sanctuary spans some 250,000 square miles of protected waters
and finding a great hammerhead is never guaranteed.
If they do they'll need to exercise extreme caution
while in the water with these apex predators.
It's important to have a healthy respect for great hammerheads,
just considering they're massive animals.
They can easily weigh over a thousand pounds.
The power this animal has and the capacity
they could do harm to people.
to be in the water with them
you've definitely got to be a little bit cautious.
[narrator] This dive is even more dangerous
because Bimini's waters are packed with sharks,
lemon sharks,
tiger sharks,
nurse sharks,
and bull sharks.
[Neil] Bull shark is a pretty intimidating animal.
It's very large bodied.
It's got these small, beady eyes,
and it's got these really large, blade-like serrated teeth
that can handle anything that you put in its way.
When I'm in the water with a bull shark I try to be on my game.
This animal could be potentially dangerous.
If they bite you it could be game over, so it's just not worth pushing it.
[Neil] Joe, can you hear me, over?
[Joe] I can hear you good.
I'm just trying to get situated, give me a minute.
We've got some really nice nurse sharks already.
[narrator] Almost immediately Joe finds
one of the most common sharks in the Caribbean, the nurse shark.
Nurse sharks spend the majority of their life
on the ocean floor lying in wait for their prey.
Powerful jaws and multiple rows of serrated teeth
mean they can crush a huge shell to bits with their strong bite.
Luckily, they almost never target humans.
[Joe] There's not a whole lot of activity yet.
[narrator] Neil decides to chum the water with ground fish carcasses.
Putting this slick in the water
is like ringing a dinner bell for nearby sharks.
[Neil] In the distance,
just outside of range, you can see a shark coming.
[Joe] Neil, can you give confirmation?
[Neil] Oh, here's a hammer!
[Joe] Awesome.
We have two coming in right now.
The hammerheads are coming right at me.
[narrator] The chum worked.
These sharks have been known to sense blood
and other organic material from over a quarter mile away.
Great hammerheads are solitary hunters, but not today.
Three hammers surround Neil and Joe.
The two smaller sharks maintain their distance around
the larger, more dominant shark.
[Neil] Definitely getting some good action down here.
[narrator] And it's only heating up.
The hammerheads aren't the only sharks
that got the dinner invite.
[Neil] Now we have a bull shark coming.
It's going to come in here.
Two bull sharks are coming!
[Joe] He's going to come back again.
[Neil] The bulls are getting frisky here.
[narrator] Common in the Bahamas and Florida,
bull sharks can be very aggressive.
Some scientists attribute this
to higher levels of testosterone in their blood.
[Neil] The bulls are getting frisky down here.
[narrator] Keeping an eye on the bull sharks
the team loses sight of the great hammerheads.
[Neil] We got a hammer coming right now!
[narrator] It's a little too close for comfort
so Neil and Joe wave the team up.
[Neil] That was intense.
There's certainly a lot of sharks down there.
You had the nurse sharks, you had the bull sharks,
and then these hammerheads.
Man did they come in strong and powerful.
You feel them before you see them almost come by.
I was amazed at how bold they were coming in.
Almost seemed like there was a little competition at times.
You don't really get a sense of how big they are,
but their sheer length is impressive.
You know it's pretty amazing to be down with these
magnificent creatures.
[Joe] These animals truly are amazing.
they interact with us in such a way that
you can really see their intelligence just looking at them eye-to-eye.
[Neil] I saw some really interesting behaviors.
It's really neat how they come in.
They come at a bit of an angle.
They tilt their body and move in like this,
almost like their looking up with one side
and checking out the scenario before they come right in.
[narrator] The largest great hammerhead measures
over 13 feet long with a 3-foot-wide hammer.
[Neil] With the cephalofoil, the hammer,
you can just see it using it to make these different maneuvers
as they're moving in.
[narrator] Close up you can really see the hydrodynamic
benefit of the cephalofoil.
Like a race car hugging a curve,
it allows the shark to glide at a fixed position
over the sea floor scanning the bottom for prey.
But it's not just their advanced agility,
sight, and smell that makes hammerheads the ultimate hunters.
A closer look at its hammer reveals something absolutely astonishing.
[Neil] Underneath and on top of their cephalofoil
they have these little electro sensory pores
called ampullae of lorenzini which are widely spread apart.
[narrator] The ampullae of lorenzini, the sharks sixth sense.
A specialized organ that allows them to detect
the minute electrical fields given off by all living things.
It consists of thousands of ampular pores
that sense electrical fields as small as 15 billionths of a volt.
[Neil] Any organism has a weak electromagnetic field
that sharks can detect
through their ampullae of lorenzini, and all the sharks have it,
but the thing about the great hammerhead,
its widely distributed across their cephalofoil.
[narrator] If a normal shark uses electroreception
like a small flashlight to scan the ocean floor,
the hammerhead wields a powerful spotlight.
[Neil] As they've swash their head back
and forth as well, they can swim across over the bottom of the ocean
and detect prey that's even hidden scanning a relatively large area.
[narrator] A typical sandbar shark
could spend the day cruising the ocean floor for prey,
but in the same amount of time
a hammerhead could cover an area twice as large.
All sharks have yet another sense that helps them track
their prey, the lateral line.
It's made up of thousands of tiny hair cells in canals that
extend along both sides of the hammerhead's entire body
from snout to tail.
The lateral line system is very important to these animals
in terms of being able to sense vibrations in the water column.
[narrator] These cells sense tiny vibrations
and subtle pressure changes in the water around the shark
giving them a sense of touch at a distance.
Since sharks can sense vibrations in the water column,
they can sense prey that's out of sight.
[narrator] All of this makes hammerheads
exceptionally strong hunters during the day,
but hammers are also active at night.
As the sun goes down the oceanic world comes alive.
The cover of darkness brings out a wide variety of prey
and the great hammerheads are waiting.
Neil and his team return to the dive site,
this time in dead of night.
[Joe] Night dives can be dangerous.
Honestly, one of the biggest dangers is just being lost.
You're separating yourself from the boat
and then you're going off into dark.
You only have a set radius of where you can see.
At night time when the sharks disappear out of your range,
and you're kind kind of looking over
your shoulder saying, you know, where are they?
and up and down and just squinting into the darkness
seeing if you're gonna see like a shape form
and, and your mind starts playing tricks on you.
That can be a little bit nerve wracking.
The big thing about these animals is you don't hear them.
There's no shadow. There's no feeling. There's no nothing.
All of a sudden you turn around and it's there.
You have to buckle down, keep your head on the swivel and look everywhere because
great hammerheads aren't the only shark down there.
On this dive there are bull sharks, nurse sharks and great hammerheads.
And bull sharks are the other, opposite end of the spectrum.
[narrator] The team will descend into the depths
hoping to capture a great hammerhead stalking its prey,
but they must be wary of the dangerous bull shark.
[Neil] It's pretty eerie being down here at night.
[Joe] Nurse shark with all the remoras on it.
Look how cool that is.
[Neil] Lots of nurse sharks.
You can see a shark.
It's going to come in here.
[Joe] Right in front of you. Look, look, look!
[narrator] Off the coast of Bimini a team of great hammerhead researchers
attempt to catch this hunter stalking its prey in the darkness.
[Neil] In the distance, just outside of our lights
you can see the sharks.
[Neil] We've got a hammerhead right now!
[narrator] Like a massive bird of prey
a great hammerhead soars right over Neil and Joe.
[Joe] Awesome pass. He's gonna come back again.
[Joe] Here he comes!
[narrator] Hammerheads have superior night vision.
Their retinas contain a high density of photoreceptor cells
responsible for seeing in low-light conditions,
making their night vision up to ten times more sensitive than humans.
The hammerheads vision presents a striking disadvantage for its prey.
but what is their prey?
If these sharks are high performance machines,
then they need to constantly run on premium fuel.
The great hammerheads diet includes squid,
stingrays and crustaceans like this large hermit crab.
[Neil] The hammerhead is being a little bit aggressive.
He's trying to rush in here.
[Joe] Here he comes! He's going for it.
[narrator] The crab never had a chance.
Hammerhead teeth are spear like,
ideal for grasping and piercing,
and like other sharks their jaw isn't fused to their skull
so they can sling their mouth out and take in much larger prey.
While it's not a good night to be a crab,
Neil and Joe know they are relatively safe
with the great hammerheads, until...
[Neil] A bull shark is coming right at me.
Two bull sharks!
[narrator] Out of the darkness come two bull sharks.
[Joe] I think we're on the end of the battery life.
[narrator] And these guys dwarf the pair they saw earlier.
[Joe] My light is about to die, Neil.
Let's call this and go up.
[narrator] Dying batteries, large bulls circling,
it's time to pull the rip cord.
Neil and Joe escape the water and head topside.
[Neil] Pretty epic to be down there
and the bull sharks were really getting kind of intense on us
and almost kind of pushing us out of the waters,
but at the end we got what we needed, got to observe their behavior at night,
got some great imagery and hopefully garner up
some conservation for this misunderstood,
mysterious and threatened predators.
[narrator] Bimini isn't the only place to find hammerheads.
From the three-foot bonnet head, to the 20-foot great hammerhead,
the nine different hammerhead species can be
found in tropical waters all over the world.
In Costa Rica hundreds of hammerheads come together
off the Cocos Islands.
[Neil] These hammerheads form these
very large schools of female sharks.
These huge schools have a very important social function.
The biggest and fittest females are in the center,
that's where you want to be if you're a female shark,
and, in fact, the males know that.
And it's quite easy for them to find,
in the middle of the group the healthiest female to mate with.
[narrator] Very few shark species have such complex social structures.
Scientists attribute this to hammerheads
higher intelligence level, relative to other sharks.
[Neil] Compared to other sharks great hammerheads
and the hammerheads in general have relatively much larger brain sizes.
[narrator] This may be what enables them to have these
group social interactions.
[Neil] Although this type of schooling behavior
has served in a very important function for reproduction
and obviously sustaining populations of these sharks
it's also a problem in leading their demise.
That's now very easy for a fishing vessel
to come in and at one time remove many different sharks,
because they're all aggregated in one spot.
[narrator] In the last 30 years,
it's estimated that hammerhead shark populations in the Atlantic
have declined almost 90%.
Demand for shark fin soup in many Asian markets
and accidental by-catch in large commercial fishing nets
are to blame.
With such a sharp decline in numbers,
it's more important than ever for scientists
to find and study these sharks and fast.
Fortunately for Dr. Hammerschlag and his team
they have an opportunity.
Recent rises in ocean temperatures
maybe pushing hammers closer to U.S. shores than ever before.
[Neil] Great hammerheads have increased metabolism
and increased activity in warmer water.
[narrator] From the west coast...
...to the east coast,
hammerhead sightings are on the rise.
[man] Get out of the water!
[narrator] So what is driving them closer to shore?
Dr. Hammerschlag may have the astonishing answer.
[Neil] Any heat changes?
-[woman] Yes. -[Neil] Put it back in.
[narrator] Over 2.6 million people
call the Miami-Dade County area home
and it seems like most of those people are on the beach,
but few realize just how close they are
to multiple species of incredible sharks,
and in some cases incredibly large sharks.
-[man 1] Coming towards you! -[man 2] Get out of the water!
[man 1] There's a shark! Get out!
[narrator] This includes one of the
largest and most amazing species in the world,
the great hammerhead.
Shark expert Dr. Neil Hammerschlag and his team are in southern Florida.
Their mission is to find and tag a massive great hammerhead.
To lure in these giant predators,
the team will use scientifically tested materials and techniques.
[Neil] The different methods we use,
the different tools we use are all designed
to promote vitality and reduce stress on the animals.
[narrator] These tools are helping the team
make some breakthrough discoveries.
[Neil] With a thermal imaging camera
what we found is something unbelievable.
The hammer, the cephalofoil heats up at a more rapid rate
than the rest of the body.
We think this is a specialization
allowing the sharks to better find and capture prey
when they're moving into shallow, warm water environments.
[narrator] It turns out the ampullae of lorenzini,
the shark's electromagnetic sensing system
becomes more active in warmer water.
Hammerheads come into very shallow water,
just a few feet deep, less than knee high.
and those shallow waters heat up much quicker
than the surrounding water and that heat charges up
this cephalofoil that becomes more sensitive,
that allows them to better capture prey.
[narrator] In 2014 on the Gulf Coast of Florida
these bathers experienced this incredible specialization firsthand
when they got caught between a hungry hammerhead
and its favorite prey, the stingray.
[Neil] Great hammerheads are known specialist hunters of stingrays,
and stingrays like to inhabit shallow warm water environments.
and it's not easy to catch a stingray.
These animals are very maneuverable
and they use that to avoid predators.
The thing about the hammerheads is they can zip at these burst speeds
and they can sprint super hard chasing down their prey like stingrays.
-[man 1] It's coming towards you! -[man 2] Get out of the water!
[narrator] But for hammerheads these turbo charged sprints come at a price.
They need lots of time to recover.
[Neil] Hammerheads use a lot of energy
and exert a lot of force for short periods of time.
They're like the cheetahs that can just sprint really fast,
really hard, but they build up a lot of lactate in their blood.
It's kind of like lactic acid in humans when we exercise.
[narrator] These changes in their blood chemistry
force hammerheads to slow all movement.
This leaves them exposed and vulnerable in the shallow warm water,
which unlike deeper cooler waters has a much lower oxygen content.
[Neil] We've recently found evidence that
after prey capture instead of expending its own energy to move
and letting water with oxygen come and filter over their gills
hammerhead actually stationing themselves
into the current letting the water come in, flow through its gills
conserving that energy, reducing lactate, and help them ventilate.
It's a pretty amazing specialization for an animal
that's using this warm water environment.
[narrator] The team enters the shark rich waters
less than a mile off the coast of Miami.
If they can deploy a satellite tracking tag
on a great hammerhead
it will provide them with a gold mine of crucial data.
[Neil] We're gonna be tagging them to look at their movement,
habitat use, to learn more about their importance in the ecosystem
and how we can use this information
to better protect the species that need them.
[narrator] They'll also collect a blood sample from each shark
revealing critical insights into the sharks feeding habits
and immune system.
But catching a great hammerhead is no simple task,
let alone tagging one.
Everyone on our time has a very specific job.
It works the same way as a race car pit crew.
The car comes in and everyone does their job
so they can get that car on its way as soon as possible.
[narrator] To lure in these giant sharks
the team casts out baited drum lines behind the research vessel.
[Neil] The hooks we use are circle hooks.
They make a very superficial wound that can heal within a few days.
we can easily cut it out.
These animals are so strong
that they can actually straighten out and snap those hooks,
so there's a bit of a tug of war where you want to be able
to bring the shark close to the boat,
but the same time not have them exert so much force
that they straighten out the hook and you want to do that
extremely quickly as not to stress it out.
[narrator] With the bait set, the team collects drum lines
to see if any are attached to a massive predator.
And once the line tightens there's no telling
what will be on the other end.
[Neil] Whoa, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait!
Guys, you got a shark on!
[man] OK, we're gonna launch the platform.
[Neil] Look alive, guys, you got a shark.
Watch yourself!
Watch when that tail comes up.
Feels like it might even be tied up,
but we're definitely gonna need cable so let's get that ready.
Ah!
Whoa, whoa, whoa, watch, watch, watch my weight!
Who's got the weight?
Look alive, guys!
[narrator] It's a very large lemon shark.
[Neil] Ah, it's lively. Be very careful with this shark.
Guys, watch out!
Watch those teeth!
[Neil] Whoa, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.
[narrator] A lemon shark has taken the bait.
[Neil] Guys, you got a shark on.
[narrator] Every second is critical.
[man] Launch the platform.
[narrator] Both for the research team and the shark's safety.
[Neil] Whoa! Here we go, sharks tensing, sharks tensing!
Guys, be very careful with this shark.
[narrator] Before they bring the lemon shark onto the platform
they must lasso it with a cable in order to safely disperse the shark's weight.
[Neil] OK, guys, watch out!
Watch those teeth!
Just be careful, these guys are very snappy.
These guys are very snappy.
-[man] Through. - [Neil] Nice, go tight!
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, OK.
OK, guys be very careful.
It's very important to get that pump in the mouth as soon as possible.
[narrator] The pump will flush water over its gills
allowing the shark to breathe and ventilate out of the water.
[man] One, two, three.
[Neil] OK, one, two, three.
[woman] Stop, stop, stop, stop, stop!
[Neil] All right.
Once you get it to the boat the clock starts
and we have to be very strategic in what we do.
We take a variety of different measurements.
[Neil] Two, two, three, FL.
[man] Two, two, three, FL.
We take a variety of different samples.
We put on that tag
and although it can look pretty rough, our methods are very non-invasive.
they've been approved by animal welfare and care committees
and everything we do is designed to minimize stress,
promote survival, with the ultimate goal
of generating information that can serve these animals.
What we have here is a male lemon shark.
It's called a lemon shark because it's got this
golden lemony color, beautiful animal.
[narrator] Lemon sharks are commonly found
in the southeastern United States and Caribbean waters.
Over the years there have been a small number of unprovoked attacks on humans,
but none have been fatal.
They prefer to use their sharp curved teeth
to snag their favorite treat, small slippery fish.
Lemons are social and tend to travel in small groups,
but here on the platform
these stocky, powerful sharks can live up to their sour name.
[Neil] This animal's actually pretty hard to deal with.
They're quite feisty.
We're gonna push in the water. Watch it on the release.
These guys will come for you and will try to snap you.
[man] All right, all right.
One, two, three.
watch him just coming back at you.
OK, nicely done everybody. Well done.
[narrator] Every shark they catch provides valuable info,
but the team presses on to find and tag
a great hammerhead.
[Neil] The data that we obtain from the satellite tags
is really important so that conservation management continues
so that populations can recover.
[narrator] Six years ago, Dr. Hammerschlag achieved a milestone
in great hammerhead research with these satellite tags.
[Neil] Previous to our work, the great hammerhead
was thought to be mostly tropical, subtropical.
However, after our tagging data came in, we actually saw
these animals were moving well into temperate waters
and had a much larger range than what anyone had thought.
[narrator] In 2010 , he tracked a great hammerhead
from northeast Florida to a point only 300 miles off the coast of New Jersey,
much farther up the U.S. eastern coast than ever before.
[Neil] What we're finding is that great hammerheads
are spending a lot of time in the open ocean
and in these areas there's no jurisdiction.
It makes them quite vulnerable to fishing vessels
that come there to target the sharks,
so they're getting heavily exploited.
[narrator] Back on the boat, Neil and his crew capture another shark,
but is it the great hammerhead they're after?
[Neil] It's a nurse shark.
[narrator] Nurse sharks are exceptionally strong, yet docile.
[Neil] We have a female nurse shark. What a beautiful animal.
This skin is called dermal denticles, meaning skin of teeth.
Really neat, just cobblestone.
These nurse sharks are very strong animals.
You can see the muscle on these guys.
[narrator] As this fish learn the hard way,
when a nurse shark latches its muscular jaws
around its prey there is no escape.
Despite its small teeth the powerful nurse shark
thrashes the fish against the seafloor subduing it
and ultimately swallowing it whole.
The team relishes the opportunity to be this close
to the muscular predator.
-[woman] We got blood. -[Neil] OK, good job.
[woman] Well done, Jake.
[narrator] Next up, the team successfully tags a bull shark.
One, two, three.
Okay, it's a large female.
Look at the size of that belly,
which already tells you that she's probably reproductive.
these are mating scars.
this is a shark that's recently mated.
[narrator] The bull shark is a diadromous shark,
meaning it can live in both salt water and fresh water.
Bull sharks have been found in the Mississippi river
as far north as the state of Illinois.
For Neil, the shark-rich waters
just off the coast of Miami are living up to their reputation.
They successfully tag shark after shark,
but still no great hammerhead and time is running out.
[Neil] Hammerhead, yeah baby!
-Hammerhead! -[all cheering]
[Neil] Oh, okay, let's get sat-tag. Let's put on the platform.
Let's get thermal.
[narrator] Finally, the team's hard work pays off,
a great hammerhead.
[Neil] Guys, because it's been on the line
a long time we're gonna do a very short workup.
Hammerheads are very vulnerable to capture stress
from fighting on a fishing line,
because they use a lot of energy
and exert a lot of force for short periods of time.
Our goal is to be as quick as possible then get that shark on their way.
Okay, get ready, Robbie.
[man] Good job, Jakey.
[Neil] Muscle him in, Jakey.
[narrator] Reeling in this powerful predator is no easy task.
[Neil] Just be careful he might kick out here.
OK, just be careful we don't lose it under the boat.
Neil worries the shark may head under the boat
where the fishing line can get caught.
[man] It's looking to run.
OK, let me come help get it on.
OK, let go, no.
OK, get ready, Robbie.
[man] Yeah
[Neil] Are you over it?
[Robbie] Yes.
[narrator] The shark goes under the boat.
Neil can no longer place the safety cable around its head.
[Neil] Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!
Okay, yeah, Mike, Michael come here!
[narrator] There's not time to spare so Dr. Hammerschlag
calls for safety diver Mike Black to assist.
[Neil] Can you put that around the cephalofoil?
To ensure the safety of the shark
Black takes the cable and attempts and extraordinary maneuver.
Safety diver Mike Black is attempting to lasso a great hammerhead shark.
if he can wrap the rope around the hammerheads cephalofoil,
Neil and the team can safely pull the shark
up onto the platform for tagging.
[Neil] Whoa, whoa, whoa! Careful, guys, watch out!
Nice, good job!
[narrator] The team has done it.
[Neil] Get that pump ready.
[narrator] Now they have just a few minutes to administer tests
and attach the satellite tag.
[Neil] One, two, three.
Rotate it back over. Pull it right up onto the top of the platform.
Nice, looks like it's a mature male!
[woman] Tag number 00072.
[narrator] The team scrambles to take measurements,
get a blood sample, and administer vitamins.
[Neil] Got this, this goes between the two
dorsal fins into the muscle. We'll show you.
[woman] Jake, I'm gonna pass this up to you!
[Neil] Okay, hurry up, guys.
[woman] Paddle heel is 36.
[man] Give the milliliter for the vitamins.
[woman] FL-209.
[Neil] Let's just see how fast we are. Scalpel.
[man] They're putting the tag on.
[narrator] Dr. Hammerschlag performs the necessary surgery
to attach the satellite tag.
[woman] Can you give me calipers?
[narrator] While the team executes final measurements
and successfully retrieves a blood sample.
[Neil] Let me get on the front so I can get the journal.
That's a good sign, come on.
Move away as much as you can away from the body.
Shoot at hammer and shoot body, okay.
[narrator] And after documenting the shark's heat profile
with a thermal imaging camera.
-Ready? -[narrator] It's time to let him go.
[Neil] Okay, let's start putting it back in.
On the release I'm gonna give the tail a flap.
Make sure it doesn't trail off.
Don't stall him.
Let go, let go.
[narrator] The operation is a success.
[all] Yeah!
[woman] Whoo!
[man] That was friggin' awesome deal.
Good job, everybody!
[group yelling]
[narrator] The shark returns home.
We just put out a satellite tag on a great hammerhead shark.
Beautiful male, swam up really strong and it's right now transmitting.
We'll be able to track that shark
and follow its movements every single day.
We were able to get some amazing data points,
various measurements, various tissue samples,
in addition this little sample of blood
is literally liquid gold to us in terms of research.
It's gonna provide us with super valuable data
on their feeding habits, on its reproduction,
so this is really valuable.
We're able to get some amazing thermal imaging
off the cephalofoil and its body.
Everything was perfectly executed, couldn't have gone better.
Great team work.
[narrator] One month later the great hammerhead
surfaces in the eastern Gulf of Mexico.
Since then the shark has traveled almost 500 miles up the coast
and continues to migrate and hunt
in the shallow, warm waters off the Florida shoreline.
The satellite tag continues to deliver tracking data.
Neil and his team hope to use this information
to better understand the migratory patterns
and range of the great hammerhead.
This research is shedding light on the behaviors
of these mysterious and highly specialized predators
so that we can ensure hammerheads
continue to amaze, evolve,
and thrive for another 20 million years.