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MAN: Oh my God.
MAN: You’re in a bad spot. NEIL: I know, guys, get up.
NARRATOR: The chance encounter,
with a giant!
Maybe the largest alive.
MAN: That’s the biggest Bull Shark I’ve ever seen!
NARRATOR: And evidence of more super-sized bull sharks!
MAN (over radio): Two bull sharks,
there’s two bull sharks.
NARRATOR: Lurking just beneath the surface.
Close to shore.
STEVE (over radio): That’s a big shark.
NARRATOR: Close to people.
MAN: Hold on to it!
NARRATOR: Now, a team is on the trail of
a family of hungry giants.
JAMES (off-screen): This is military grade technology.
NEIL: That is epic.
NARRATOR: This is the hunt.
JAMES (off-screen): Big bull shark down there!
NARRATOR: For the world’s biggest bull shark!
NARRATOR: Florida’s East Coast is one of America’s
most popular destinations for beach-going vacationers.
But there are also year-round residents.
Just beneath the surf.
Florida’s warm coastal waters are a hotbed for sharks.
Including one of the most dangerous,
the bull.
Bull sharks are the deadliest sharks in the world after
great whites and tigers.
Adult bulls average around seven and a half feet long.
But there is one bull shark that may be queen of them all.
NEIL: The amazing thing about the wild is you never know
what you’re going to encounter and no two days are the same.
NARRATOR: For marine biologist Dr. Neil Hammerschlag,
no day stands out more than May 27, 2012.
Neil and his team of researchers head out to study
the health and numbers of bull sharks in South Florida.
NEIL: It was a normal trip; I was out with my students doing
our ongoing surveys of sharks.
MAN: This is a nice piece of Barracuda,
only the freshest meats!
NEIL: Uh, 75 feet of monofilament, a weight,
200 foot of line, so it takes it down to the bottom,
and a float.
Alright, clear!
NARRATOR: The University of Miami team gives average sized bulls,
like this one, the usual check-up for science.
WOMAN: If I feel where its jaw is,
it can’t bite me.
So, I’ll stay right behind it because it’s a good gripping point.
NARRATOR: They keep it safe by continually pumping water
through its gills so it can breathe.
WOMAN 2: Are we good on everything else data-wise?
Here I have a biopsy and in this one here I have a
the fin clip sample so I’m just labeling those.
NARRATOR: The grad students takes samples from one bull
after another.
WOMAN 2: 170! 170 FL! WOMAN: Get the total length as well.
NARRATOR: Suddenly, all the smaller sharks disappear.
MAN: You’re in a bad spot. NEIL: I know, you guys.
Get off! I need you guys to get off...
And all of sudden, one of the lines became very difficult to
bring in and I knew we had something big on it.
I had no idea how big.
NARRATOR: The whole team feels it;
they are in the presence of greatness.
MAN: This is insane.
NARRATOR: A special shark.
MAN: Okay, don't lean back.
This animal was very hard to bring up here.
A couple of times she just ran off.
And no one could hold her.
NARRATOR: The largest bull shark ever caught was 771 pounds,
the scientists estimate that this one is bigger.
MAN: How much would you say that fish weighs?
MAN 2: At least 800 pounds.
There’s no way is weighs less than 800 pounds.
MAN 3: Bull cutter. MAN 4: Bull cutter.
MAN: Can someone take a picture of this?
NARRATOR: The typical adult bull shark is in
the seven-foot range.
This one, just over nine feet.
NEIL: I think she’s 1,000 pounds.
That’s my personal opinion.
NARRATOR: They discover she’s a healthy strong female.
And her extraordinary girth has her tipping the scales.
WOMAN: 196.
NARRATOR: It’s time to take tissue samples for DNA and
draw blood from this amazing animal.
MAN: Okay, got it. Fresh blood sample here.
MAN 2: So now we have our blood sample from this huge bull shark;
you can see the dark and richness of that blood.
NARRATOR: To reach this size,
she must be around 30 years old,
no one knows for sure if they get any older.
No one has seen anything like her in the
United States in decades.
NEIL: Alright guys we have a loose fish.
MAN: Loose fish, fish is not secured to the boat by...
NARRATOR: It’s possible that they’ve got their hands on
the largest living bull shark in the ocean.
MAN: Okay, hold on, I’m gonna use this pump to pull her out.
NARRATOR: They release her no worse for wear.
NEIL: It’s like those wrestlers who are all neck.
And it was just like...
I couldn’t even see its eyes,
because there was just meat around it!
NARRATOR: She disappears into the depths.
But not before Neil and his team give her a name
that befits her size.
They call her Big Bull.
NEIL (off-screen): In all the years of surveying sharks including
hundreds of bull sharks, I’d never seen bull shark
anywhere near that size.
NARRATOR: The photos taken of Neil with Big Bull go viral.
She captures the imagination of millions the world over.
No one thought the ocean had giants like this anymore.
NEIL (off-screen): It was incredible that we captured one of the
largest specimens ever recorded!
But it also showed us how little we actually
know about bull sharks.
NARRATOR: They could only guess how she got this big,
the range of her territory,
and whether she’s given birth to more giants like her.
Until now.
Eight years later there’s more.
Big bull sharks are showing up all along Florida’s coastline.
Fishermen notice first.
FISHERMAN: Oh my gosh, what a monster.
NARRATOR: 160 miles from where Big Bull was first captured.
FISHERMAN: That’s a giant bull shark.
NARRATOR: Then divers report large bulls by a shipwreck.
Now scientists wonder if Big Bull has ushered in
a new wave of giant sharks.
Could this big momma have spawned a new generation of behemoths?
NEIL: In humans, there are traits associated with
being big or size that are hereditary.
They're passed down from parent to offspring.
And I wouldn't be surprised if the same thing applies in
sharks that are hereditary, that could be contributing to
the sheer size of Big Bull.
NARRATOR: It’s time to find out if Big Bull is still here,
and if other big sharks are her pups.
NEIL: The goal of this trip is to gather more information
that allows us to understand how and why she got so big,
and ultimately figure out whether there’s even a
bigger bull shark out there.
NARRATOR: If Big Bull is still out here,
and the mother of a large family,
it may cause concern for beachgoers.
Shark attacks in the areas just north of here have
increased 37% in that last ten years.
Bull sharks are crucial for a healthy ocean and
they are near threatened,
so a slew of big bulls would give
the species hope for the future.
Neil is rooting for the sharks and he’s not alone.
Shark conservationist and former Royal Marine commando, James Glancy,
joins the marine biologist for a chance to make history.
JAMES: Florida is a really special to me because it’s
where I first learned to dive as a kid in the '90s and
I saw my first bull shark on that trip,
and that gave me my passion for sharks and the ocean.
So it’s incredible to be back here using the military skills
that I’ve developed over my career to support shark science
and to go out and find the world’s biggest bull shark.
NARRATOR: But the conditions are not ideal.
JAMES: Well the sun is out today but the swell is huge.
It’s gonna be an interesting dive.
MAN: Ripping currents, deep water, poor visibility,
plus bull sharks?
NARRATOR: They head to where divers have seen big bulls,
near a wreck site just two miles off shore.
This was a drug-smuggling ship,
seized by the coast guard and sunk here 20 years ago.
Now it’s habitat for fish of all kinds.
And for bull sharks, a seafood buffet.
If Big Bull is here, she would have grown close to an inch a year
and now be an incredible ten feet in length.
SOT: Yeah, we are on the wreck right now, yeah.
NARRATOR: James sets up his camera to check the size of sharks.
JAMES: I’ve got my camera rigged up with two lasers;
that’s gonna help us measure the sharks.
NARRATOR: Problem is, bull sharks can come in a pack.
JAMES (off-screen): When you get more than five or six bull sharks,
they get more of a pack mentality.
They are an incredible predator that understands
where our sensory systems are.
They know how to use stealth, how to use ambush to try and
get close to you.
NEIL: Whoa. Look at that!
This is some great shark habitat.
JAMES: We’ve got a really strong current in here.
NEIL: It’s a little dicey.
NEIL: Lots of shark food around here.
NEIL: We got a shark.
There we go.
I think that’s a bull shark.
About thirty feet away.
NARRATOR: It is a bull.
And it’s not alone.
NEIL: Watch your left!
NARRATOR: More and more show up.
NARRATOR: Suddenly, they’re surrounded.
NARRATOR: Neil and James search a shipwreck for the
megashark Big Bull, and other large bull sharks that
may be her descendants.
JAMES (over radio): Neil, you okay?
NEIL (over radio): I’m good over here.
NARRATOR: Bull sharks have a pack-like mentality and
swarm around possible food.
They surround the divers.
NEIL (over radio): They’re right behind you.
JAMES (over radio): Let’s get some cover!
NARRATOR: Neil and James nestle into the wreck for protection.
NEIL (over radio): Yeah, one’s on your right!
NARRATOR: Now to get some measurements.
JAMES (over radio): Neil, I’m gonna try and laser it.
I’m going to get closer.
NARRATOR: James’s two lasers work like an electronic ruler
to confirm the size of the bulls.
If one is close to ten feet long,
it could be Big Bull, possibly, the largest shark alive.
JAMES: I’ve got the laser. I’ve got it locked on.
Laser locked on.
JAMES: I’ve got it. I’ve got a shot.
NARRATOR: There, multiplying the six inch-long distance of
the lasers they estimate that this shark is young,
from snout to the curve of the tail,
a little over five feet long.
But nearby.
JAMES (over radio): There’s a big bull shark over there,
I’m going to try to get a laser on it.
I’ve got it.
NARRATOR: A giant, pushing nine feet.
Only inches smaller than Big Bull was in 2012.
They get more measurements.
NEIL (over radio): Awesome job.
NARRATOR: But the strong current,
with this many sharks, turns this dive dangerous.
JAMES (over radio): Hey Neil, let’s head up.
JAMES: This current is going to carry me to England otherwise.
NEIL: I’m with ya.
JAMES: How ‘bout that! Ah!
NEIL: That was epic! JAMES: Loads of bull sharks.
NEIL: Some nice sized bulls; not as big as Big Bull,
but I feel really good about this as a good starting point
to take the search to the next level.
NARRATOR: They’ve confirmed bulls as large as those
reported by local divers and fishermen.
While they’re not quite the size of Big Bull,
this is her territory.
And if Neil’s theory is right,
the sharks here may be her offspring.
There’s one way to find out.
When Neil encountered Big Bull,
he collected tissue for DNA analysis.
NEIL: Okay got it. Fresh blood sample here.
NARRATOR: Now, they can use it to find her offspring.
She may be the matriarch of a giant family that could
include other super-sized bulls.
She could have more than 100 children and countless grandchildren,
a hopeful sign for a declining species.
JAMES: What's exciting to me is that that bull shark was
clearly an amazing genetic specimen.
So now can we find out whether she's bred successfully and
passed those genes on to other bull sharks that are in the
coastal areas around Florida?
NEIL: The sample from Big Bull was taken as
part of larger population study.
Now, I’ve sent that sample off to various collaborators to
see what else we can learn.
NARRATOR: Enter shark biologist, Dr. Toby Daly-Engle.
TOBY: Hey, how ya going? NEIL: Daly-Engle dangerous.
TOBY: How's it going?
NARRATOR: DNA could tell Toby if other large sharks in
Florida are Big Bull’s babies.
TOBY: The genetics that we're doing is basically the same
exact process that would happen if you swabbed your
cheek and sent it into an ancestry database.
NARRATOR: As a first step, Neil has looked more closely
at Big Bull’s original blood sample for clues.
JAMES: From the blood samples you took when you caught
Big Bull were you able to tell if she was pregnant?
NEIL: The bad news is that she was not pregnant, based on the blood work,
the good news is that she had recently given birth.
JAMES: Awesome. TOBY: Wow.
JAMES: So her offspring are potentially off the coast right now.
TOBY: So she might have grandchildren and
maybe even great-grandchildren.
We can do DNA fingerprinting that will give us a
measurement of how closely any two sharks are related.
NARRATOR: Is Big Bull populating the coast with big babies?
They head back out to the shipwreck,
but this time it won’t be just to observe.
TOBY: Our goal on this expedition is to find one of
her relatives and that can tell us a lot about the
life history of this shark and the entire species.
NARRATOR: Finding her offspring may also reveal the
size of Big Bull’s range, the importance of her role in this
community and even if she’s still out here.
The team will go face to face with large bulls to get samples.
And this time, instead of blood,
it’ll be easier to get skin.
Shark skin is up to four inches thick in some species.
Female shark skin, like Big Bull’s,
is thicker than male skin so it can withstand bites
they receive during mating.
TOBY (off-screen): Studies have shown that in some species,
the male tooth length corresponds to that thick skin
in the female of the species.
NARRATOR: They’ll easily handle a pinch from a biopsy spear.
It’ll be like getting an ear pierced.
But that doesn’t mean the sharks won’t react.
TOBY: There’s a bunch of bull sharks on the surface.
They’re right here.
I mean, this is the chance that we’ve been waiting for.
WOMAN: We're getting there.
TOBY: All right so, you're gonna, I’m gonna stay on the surface,
you’re gonna load the gun and hand it down.
NEIL: Yep. TOBY: Okay.
NARRATOR: They won’t need air tanks for this dive
for one simple reason.
The sharks are ready for them at the surface,
too many to count.
JAMES: Big one here.
NARRATOR: Toby is here for science,
but the sharks are here to eat.
She gets a tissue sample.
But then.
NARRATOR: The giant shark Big Bull may be
the largest living bull shark in the ocean.
And she may have given rise to a new generation of bulls just
like her, just off the coast of Florida.
Dr. Toby Daly-Engel gets a DNA sample from a shark that could
be one of Big Bull’s offspring.
But something may want a piece of her as well.
MAN: Wow, I can’t believe she did that.
NARRATOR: The DNA expert is unharmed.
It’s a freak occurrence.
A mahi-mahi impaled itself on her biopsy spear.
Now they scramble back to the boat before the fish blood
attracts more sharks.
Crew members take some of the fish for themselves.
The rest goes to the sharks.
And draws more of them even closer.
This mission just got a shot in the arm.
It’s more dangerous now, but the more samples they get,
the better chance they’ll have of finding Big Bull or
one of her offspring.
TOBY: There’s a ton of sharks in there.
It's the perfect opportunity to sample these animals.
JAMES: Certainly huge bull sharks around here.
NARRATOR: It’s a good sign for a species that’s near threatened.
And one of the sharks looks big enough to be the queen herself.
JAMES: There’s a really huge bull shark down here.
JAMES: Definitely worth... NEIL: Holy shit!
JAMES: Definitely worth getting a sample.
NEIL: Yeah, right here. Huge.
NARRATOR: They switch to scuba gear so
they can stay down longer.
NEIL: We’ve got the take all opportunities to
get that sample, all hands-on deck.
NEIL (over radio): Woah, tons of sharks.
More swarming. Down below.
NARRATOR: These are all big bull sharks.
But the largest is down deep.
JAMES: Can’t get to her.
It’s too dangerous to go down.
Fingers crossed, she’ll come up.
NARRATOR: They collect sample after sample.
Any one of these younger sharks could have
inherited Big Bull’s DNA.
NEIL (over radio): Watch my back.
NARRATOR: Biopsies from a dozen sharks.
Then, finally, the largest of them comes up from the deep.
It’s not quite Big Bull’s size.
NEIL (over radio): I’m going for that big one.
NARRATOR: But a healthy female.
JAMES (over radio): That was awesome.
NEIL: We got it!
TOBY: We've got DNA!
NEIL: Just got a biopsy from a bull shark.
It is wild down there right now.
JAMES: Yeah, maybe 15 big bull sharks it’s unbelievable.
Excellent.
That is definitely mission success.
NARRATOR: Toby now has what she needs to find out if any
of them are related to Big Bull.
TOBY: Ooh, nice!
So we’ve got a little bit of skin.
That’s that black stuff that you can see.
We can get a lot of DNA off of this.
NARRATOR: Big Bull is not here,
but she could have had as many as seven pups every two years
for most of her life.
So she may be the mother of more than 100 bull sharks.
And she may still be out here, 40 years old,
more than a foot longer.
And still having pups.
If so, Big Bull could be at a pupping ground right now.
JAMES: Where is a good location to go and
see if we can find her offspring?
TOBY: Well the Indian River Lagoon is a
hot spot for baby bull sharks.
She could have given birth there.
NARRATOR: While Toby heads to the lab to work on the samples,
Neil and James head to Big Bull’s possible pupping ground,
the Indian River Lagoon.
Big Bull was first captured off Marathon.
The wreck site they’ve searched is around
three miles from Palm Beach.
Now they head even farther north.
And into the estuary that is the Indian River Lagoon.
That’s more than 200 miles, well within her range.
All bull sharks migrate once they reach maturity.
Bulls may go as far north as New York.
NEIL: Even if we don’t find her here in this lagoon,
we should find evidence she gave birth here if we capture
a small juvenile with her DNA signature.
NARRATOR: Few sharks would venture into this brackish lagoon.
But bull sharks are special.
They have adapted to live in both saltwater and freshwater.
Pregnant females like Big Bull can travel into the Indian River Lagoon
to give birth, away from other predatory sharks.
It’s just feet from a residential community but
pregnant sharks, like Big Bull,
may return here again and again every two years.
Neil and James join up with marine biologist,
Dr. Matt Ajemian, to see if Big Bull,
or her pups are here.
MATT: Under normal conditions,
the Indian River Lagoon can support,
a nursery habitat for these animals,
or so we suspect.
NARRATOR: The goal is to get more samples,
but the brackish water is murky.
NEIL: I mean the water is like coffee.
NARRATOR: It’s way too dangerous to dive.
Neil and James come prepared with some cutting-edge tech.
JAMES: This Remote Operated Vehicle has a 4K underwater camera,
and it’s also got the Blueprint Subsea Oculus Sonar.
This is military grade technology that allows us to
see through really dark murky water,
for up to 100 feet.
And that’s a game changer when you’re operating in these
murky water conditions in the lagoon.
NEIL: It essentially, shoots out this sound wave that
bounces off objects, reflects back,
and is able to form an image.
And what I hope with this technology,
is that we will see an SSO.
A Shark Shaped Object!
Can you see anything on this camera?
JAMES: You cannot see anything through this water
on the camera, nothing at all.
NARRATOR: Only the sonar can see the abundance of
potential shark food.
It sees in the dark.
But will it see bull shark pups?
Or their big mammas?
NEIL: What’s that? JAMES: There we go. There it is!
NEIL: There’s a big shark coming in.
NARRATOR: The enormous shark Big Bull may be
the largest living bull shark in the ocean.
She could have had more than 100 pups in her life time and
she may be here in the Indian River Lagoon,
giving birth to even more.
NEIL: What’s that? JAMES: What do you think?
That is big!
NEIL: Yes yeah, and it’s moving like a shark!
NARRATOR: Neil and James use a remote-controlled sub
with sonar to search.
NEIL: Shark shaped object confirmed.
JAMES: There’s a second one coming in.
NEIL: Yep, yep, coming in hot.
And here’s a third one!
JAMES: Amazing!
NEIL: Okay, we’ve got three confirmations.
JAMES: This is a good spot.
NEIL: Let’s set up the drumlines here.
NARRATOR: A new generation of supersized bulls could be here.
And this is the same method Neil used when he
first captured Big Bull in 2012.
NEIL: Whose got Shark, shark! Yeah, sharks on.
Woah, woah, woah. Let it go.
Watch the weight. Hold the rope.
Watch out, just want to see its size.
NEIL: Wow. We got a bull shark! Yes!
NARRATOR: It’s a pup.
Around a year old.
Proof that this is a birthing ground.
JAMES: We’ve got a beautiful one meter long baby bull shark.
I’m just keeping the water going through his gills.
Pull out here again.
NARRATOR: Its DNA will reveal if it is one of Big Bull’s.
If she’s still alive, Big Bull’s spawn may be all over this lagoon.
NEIL: Perfectly adapted for this environment.
It’s an incredible specimen,
you can see just amazing power.
Oh my goodness, I’ve never seen a Bull Shark this, small!
Pretty much.
You know, I work with the big ones and
I know it sounds kind of obvious,
but it’s literally a miniature version of a big one!
Just perfect! The perfect bull shark!
WOMAN: Maybe a little chubbier.
MAN: Yeah, well, he's healthy.
MAN 2: Gonna take a quick weight.
NARRATOR: PhD student Shannon Barry,
will take it from here.
NEIL: So will we be able to know if Big Bull came in here
and gave birth by?
SHANNON: Yeah, if this is one of her offspring,
we’ll be able to tell based on her genetics.
NEIL: Incredible.
SHANNON: So earlier this week,
I received the Big Bull sample.
She was part of a larger population study,
so, uh, specifics into her genetic sequencing
haven’t been done yet.
So, I’m really excited to take a look closer at that and,
um, hopefully try to find some of her offspring.
NARRATOR: No sign of Big Bull, but if one of these pups is
hers it’ll show that her range covers most all
of Florida’s southern coast.
It’ll also prove that she was alive as recently as a year ago!
MATT: Awesome. There he goes!
You see his little tag? Right there, look at that. Beautiful.
NEIL: Yeah. SHANNON: Nice.
MATT: Awesome job guys!
NARRATOR: They find more and more juveniles.
MATT: That was, that was the first one.
NARRATOR: These youngsters may live in this area for several years,
growing strong on cat fish.
NEIL: What a perfect specimen.
NARRATOR: It’ll be about ten years before they
can have pups of their own.
SHANNON: 17.2 PCL.
NARRATOR: Lab work will soon show if these
sharks have Big Bull’s DNA.
And, there’s one more lead to follow.
To get to the size of Big Bull,
a shark’s gotta eat, and they may have just found
her favorite spot to hunt.
35 miles south, outside Jupiter Inlet,
a shark around the size of Big Bull has just been spotted
from the air, gorging on fish.
Could it be Big Bull or one of her supersized offspring?
NARRATOR: Neil’s colleague Dr. Steve Kajiura studies
shark movements from 500 feet above the ocean.
MAN (over radio): What kind of survey are you doing?
STEVE (over radio): Uh, We’re counting sharks along the beach here.
MAN (over radio): Oh nice.
NARRATOR: But down below, it’s not the
crystal clear ocean you’d expect.
Dark clouds sprawl across the shallows.
Look more closely, and they move.
MAN (over radio): Wow look at that bait around the pier,
wow that was cool.
NARRATOR: This is the mullet run,
millions of bait fish, and they are under attack.
MAN (over radio): Oh, big ball of bait fish and some sharks hittin’ it.
NARRATOR: It’s the easiest meal of the year for tarpons.
And sharks.
NARRATOR: There’s a feeding frenzy just outside of
Florida’s Jupiter Inlet, the mullet run.
Mega-shark Big Bull or her offspring might be feeding
within it right now.
Dr. Steve Kajiura watches this food-chain in action.
STEVE (off-screen): When these bait fish are here in, in large numbers,
it brings in the bigger predators like the, uh, like the sharks.
NARRATOR: Under attack from below,
the mullet scramble.
Black tip sharks, and tarpons move in first.
STEVE (over radio): We have a ball of baitfish,
followed by more baitfish that were bisected by a...
is that a shark or tarpon on the outside?
NARRATOR: Then.
STEVE (over radio): Loads of sharks down there.
Whoa.
NARRATOR: Bull sharks move in.
STEVE (over radio): That’s a big shark.
What is that?
NARRATOR: One of them is large,
around Big Bull’s size.
It’s not here for the baitfish,
it’s here to eat the other sharks.
STEVE: You might have a bunch of baitfish that are
attracting little black tips.
Well, then those might be bringing in the big bull sharks
to feed on the black tips in turn.
And so, you've got this whole cascade that builds up,
from just the presence of these little tiny fish
influencing huge things like, like Big Bull.
STEVE (over radio) Lots of sharks, lots of sharks.
Look at that.
That’s a big shark.
Look, that’s not a black tip.
A big bull shark.
NARRATOR: Steve transmits the location to James and Neil.
STEVE (over radio): Hey Neil, I’ve got some coordinates for you.
NARRATOR: They’ll need to move fast to catch
the mullet run in action.
This may be their best chance of finding Big Bull.
Or it might prove Neil’s theory that Big Bull has
given birth to other Big Bull sharks.
But the skies are no longer safe.
STEVE (over radio): I got some clouds going in
from the, uh, northwest here.
NARRATOR: It’s a record year for storms.
STEVE (over radio): Hey Neil, looks like you’ve got some weather
moving in towards you right now.
NARRATOR: Kajiura has no choice.
He has to land.
MAN (over radio): Runway three to Kajiura.
STEVE (over radio): Roger.
MAN (over radio): Kajiura. Good land, runway 3307.
NARRATOR: But Neil and James aren’t giving up,
if they can find Big Bull or her pups,
it will show hope for the species.
JAMES (off-screen): Last night we had lightening, thunder;
today we’ve got that on the forecast,
so we want to get out as quickly as possible.
NEIL (off-screen): It's not looking pretty,
but I think it's workable and you know,
we're just, we're running out of time.
So we got to get out there.
NARRATOR: After an hour of pounding they
finally reach the location.
JAMES: It’s been an absolute epic journey to get out
of 10 to 12 feet swells.
But it’s definitely worth it, we’re here now.
NARRATOR: It’s too rough for scuba gear and
laser measuring devices.
They’ll free dive on the outskirts of the mullet run,
and try to get DNA from the largest bull sharks,
maybe Big Bull.
Big sharks.
But here the big ones are lemon sharks.
Lemons are formidable predators.
They’re assertive and outnumber the bulls.
But nowhere near as deadly and not what
Neil and James are after.
Then.
Bulls.
Two big ones.
One comes in fast.
Neil has his probe in position,
but he must wait for the right moment.
Bull’s eye!
JAMES (over radio): Nice shot!
NARRATOR: One down.
But they also want a sample from the second larger shark.
It could even be the queen of bull sharks herself, Big Bull.
NARRATOR: But a gang of lemon sharks moves in.
And one of them locks in on James.
NARRATOR: Neil and James want a biopsy from a shark down
below that may be Big Bull,
possibly the largest bull shark in the ocean.
But a swarm of aggressive lemon sharks pins them down.
One of them sees James as a target.
James deflects an attack.
And covers their retreat.
JAMES: I think that’s enough for now.
The lemons are getting way too intense.
I think someone’s going to get bit at some point.
My camera certainly did.
NEIL: We’re super lucky that we got one biopsy because
those bulls were staying deep and any time they came kind of
close the lemons would charge.
NARRATOR: It’s just too dangerous.
They decide to call it.
But Toby has been working on the DNA they already collected.
And she has results.
Was Big Bull just a freakish anomaly?
Or has she given rise to a new generation of giants up and
down the Florida coast?
TOBY: We pretty much expected to get nothing, right,
I mean finding two related sharks should be
like a needle in a haystack.
NEIL: Like a huge ocean haystack.
TOBY: Huge haystack, and not only did we find offspring
we found three offspring of Big Bull.
NEIL: Are you kidding me?
JAMES: That’s and amazing story, that’s good news.
TOBY: Yeah.
JAMES: So her offspring are potentially off the coast somewhere now.
TOBY: Not potentially, they’re definitely there.
NARRATOR: The big question is where were they found?
Is Big Bull having pups in just one area,
or spreading her DNA all over Florida?
NEIL: Where were these offspring?
TOBY: Well a couple of different places,
so we actually got one at the shipwreck.
NEIL: No kidding that’s deep water,
I mean those were some big sharks.
TOBY: Yeah, those were not baby sharks.
NARRATOR: The sharks they sampled at the wreck were
around ten years old.
They could even be from the litter Big Bull had
just before her original capture in 2012.
TOBY: The second sample came from Indian River Lagoon.
NEIL: From one of the small sharks that we sampled?
That’s insane.
TOBY: I know.
I ran this data about 100 times because I, I thought
I had to be wrong.
NARRATOR: This is the pup.
WOMAN: Aw, he has a tiny little mouth.
NARRATOR: Just a year old.
NEIL: It’s an incredible specimen.
NARRATOR: And from Big Bull herself,
which means it’s likely Big Bull is still out there.
NEIL: This blows my mind.
I never expected to be able to actually identify offspring of Big Bull
suggesting that she’s still not only alive but reproducing.
Where else?
TOBY: Well the third offspring was one of the big sharks that
was following the mullet run.
NEIL: That’s amazing.
NARRATOR: Four locations off the Florida coast,
from Marathon where she was captured,
to the wreck site, to the mullet run area,
and all the way up to the Indian River Lagoon,
at least a 200-mile range.
TOBY: The fact that we are finding her offspring in these
different places shows that she represents an important
biological linkage between these different habitats.
NEIL: Incredible.
JAMES: So given that.
She’s potentially had many children over her life time.
TOBY: Yeah, she may have grandchildren or even
great grandchildren out there somewhere.
JAMES: Awesome.
NARRATOR: There’s no sign yet that Big Bull’s offspring are
any bigger than normal.
But there’s a lot of them.
And with any luck they’ll have inherited her knack for survival.
She also may still be out there.
And a important matriarch of an enormous family.
NEIL: Encountering such a large shark,
for me, is actually a sign of hope.
It means that this animal was able to make it past all
the threats and grow to be this size.
It also means there are likely other big Bull Sharks
that are still out there yet to be discovered.
NARRATOR: Neil may never see Big Bull again,
but he has swum with her children.
They have her DNA, and given time,
one of them may also claim the title of
the world’s biggest bull shark!
Captioned by Cotter Media Group.