Tribes, Predators, and Me

Shark People of the Pacific

0.01h 0mSeptember 7, 2017

Gordon Buchanan joins a tribal family on a remote Pacific island to see if it is possible to live close to sharks. Sharks are an animal most people find terrifying, but the men of Owarigi island in the Solomon Islands freedive to catch fish and encounter dangerous sharks almost every day, sometimes at night. Can the islanders teach Gordon to swim and share the ocean with sharks in this tropical paradise? The island rarely receives visitors and Gordon's arrival is greeted by a seemingly hostile ceremonial reception. He is soon welcomed by his mentors, cousins Moses and Sosimo, who teach him how to freedive and shoot a spear gun. Gordon sees sharks underwater here and learns that these predators are shy and attracted to fish not people. He then discovers something he didn't expect - the people of this small island are dependent on the ocean to survive, but fish and sharks are in worrying decline here. Commercial fishing and the shark-finning trade have arrived in this remote island, putting the islanders' future at risk. Gordon learns about the island's complex relationship with sharks and their ancient fishing techniques. Then he joins Moses and Sosimo on a spectacular shark dive on a protected reef teeming with fish and sharks. Before Gordon leaves, he witnesses the island's chiefs deciding to protect part of their reefs to preserve fish and sharks. A remarkable and moving insight into the underwater world of a unique and threatened island culture impacted by the outside world.