Narrator: In this tropical pacific paradise,
Two species are in conflict.
Humans.
And sharks.
It's a dark cloud that's already claimed lives.
Man: A school!
Narrator: One team must try to stop this brewing storm.
Laurent: We have a dangerous situation.
Narrator: French marine biologist dr. Laurent vigliola
Investigates the role sharks play in the health of coral reefs.
Will: That's a good size shark, that one.
Narrator: Australian shark scientist dr. Will robbins
Studies interactions between sharks and humans.
They've worked together for years.
Narrator: But now, with untested equipment.
Will: What could possibly go wrong?
Narrator: And an experimental plan.
Man: Let's lift her.
Man: Ok.
Narrator: They have only five days to train up a local team,
And target as many sharks as they can.
Man: Pull the harness in!
Narrator: For operation: Sharklift.
Over 700 miles off australia's east coast
Lies the main the island of new caledonia.
The coral reefs of this remote french territory are over
900 miles long, second only to australia's great barrier reef.
It's one of the world's most diverse and pristine reef
Systems, with thousands of species of fish, coral,
And other animals.
Making it the perfect habitat for a super predator: Sharks.
Tiger sharks, reef sharks, hammerheads, makos,
Great whites, and bull sharks.
People here don't tend to fear sharks;
They are part of the culture and are even protected by law.
But more and more, sharks and people are competing for the
Same seafood, and the same waterfront.
What's worse, people have been feeding the growing number of
Bull sharks in this harbor.
Man: A school!
Narrator: It's a problem laurent needs to fix.
Will: G'day, mate.
Will: Hiya.
Narrator: Not just any shark, these are huge bull sharks,
That locals have been hand feeding, for years.
Will: Bull sharks are one of the potentially dangerous species to people.
Laurent: Yeah.
Will: They're large enough that if they bite a person,
That can cause massive injury, or death.
Narrator: Marine duprat, part of the team of city and other
Authorities, turns to laurent to reduce the threat,
Without harming the sharks.
And that threat has reached a peak.
Will: Bull sharks are basically a size that they look at humans
As something that might be something they could eat.
Narrator: The growing number of bull sharks,
So close to people, has raised the alarm.
The authorities want to stop the feeding of the sharks,
But worry that that will drive hungry sharks to nearby beaches.
Putting surfers, swimmers, even boaters, at risk.
So the southern province, the government,
And the city of noumea turn to laurent and his team,
Just like in 2016.
Narrator: Poe beach, 80 miles from noumea,
In the township of bourail, is a favorite holiday spot,
Where the barrier reef is just half a mile from shore.
After the fatal attack in 2016,
Laurent used a plane to look for a shark big enough to have
Killed someone.
What he found shocked him.
Narrator: Not one large tiger shark in this super-shallow lagoon...
But eight of them.
Will: Yeah, because the traditional way of moving a
Shark is basically to bring it alongside the vessel.
Laurent: Yes.
Narrator: Moving the tiger sharks this way,
Only half a mile, still took hours.
But moving bull sharks 20 miles away,
With wind and waves, seems impossible.
Will: This is huge.
Will: A shark's not gonna survive such a trip through here.
Laurent: Yep.
Narrator: Moving the shark alongside the boat won't work.
So will suggests an idea from the other side of the world, brazil.
Brazilian shark scientist dr. Fabio hazin turned a
Deadly shark-attack hot spot back into a safe beach for
Locals by catching bull and tiger sharks,
Putting them in a make-shift pool on a small boat,
And releasing them miles out to sea.
But he didn't have a crane.
Laurent and will plan to use this crane to lift sharks out
Of the water, one at a time, and into this specially
Designed aluminum pool.
It's built to supply a constant flow of oxygen-filled
Water so the shark can breathe strong enough to withstand the
Thrashing of a big shark.
Narrator: The team can't be sure how a shark will react to
Captivity in the pool.
So they have to get it back in the ocean as quickly as possible.
Will: I hope this isn't to scale!
If we can keep the shark alive there on the boat,
Then the boat can move at full speed.
Laurent: Yeah.
Will: As long as we keep the shark happy, theoretically,
We can keep it there for a couple of hours.
Narrator: Laurent and will's plan is experimental.
Laurent: Ok, let's go.
Narrator: Tomorrow they'll see if it works.
This harbor is one of the most dangerous places in new caledonia.
Fish scraps tossed in from this wharf have attracted
Dozens of huge, highly dangerous bull sharks.
Man: A school!
Narrator: So it's here the team sets their first hook,
With marine at the wheel.
Man: Oh, nice, excellent.
Narrator: In australia and other countries,
Baited hooks are used to kill dangerous sharks.
But here, they want to capture the sharks alive.
Narrator: They now have just four days to test their
Technique and train the local team who will move all the sharks.
Some still bear fishermen's hooks.
They target the largest sharks first.
Man: Yeah.
It's a good-sized one.
Narrator: The sharks rush at the bait, but don't bite.
Catching them is harder than they thought.
Will: I'm gonna guess an animal of this size is
Probably going to be female, because the female bull sharks
Get bigger than the males.
Narrator: A large female grabs the bait.
And the team jumps into action.
Will: Got a harness out?
Man: (inaudible) to get it ready.
Man: Ok, put it on, mika.
Laurent: Ok.
Will: Ah, it's a nice size animal.
Man: Come, here!
Will: She's a big shark; she's a big girl.
I certainly wouldn't want to jump in with her.
Will: It's going to take a bit of effort to handle this.
Will: Ok, okay, alright good work.
Will: We're just opening the front of the harness here,
So as we move forward slowly, water comes in and keeps her
Gills irrigated allowing her to breathe.
Narrator: To breathe, bull sharks need the oxygen in
Seawater to flow over their gills.
So the boat motors gently forward.
Will: This whole program here is about replicating what's
Been done in brazil, where they very successfully moved
Sharks out of urban areas way offshore,
And the sharks didn't return.
We're trying to replicate that here in new caledonia.
Now, the magic number, the total length of this girl:
Two, five, four, six.
So two and half meters.
Narrator: That's nearly eight and a half feet long.
Will: But make a note, the top of her tail's been cut off.
So either a shark bite or propeller when she was younger.
So she should've been longer.
Narrator: Closer to nine feet long, and 500 pounds.
Now will demonstrates the delicate surgical procedure to
Insert an acoustic tag.
In future, the team will have to do this on their own.
Will: Alright, so we'll open up the belly cavity.
Will: So here's a transmitting tag.
This'll track her movements.
Very simply, hey, insert that into the hole we made.
Narrator: Bull sharks are used to cuts and scrapes.
Will: And then we want to just quickly stitch her up.
Narrator: This surgery is a minor wound that will heal quickly.
Will: This skin is incredibly tough.
So, that's the bit that's been done by countless
Organizations around the world, catching a shark,
Bringing it up to a boat, and tagging it.
So what we're going to do now, is we're going to actually
Lift the shark up in its cradle and drop it into a pool
On the main boat.
And this is something that's never been done like this before.
This is a world-first.
It's a shark-lift.
Narrator: Now, the operation shifts into new territory...
And the stakes couldn't be higher: The safety of swimmers
And surfers, and the life of this shark.
Narrator: Laurent radios the research ship, the amborella,
To meet them for the shark lift.
The crane and lifting harness are over the side.
Man: We're coming alongside.
Man: Ok.
Narrator: Now the team must guide the shark and sling into position.
And, it's a go for operation sharklift.
They've got to move fast, the longer the shark is out of the
Water during the lift, the greater the danger to her survival.
Narrator: Now, they attach each side of the harness
To the sling.
The harness is designed to hold a big shark.
Will: Alright, sounds good.
Narrator: But it's untested equipment and an untried technique.
If the equipment fails, or the shark thrashes wildly,
It could come crashing down on the deck.
This has never been done before, will it work?
Narrator: For the first time in new caledonia,
A massive bull shark is being lifted by a crane,
To be placed in a pool on deck.
Laurent: Watch your hands.
Narrator: This specially-made sling is built to be tough.
But is it strong enough to contain this massive animal?
So far, it's holding.
And they guide the shark into the pool.
Will: We want to get water flow happening as soon as we can.
Narrator: Cross beams lock the sling in place.
Man: Can you put the zip down?
Narrator: The shark is now secure.
Man: Ok!
Will: Alright.
Narrator: So far so good, but now they have to make sure she stays healthy.
Will: We're going to put this black towel over it, laurent.
Over her eyes, just to keep her a little bit calm.
Laurent: Ok.
Narrator: It's a trick he learned in brazil from
Dr. Hazin, and it instantly calms the shark.
With water flowing into the shark's mouth and over its
Gills, this large female should be set for the journey
To the release point.
But there's a problem.
The sling is blocking the flow of water in the pool,
And the shark is struggling to breathe.
Will: Alright, laurent, she's having to work to get water
Over her gills, okay.
So what I'm suggesting is we slide her back a little bit
And put the hose, stick the hose in her mouth.
Laurent: Very good.
Will: We want to make sure she's well ventilated.
Narrator: The shark seems calm,
But handling her is still risky.
One lunge and razor-sharp teeth could take will's hand off.
Despite the danger, will places a hose in her mouth,
To get water flowing over her gills.
Will: There we go.
Yep, she's got the hose in her mouth.
Woman: Yes, she's good now!
Will: Make sure there's water coming off the gills.
Yeah, there's water coming out.
So, sweetie.
Yep, c'est bon.
She's good.
Narrator: Crisis averted.
Will takes a photo with his phone to be sure.
Will: Yup. Phone is still alive.
So we can see that the hose is definitely in her mouth.
Theoretically, she could last here forever, you know,
Until she gets too hungry.
But, we're only hoping to keep her for about two hours,
That's our steam time, up outside the reefs here,
Away from noumea, away from the lagoon,
Where we'll release her.
So, fingers crossed, you know, she'll be as happy and relaxed as she
Is now for the entire urney.
And if so, when we release her,
She'll be in top condition.
Narrator: The amborella picks up speed,
Heading out of the harbor for the two-hour journey
To the barrier reef.
Will: When we go to, to crane her out,
We'll get everything ready, but leave the hose in her
Mouth the whole time.
So the last thing we do, as we start lifting her,
Is pop that hose out.
Narrator: But where to release this shark is a complex
Question, and critical to the success of this experimental technique.
Two things drive that decision.
They need to get the shark back in the ocean as quickly
As possible, yet far enough away so that it won't come back.
But they also need calm seas for a steady shark lift.
Laurent and will have chosen several release points,
Far from noumea.
Both inside and outside the reef,
Where the array of acoustic receivers can pick up this
Shark's signal as she moves along the reef.
Will: We're pretty lucky.
These bull sharks are really tough.
They go in all sorts of water conditions; high oxygen,
Low oxygen, fresh water, saltwater.
Will: They're really tough animals.
Narrator: Bull sharks are one of the few shark species that
Travels between the saltwater of the ocean and
Fresh water in rivers.
Females give birth to live pups in river systems,
Where the young sharks will remain for a few years.
Then, they move out into the ocean.
Laurent and will choose a release point outside the
Reef, several miles from a pass into the lagoon,
And near an acoustic tracking receiver.
It's time to let this shark go.
Will: What could possibly go wrong?
Man: Laurent.
Narrator: The final step is removing the hook,
A process left 'til last to avoid stressing the animal.
Will: Yes, we'll try and remove it.
If we can't remove it we'll have to cut the hook.
Laurent: Ok, do it.
(speaking french).
Will: Alright. Hook's out.
She'll be happy for that.
Ok.
Narrator: To put this shark back in the ocean means
Lifting her again with the crane,
It was a delicate operation even in the calm of the harbor.
But out here, with the wind and waves,
It's a real challenge.
This is the critical moment, 500-pounds of dangerous
Bull shark hangs in mid-air.
Narrator: If the shark panics, it couldip the harness apart.
And with the boat rocking, the shark could crash across the
Deck, like a wrecking ball with teeth.
The crew needs to be careful, but they also need to move
Fast if this shark is to survive.
Laurent uses a stick to open the zipper
At the front of the sling.
Narrator: Giving the shark a straight shot into the ocean.
(man speaking native language)
Laurent: Ok!
Woo-hoo!
Will: Go, go, go.
She's swimming.
Look at that!
Laurent: She's swimming!
Will: She's in good condition, mate.
Look!
She's just getting orientated, and she's gonna dive down.
Mate, we did it!
Will: Yeah, mate. Good collaboration.
That worked brilliantly.
Will: Yeah, mate, she's in top condition.
She's awake, she's alert, she's been in a pool for two hours.
Laurent: Yeah.
Will: In a new spot, and then she's just swim out.
Narrator: In a world-first, new caledonia has pioneered a
Unique method to keep people and sharks safer.
But the success of this operation hinges on what the
Shark does next.
Narrator: Marine scientists laurent and will are trying a
New way to move large sharks away from people.
Will: We'll roll back in.
Narrator: Along new caledonia's stunning barrier reef,
Their network of over 70 acoustic receivers will tell
Them where their tagged sharks go.
The receivers have been on the reef for months,
Tracking nearly 200 grey reef sharks the team's tagged
In recent years.
But now, they'll also detect this tagged bull shark if she
Swims within a quarter-mile of a receiver.
Will checks that this receiver's mooring chain is
Holding, over 60 feet down.
Each receiver is tied to a rope and kept upright by a buoy.
They'll take this one to the surface,
To download the data of shark movements over the last year,
And replace it with a new one.
They release the buoy to suspend the receiver in the water.
They check that each tie is tight,
This receiver will be here a long time.
At this depth, they must ascend slowly,
And stop 15 feet below the surface.
This lets excess nitrogen leave their bodies in order to
Avoid 'the bends', a possibly crippling effect of diving.
Over the coming months, they'll dive to replace each
Of the more than 70 receivers in the network,
And retrieve the valuable shark data on each one.
Finally, it's safe for will and laurent to surface.
And head back to noumea harbor.
Will: Yup.
Narrator: The success of 'operation: Sharklift' depends
On if their tagged sharks stay out at sea, or return here,
To town.
So it's a key location for a receiver.
It's too dangerous to dive here to install one.
Will: Yeah, I found a great spot.
I think it'll be in an area where any shark with a tag
That comes by here, it'll hear.
Laurent: Every ping.
Narrator: But will's found a perfect spot on the wharf itself.
Will: So, we could actually drop it down here and tie it off to here.
Narrator: They can check this receiver any time.
Will: Excellent, excellent. Lots of data coming up.
Will: Ok, down the hole.
That's not going anywhere.
Will: Exactly.
And if we find that they keep coming back,
We find they all come back, then we'll have to
Rethink our strategy here.
Laurent: Yes, yes. Alright, let's go.
Will: Alright!
Narrator: In a harbor full of bull sharks,
The betting begins on how long it'll take to catch
Another one tomorrow.
Will: I've got a pretty good feeling this is going to be quick.
Will: Oh, ok, four minutes.
Narrator: A long day ends with planning for tomorrow's
Operation, factoring in all they learned from today's
First-ever sharklift.
Will: Yeah, mate.
Will: Yep. I've actually got the track that we did.
Will: We came straight out; we've come straight down south
Around the reef here; and then,
Down to about 450 meters water depth, where we released her.
Will: Yeah, exactly.
But these guys can move 50 to 100 kilometers a day, so,
If the shark is going to come back to noumea,
It's probably going to come along the reef and try to
Enter back into the lagoon along one of these reef passes.
Will: Exactly. These are actually our first line of defense.
Laurent: Right.
Will: So if we don't hear from them that's a really encouraging sign.
Will: Brilliant, exactly.
Narrator: Now that they know the technique works,
They have to plan where to release the next shark.
Will: Well, we need to work out exactly how far away we
Need to be to release her back.
Will: Fantastic. And all these receivers will detect these sharks.
Laurent: Yup.
Narrator: They plan the next release for inside the lagoon,
Closer to the coast and river systems that bull sharks love.
Far enough, they hope, that the shark will not come back.
The sharklift worked today, but will it work tomorrow?
Ia's operation: Sharklift.
Will: Geez, they are big animals.
Narrator: And the sharks in noumea harbor are hungry.
Will: Ok.
You said five minutes, I said four.
Will: The fishing line's in!
Narrator: Another massive bull grabs the bait,
And takes off with the buoy and the line,
Racing close to shore.
The team finally grabs the line,
But this shark isn't out of steam yet.
Laurent: Oh, take it, take it.
Will: That's a good size shark, that one.
Narrator: Finally, they pull the shark close to the boat.
This shark, another female, is even bigger than yesterday's.
And she's not being cooperative.
But finally, they guide her into the sling to tag her.
Will: Pull the harness in!
Will: Let's get her back to the amborella, and let's lift her!
Laurent: Ok.
Narrator: The amborella steams to meet them.
And bull shark number two is brought on board.
It's hard to imagine that just a few powerful fin strokes
Separated this ocean predator from the city's populace.
Yet everyone on board works quickly to keep this
Potential killer alive.
Will: We need to get water into her mouth.
Narrator: Lesson learned: Will immediately puts the hose
In the shark's mouth.
And covers her eyes.
Will: Ok, we need the black towel.
Will: Sit her upright, and get her forwards.
Laurent: Yes.
Narrator: The amborella again leaves the crowded harbor,
Bound for a tiny island in the lagoon,
Far to the south of noumea.
Will: Yeah, good here.
Yeah, beautiful, that's good flow.
(speaking french).
Narrator: The hose is working; water is moving
Through her gills.
Will: She's looking pretty hungry.
I don't know, maybe a french fry?
(laughs)
Narrator: After a two-hour journey,
The ship arrives at the shark's new home.
The shallow reef is full of fish for the shark to hunt,
And close to the coast, perfect habitat for bull sharks.
It's time to get her back in the water.
And today, laurent and will want to be in the water
When she's released.
Will: Yeah, yep, I'd like to get underwater and see what she's
Like on release and make sure she's ok.
I think she'll be fine, but it's worth having a look.
Laurent: Yes, yeah, yeah.
Narrator: While the crew readies the harness.
Narrator: They wait just beneath the boat.
Diving with a bull shark is risky,
But they want to see if she's affected by the move.
Everything's ready, and the shark is lifted clear
Of the vessel.
There's no telling how the shark will react.
Narrator: The divers have to be ready for anything.
Narrator: Sensing freedom, the shark swims clear of the
Sling, and turns directly at the divers.
The sheer size of this animal is suddenly very apparent.
The shark seems to circle to orient herself,
Then with slow, powerful strokes, she swims off.
But not for long.
She's back for another look.
It's hard to know why, perhaps she's just curious.
With one final pass, she's gone.
Somewhere in these waters, the bull shark explores
Her new territory.
This remote island is outside the network of acoustic receivers.
So laurent and will decide to place one here.
Narrator: But the big question is: Will the bull shark
Stay here, too?
Narrator: Bull sharks can travel great distances,
Into or out of the lagoon at will.
At high tide, they could swim over the reef and
Return to the harbor.
But it's more likely they'll take an easier path,
Following the reef to one of the deep passes into the lagoon.
Laurent and will dive here to replace one of the acoustic tracking receivers.
Narrator: A few sharks keep watch on the divers,
But they keep their distance.
Narrator: Laurent and will continue their dive to observe
The fish life in the pass, a measure of the health of the reef.
Narrator: Laurent's team has made more than 3,000 dives
To survey fish diversity around new caledonia,
Including the most remote reefs.
Narrator: Grey reef sharks are among the largest predators
That live on the reef.
They are an indicator of reef health.
Laurent caught and tagged 186 of them,
And installed dozens of receivers
To monitor their movements.
It's one of the largest shark tracking project in the world.
And the results of their survey were startling.
On remote reefs, the number of sharks and fish,
And the diversity of species, is one of the highest in the world.
But closer to where people live,
Those numbers fall dramatically.
Even here, a two-hour boat ride from noumea,
There are few sharks.
But if sharks are not fished here for food or their fins,
The question is, why so few?
To find out, laurent began a key scientific study.
Using bruvs, baited remote underwater video systems,
Deployed with the help of new caledonia's sea rescue team.
Narrator: Each bruv has two cameras,
And a bait to attract sharks.
The cameras record for two hours.
The bruvs provide a snapshot of shark numbers,
And their behavior.
They set the bruvs across a vast area of new caledonia's reefs.
Starting near the center of human activity, noumea.
Sometimes, no sharks at all were recorded.
At other times, the few grey reef sharks that appeared were
Too wary to approach the bait.
Moving north, off poe beach, a few more sharks appear,
Grey reef and white tip reef sharks.
Tentative at first, some eventually investigate the bait.
But at the furthest reaches of new caledonia's vast
Archipelago, it's a very different story.
Sharks appear as soon as the bruv is dropped,
And more species.
Big animals.
Mako, tiger,
Hammerhead.
And they seem to have no fear, they come straight
Into the bait.
Laurent's research shows that close to people,
Fish diversity drops by 60%, and shark numbers by 90%.
The conclusion?
Because of fishing and pollution, pristine reefs,
And large, bold sharks, can only be found 20 hours away
From people.
Except in the main city harbor.
Where, in a bizarre twist, the effect of people means an
Unusually high number of big, bold bull sharks.
Ready to take any bait.
Will: We've got to balance the distance that we move it,
To make sure that they don't come back, with the longer
Distance being potentially worse for the animal.
Laurent: Right, right.
Narrator: If they can catch another large shark tomorrow,
They plan to release it closer in, inside the lagoon,
Just one hour from the harbor.
Will: If we've dropped her off in an area where she likes a
Habitat, there's no reason for her to move or come back to
Noumea, so hopefully she'll just stay where she is.
Marine: Yeah.
Narrator: With dozens of massive bulls still in the harbor.
Laurent: Take it, take it.
Narrator: It doesn't take long to catch and tag another one.
And crane lift the powerful animal on board.
Narrator: This third shark will be released on a shallow
Reef only an hour from the city,
To test if that's far enough for her to stay away.
(speaking french).
But just as they approach their release point.
Narrator: The shark is in trouble.
Rrator: Laurent and will were about to put on dive gear
To watch the shark's release from underwater,
When marine raises an alarm.
Will: Yeah. She'd bitten through the hose.
She's panicked because she's not getting enough oxygen.
Her eyes are still clear.
She's gulping water, and because of that she swallowed
It down and that's why her belly bloated right up.
And that's a really bad sign for sharks.
The best thing is to get her in as fast as we can,
Back in her natural environment.
We had to ventilate the gills just to keep oxygen flowing over.
Narrator: The team hasn't faced this kind of life or
Death pressure before, but they pull together quickly.
Laurent: Ok, get it.
Narrator: Within minutes, the harness is connected,
And the sling and shark are in the air.
Will: We got her straight in, and the nice thing is,
When we released her she swam out of the cradle and then she
Kept on swimming.
So, I have no doubt that she's fine.
But it was close.
We don't we don't, we don't want that to happen again.
Narrator: They make a plan for tomorrow,
Their last day with the team.
Will: It's still an experiment.
So we need to actually, yeah, trial everything we can to
See, you know, what works.
Narrator: This time, laurent and will will step back and
Let the team move the shark.
Will: We'll take hold of the line that the shark's hooked onto,
And bring it around the back of the boat,
And then we'll slide the shark up, face first,
Up into the cradle.
The head of the shark's at the front of the boat,
And the tail's down this end.
Narrator: The fourth shark is the biggest of all,
Nearly 12 feet.
Another female!
Will: Pull the harness in. Watch your hands.
Will: So today is all about watching how these guys,
All the different authorities, the different bodies,
Are actually working together,
And doing the shark themselves.
Laurent: They're doing good.
Will: They're doing excellent.
Laurent and I have been training them this week,
And now, they're taking over.
Because these guys are going to be leading the project on
Into the future.
Yup, yup, yup it's in.
Yep, oui! Oui!
Narrator: Far to the north, outside the reef,
It's too rough for laurent and will to dive to observe the
Shark when it's released.
Narrator: They can only watch, anxiously, from the deck,
As she's lowered into the water.
For a few moments, the shark doesn't move.
Then they can see her powerful strokes as she swims away.
Laurent: She's swimming, guys, well done.
Will: Woo-hoo! Excellent.
I think that's a great end of a really productive week.
Narrator: Operation: Sharklift has been a huge success.
Will: We should have brought beers.
We could've just jumped in and had a beer on the way home.
Laurent: Well, you can jump in.
Narrator: But it's not time to celebrate just yet.
Now, for the real test of this experiment,
What do the acoustic tracking receivers say about the
Bull shark's movements?
Will: All these sharks have got a transmitter
In their stomach.
So if they swim within 400 meters or a quarter of a mile
Within one of these receivers it will hear the shark and
Actually record that that shark had swum past.
Will: Yep. Let's have a look.
Narrator: This is the receiver they retrieved from the reef.
It connects wirelessly to the computer.
Will: Oh, yeah, look, it's appeared now.
Will: So we got lots and lots of reef sharks swimming around
The area but none of our tagged bull sharks.
Narrator: It will be months before the dive team can check
All of the acoustic receivers along the reef.
But, today, laurent and will download the data from the key
Place, the harbor, to see if the females they've
Moved stayed away.
Laurent: Give me a hand mate.
Oops, thank you.
Will: The rope's still here.
The receivers on here, I can feel it.
Narrator: For laurent and will,
This will either prove their theory, or demolish it.
Will: Excellent.
Will: Yep, which is ideal.
Will: It may be not such a big issue if it's only one
Shark that's come back.
But if they've all come back, then,
These animals are just homing straight back in.
That's not what we want.
Will: Alright...
Laurent: Alright.
Will: One, two, three. Laurent: One, two, three.
Narrator: It's the moment of truth.
Laurent: Zero detections!
Will: Yes! Hey!
Not one animal has come back that we moved.
Narrator: So far, operation: Sharklift is working.
Will: There are so many receivers that you've got
Around new caledonia, I'm sure we'll pick
These guys up somewhere.
As long as it's not here, we're happy.
Will: Yeah, exactly. Happy days, mate.
Ok, let's get this back in and.
Laurent: Alrighty.
Will: That's a success! I'm stoked!
Narrator: New caledonia has pioneered a way to move
Dangerous bull sharks far from people.
But the harbor holds many more.
Surfers and swimmers are still at risk.
Man: Oh, it's a school.
Laurent: Yeah.
Narrator: And displaced sharks may come back.
What is certain is that operation: Sharklift holds
The promise of safety for both people and sharks.
Will: That worked brilliantly!
Narrator: As the team prepares for the next, operation: Sharklift.
Captioned by cotter captioning services.