Return To The Lair Of The Great White
July 8, 2021Talesmith and OnSight work together again on the Return To The Lair Of The Great White for this year’s Shark Week.
In Western Australia there are more fatal great white attacks than anywhere else on the planet. Shark biologist Dr Craig O’Connell is on a quest to uncover why. On the trail of a five metre, possibly pregnant female named Charlotte, Craig, together with local abalone diver Marc Payne and shark conservationist Madison Stewart want to find out if the attacks are linked to the location of an undiscovered great white nursery lair.
The team’s quest leads them from Salisbury Island to the edge of the continental shelf, but the prevalence of inquisitive and persistent male sharks promises to scupper their mission as both Charlotte and any juvenile sharks stay away. But after a fisherman’s sighting of a great white pup, they travel to a hidden bay on the edge of the oceanic wilderness, the Great Australian Bight. And here they strike gold – the Holy Grail of white shark science, the elusive Western Australian pupping ground.
In unprecedented scenes, multiple juvenile sharks swarm the divers, and surprise them for their overly aggressive nature, not only knocking over the cage but nearly slipping through the bars. Craig can’t believe his eyes – these sharks seem way more aggressive than any pups he’s ever seen before. Is this proof that Western Australian great whites are simply born more aggressive than others around the world, an adaptation to surviving in this harshest of environments?
OnSight provided full post production for this captivating documentary, with Andy Lee as colourist, Andy Coles as sound supervisor and Adam Sample as online editor. The documentary will premiere on Discovery’s Shark week starting the 11th July 2021 and Airing Wednesday, July 14 at 10PM ET/PT
