This was one bizarre creature that Steve was absolutely desperate to see. There are three species of thresher shark that swim the oceans; the common thresher, bigeye thresher and pelagic thresher. When Steve went to the Philippines he was desperate to see the bizarre pelagic thresher.
Spending most of their time over a quarter of a mile down in gloomy deep waters and hunting at night they are rarely seen, and scientists know very little about their lives. Their strangest feature has to be that massive tail, which can extend up to half the total shark’s length meaning it can be over 2 metres long. That’s taller that Steve!
That extra long tail is thought to be used to corral schooling fish. Recently scientists have found out more about how they use those tails to shock and stun smaller fish to catch them.
To have an encounter with this mysterious deep dwelling shark the team went to one of the few places in the world they could stand a chance of finding it; Malapascua in the Philippines. At a particular site, early in the mornings they come up from the depths to a cleaning station for a quick once over from a cleaner wrasse. But they spend only minutes there before disappearing back into the depths, so the team had a tiny window of opportunity to film.
Setting out at 4am the team ensured they were ready at first light, when the sharks might make an appearance. Steve and the underwater team had to dive to a depth of 30m, so were equipped with two air tanks and breathed nitrox – a special combination of gases designed for deep diving. They only hand an hour of air at their disposal.
But all the effort and kit paid off, and Steve fulfilled a lifetime ambition.
