BBC Planet Earth 3

I’m honored to have worked over 3 years on the great white/cape fur seal sequence filmed in South Africa. Using both drones and working underwater alongside a dedicated team of local and BBC production crew we documented the dramatic interactions between these animals, it was never quite clear who was in charge in this piece of ocean

The behavior seemed to shift over the 3 year period as the sharks become more seal shy and stayed away from the colony in favor of hunting small seals playing alone at the edges. Observing the behavior of the sharks unobtrusively from drones for many hours revealed animals sometimes slow and steady, seemly disinterested in the seals and sometimes in a ravenous frenzy. I few times the sharks even tried to eat cormorants no doubt mistaking them for something more meaty .

This behavior has only really appeared here over the last 6-8 years and this seal colony didn’t even exist 20 years ago, incredible to watch new behaviors appear as animals adapt to changing ocean conditions.

Watch part of the sequence below and catch the full story in Ep1 coast of BBC Planet Earth 3