The Hawaiian Islands are like heaven on Earth But in 2019 Paradise is in peril A terrifying creature emerges from the Depths And carries out an eerie series of Attacks Filling mystery must be solved before It's too late We're on the island of Oahu this island Represents a lot of history to Open Water Swimming Eric Shaw is a long Distance swimmer who specializes in a Discipline known as Channel swimming Channel swimming is swimming from one Island typically to another Island Through a large body of water It's like swimming a marathon I met a guy named Steve and he told me About this swim called the kaiwi Channel As being part of ocean 7. Ocean's 7 is a challenge created in 2008 Enticing long-distance swimmers to Tackle some of the most dangerous Waters In the world The Molokai Channel also known as the Kaiwi channel located between the Hawaiian Islands of Molokai and Oahu is One of the ocean's seven challenges Stretching approximately 26 miles across Plunging 2300 feet it's known for its Treacherous currents and abundant sea Life
Few people have ever made it across We all know that you're going to have Rough water lots of wind and sharks The Hawaiian Islands are home to roughly 40 different species of sharks including The Galapagos shark that hugs the Coastline The sandbar shark that feasts on reef Fish squid and octopus And the Mako known for its Speed and Agility These Predators rarely trouble swimmers But they're not the only ones who roam These depths I knew that white sharks And tiger sharks would be a possibility And that our crew to a notify us if There was a a large predatory shark Knowing that I had a great sense of ease And confidence in in their ability to Get us from Malachi to Oahu But out in the open ocean an unseen Terror that no one anticipated lies in Weight This is the first time I've been back Yeah there's a lot of emotions going on Right now [Music] We started our swim at 6 20 in the Evening the sun was setting We had a kayaker in the water who was Following the boat and we're swimming at Night we're following the the most Minimal amount of lighting possible Which was for us red glow sticks
As we were swimming through the dark Every time our hand would enter the Water I noticed an amount of Bioluminescence that I had never Witnessed or experienced previously Bioluminescent phytoplankton our Microscopic organisms that light up when Water is disrupted About four hours into the swim Steve was hit by a Portuguese man of war And when he was hit he pulled up pretty Quickly and let out a pretty good Yelp Steve had to call it and that was uh the Turning point of the swim I had been swimming for about an hour or So by myself And then I encountered a sensation in my Abdomen a sensation of burning and my Hand came down across my abdomen But I could sense that something was not Right And so I swam over to the kayaker and I Remember him immediately getting on his Marine radio and said shark Crewman Francesco Forte Springs into Action we quickly realized something was Wrong when we saw Eric grab the kayak Because once they touch it they know That their swim is disqualified distant Swimmers they will do everything they Can in their power to avoid touching That kayak that was actually the one who Pulled him out of the water and I pulled Them back and placed them down onto the
Deck of the boat and I looked down at His wound my first thought was just like Okay when you apply pressure because This is a huge huge injury And if we lose Blood by the time we get To shore there's not much we can do Radio for help and rush back to shore There an ambulance transports Eric to The hospital I was taken right back to An operating room immediately And that's when I discovered that I had A good three and a half inch diameter Hole in my abdomen that was a good inch And a half deep It takes 26 Staples to close the wounds Eric's recovery is long and arduous took Me a good year until I was able to stand Up straight again Eric's chilling encounter makes Headlines around the world Shark attacks in the Molokai channel are Extremely rare in the previous 100 years There have only been seven recorded Attacks but in 2019 the attack on Eric Is just the beginning three weeks later A second swimmer is attacked in the same Stretch of water And a few months later a third shark Bite stuns the Hawaiian Islands The cause is a mystery Locals are desperate for an answer to The unprecedented surge in attacks Three happening in one year we thought You know there must be something going
On I really want to get to the bottom of This because I want to know that I can Continue to play in this ocean me and Everybody else is curious to know why There was that spike in 2019 and then None since then In an attempt to uncover what's behind The attacks investigators first turn Their attention to the species of shock Involved And suspicion immediately falls on two Notorious sharks that inhabit Hawaiian Waters I knew that white sharks and tiger Sharks would be a possibility White sharks Are the ocean's largest predatory fish They can grow up to 20 feet and are Responsible for more fatal attacks on Humans than any other shark Tiger sharks named for the striped Markings that Adorn their flanks dubbed The garbage cans of the sea they will Eat anything from sea turtles to tractor Tires A surprising detail emerges from Eric's Account that suggests a very different Shark was involved I encountered a Sensation in my abdomen a sensation of Burning and my hand came down and I Grabbed onto a fish While the crew was watching for larger Sharks could something smaller have gone Undetected
Dr Dan Huber of the University of Tampa Examines Eric's unusual bite wound the Lower part of the wound is very very Circular you can see here from the depth Of this wound that it went through Multiple muscle layers got really deep Caused a lot of tissue damage This circular pattern Bears all the Hallmarks of one of the strangest and Rarely seen sharks in the ocean these Have those telltale signs of a cookie Cutter shark having been involved in the Attack Named for the circular wounds they leave On a victim's flesh cookie cutter sharks Spend most of their time in the deep Ocean Each night they migrate to the surface Where they are believed to feed on large Fish and marine mammals Although they only grow to about two Feet in length they have a Disproportionately large mouth compared To their body size And a set of Jaws filled with razor Sharp teeth and what they do is they Latch onto their prey and suck onto it With these fleshy lips and then dig that Lower jaw into that prey item To demonstrate how devastating a cookie Cutter shark bite can be Dr Huber has a 3D printed set of cookie cutter Jaws When cookie cutter sharks bite onto Their prey first it attaches the upper
Jaw and then it sinks the teeth from its Lower jaw into that prey item and then They do one of two things either they Just scoop through the prey item and Excavate a big chunk of Flesh or Sometimes they dig that lower jaw in and Then start twisting their body around The long axis and carve out a perfectly Circular chunk of Flesh from their prey Items and that's not all when Dr Huber Examines bite marks on the other two Victims he makes a shocking Discovery if You look at the shape of that plug this Matches the wounds that we see on each Of our victims from Hawaii Prior to the attack on Eric Shaw there Was only one recorded cookie cutter Attack in all of Hawaii's history but in 2019 all three victims were bitten by Cookie-cutter sharks in the same stretch Of water Why have these bizarre creatures started Attacking swimmers A clue emerges from the details of Eric's attack There was something else in the water That night I noticed an amount of Bioluminescence that I had never Witnessed or experienced previously Bioluminescence describes the production Of visible light by a living organism Such as a firefly or certain types of Jellyfish In the ocean it's most commonly