On Wednesday, June 14th, David Attenborough‘s new documentary series, Our Planet II, was released on Netflix.
However, it has been revealed that the crew were very nearly involved in a fatal shark attack while filming some whales near the Hawaiian Island of Laysan. During shooting, sharks swam over and bit holes in their inflatable boats.
Toby Nowlan, the director of Our Planet II, recalled the terrifying moment to Radio Times. “This ‘v’ of water came streaming towards us and this tiger shark leapt at the boat and bit huge holes in it. The whole boat exploded.”
“We were trying to get it away and it wasn’t having any of it. It was horrific. That was the second shark that day to attack us.” He explained that the sharks’ behaviour was “extremely unusual.”
“They were incredibly hungry, so there might not have been enough natural food and they were just trying anything they came across in the water.”
Lucky for the crew, they were close enough to land to make it back safely before tragedy struck. Huw Cordey, a producer, told Forbes, “It was like something out of Jaws. The crew was panicked, and basically made an emergency landing on the sand.”
He added, “Suffice to say, they didn’t get any underwater shots.” Our Planet II is available to stream on Netflix now.
