Natural World (1983) s30e06 Episode Script
The Dolphins of Shark Bay
Shark Bay, Western Australia.
Home to more than 3,000 bottlenose dolphins Here, a devoted mother called Puck battles to keep her little calf Samu alive in a very dangerous world.
Every summer, thousands of tiger sharks come to the bay, looking for an easy meal.
Many of the calves are taken.
The shark, the shark! The survival of Puck's baby calf Samu will depend on the devotion of his mum, and the strength of his family.
For the first time, the extraordinary behaviour of a family of dolphins has been captured on camera.
All the drama of Samu's first few months is played out in the shallow waters of Shark Bay.
Where only the lucky few survive.
500 miles north of Perth, a group of islands stretch out into the rough waters of the Indian Ocean, sheltering a vast, shallow bay beyond.
A World Heritage Site, its enormous sea-grass beds carpet the shallows, creating one of the richest marine environments on Earth.
Several hundred families of bottlenose dolphins live here and one of the largest is called the Beachies.
Puck began her family 15 years ago.
Heavily pregnant, she is about to give birth to her eighth calf.
With Puck today are two of her daughters, two granddaughters and her only son, India.
At five years old he is still a bit of a mummy's boy and never far from her side.
Janet Mann has been following the lives of the bay's dolphins for 23 years.
We have the entire Puck family.
Puck is the one with all speckles.
In fact, she is due any day now.
She's enormous.
Puck was the first dolphin Janet got to know when she started her study.
Hiya, Puck! She's really quite extraordinary.
She was just a young animal back then.
We know every calf she's had, every trial and tribulation she's endured.
Ohh, you are wide.
So much of what we understand about dolphin mothers and their calves comes from Janet's study.
Now 33 years old, Puck is an old-hand at being a mum.
At the end of her year-long pregnancy, this will be her eighth and probably her last calf.
She's already lost four babies, at least one to sharks.
This new calf will be especially precious.
Very little is known about the first days of a calf's life.
It's a rare opportunity for Janet to learn more.
They're all very close and they just sort of stay together tight and rest.
All the dolphin families in Shark Bay are mostly made up of females.
Just like cuddling in humans, the Beachies spend a lot of time touching and petting.
Family is everything for dolphins.
Son India swims alongside Puck.
At five-and-a-half years old, he is still unusually attached to her.
Most young males leave the female families at around four years old, but India isn't in any hurry to go.
He knows it's a big bad world out there with the big bad boys so he's staying close to mum for now.
He is not going to want to give all this nice family fun up, but he might have to.
With Puck's new baby due soon, India's days with the Beachies are numbered.
Across the bay, most of the females have already had their calves, timing their arrival to well before the big sharks arrive.
Puck's baby is dangerously late.
Over the next month, tiger shark numbers will increase tenfold as they head south to their hunting grounds in the bay.
For Puck's calf to stand the best chance of surviving, she needs to have it soon.
Newborns are easy prey.
By late morning, Puck is leading her family into the Monkey Mia Flats.
Its one of their favourite places to fish and where their nickname, the Beachies, comes from.
Most dolphins only hunt in deep water, but the Beachies family are shallow-water experts.
Puck's enormous belly prevents her joining the hunt.
Bouncing along the seabed, she risks getting stranded.
We've got the whole Puck family going after this big school of mullet.
They've just been chasing it closer and closer to the shore.
Puck's not going all the way to the beach cos she's too big.
With belly swollen to more than three times its normal size, Puck retreats into the safety of deeper water and wisely waits for the family to return.
It's every dolphin for themselves, as they chase down their prey.
There they go, right into the beach.
Reaching speeds of up to 20mph, Puck's son India chases the shoal towards the shore.
Oh, yeah! we've got some serious hunting here.
It's high risk in this shallow water, India could easily strand.
I saw India catch a big one, he's a good hunter.
Everything the Beachies do is recorded in minute detail.
Across Shark Bay, Janet's research team follow different families of dolphins.
She's found the bay's females live in very specific areas.
And each has adapted how they hunt to best exploit their environment.
Off the rocky shores to the north live the surfer mums who've gone to even greater extremes than the Beachies, chasing their prey right onto the beach.
To the south, in the deep channels, there are dolphins who show just how intelligent they are by using tools.
The females here wear sponges on their beaks.
It's thought they use them to protect themselves while feeling around for food on the seabed.
They're the only dolphins ever recorded using tools.
Shark Bay is the only place in the world where dolphins hunt in such diverse and unique ways.
Fishing over, the Beachies family re-unite.
Hi, guys! India must soon leave the Beachies.
When he does, he will spend a lifetime roaming the bay with other males, becoming a much more generalist hunter.
For now, he is safe with his mum and sisters.
Here's Puck right here with India.
He just stroked her along the side.
Right now Puck seems to be very tolerant of India.
I don't know if that will happen when the baby is born.
She might really have to push India out of the way.
Puck can't support two calves at once and certainly not a giant one along with a little one.
Home, for the research team, is this mobile caravan.
It's been a long day following different families in the bay.
The life stories of more than 1,600 dolphins are stored in this state-of-the-art database.
Every birth, every death, every interaction, is input with painstaking detail.
When I started this research project in the 1980s, virtually nothing was known about wild bottlenose dolphins.
Since then, we have learned a tremendous amount.
But we still haven't followed a single animal from birth to very old age.
Puck could be the first wild dolphin whose entire life story is known.
Three weeks later and Puck is still waiting for her baby to be born.
Today, she's out hunting alone.
These grassy meadows are exceptionally rich feeding grounds, but it's dangerous hunting out here.
The tiger sharks are arriving and this is their favourite place to feed.
A stealth hunter, it uses the cover of the sea-grass to creep up on its prey.
Puck needs to watch out.
As she searches in the sea grass, she'll be unaware of any shark approaching.
If a tiger shark closes in from behind, her sonar cannot detect it.
Distracted, Puck could easily be attacked.
Once detected, Puck can easily out-swim a shark.
But when her calf arrives, it won't be so easy for her to escape.
It gets very shallow in here, this is the low tide too.
Dugongs! Mother and a calf.
Look at this little baby! Look at that! More than 10,000 dugongs live in Shark Bay.
It's the largest population in the world.
Grazing on the grass beds, they're the most vulnerable to shark attack.
In the shallows they have less room to manoeuvre.
The calf swims on top of its mum.
That way it's protected from the tiger sharks, which could make a good meal of a dugong calf.
Much slower swimming than dolphins, thousands of dugong calves are taken by the sharks every summer.
We've got dolphins and dugongs together here.
Hey, Puck Oh, you are wide.
Looking for clues as to when Puck might give birth, Janet lowers a special microphone into the water.
WHISTLING Oh, a whistle! I thought I heard a whistle there.
Something extraordinary is happening.
Puck uses her unique call to identify herself to other dolphins.
Yet strangely there are no other dolphins around.
Janet believes Puck is calling to her unborn calf.
If she's right, it's an astonishing discovery.
She's basically advertising to the calf, "I'm your mum, I'm your mum, hear me, hear me.
" And hopefully the baby then knows where to go after it's born.
Puck only calls to her unborn calf when she's alone.
Janet suspects this happens in the week before the calf is born.
She thinks the birth is imminent.
Ohh! It's a shark, that's a pretty big one, I don't know, three metres, maybe? The tiger shark numbers are starting to build up.
Soon, thousands more tiger sharks will arrive in the bay.
Having already lost one calf to sharks, this is the worst possible timing for Puck.
More than 75% of the dolphins bear the scars of their attacks.
Many of the mothers have been bitten, bravely trying to protect their calves.
I'm a little worried about Puck's calf.
She's really having the calf at peak shark-attack time.
Most of the calves are born by December.
This way, the calf has a little bit of time to learn how to breathe, stay with the mum, won't get into trouble but Puck's got a big family, maybe they can look out for her.
Puck and her unborn calf are in grave danger.
Perhaps sensing her vulnerability, Puck's family gather around her but there's one member of the Beachies missing.
Mummy's boy, India, has disappeared.
The next day, the rest of the team keep an eye on Puck, and look out for missing India.
With still no sign of Puck giving birth, Janet heads North to study the surf mums of Peron.
Here in Shark Bay, everybody has different hunting tactics, but that's particularly true for the females, not the males, and the females pass them on from mother to daughter.
Janet is here to find out which daughters are carrying on the surfing tradition.
Geez, look at that! Down on the beach, hunting conditions are perfect.
We got here this morning at Peron Point and it looks like there might be some beaching early this morning.
It's high tide, and huge shoals of mullet are feeding in the shallows.
Travelling at speeds of up to 20mph, they drive the mullet onto the beach.
Trapped, the fish have nowhere to turn.
Flattening out their bodies like surfboards, they skim in just inches of water.
The surf mums are the only dolphins in the world who hydroplane and beach like this.
It looks fun, but this a high-risk game.
They could easily strand, but with a few effortless wriggles, they're back in the water.
What's so fascinating is that it's only the mums and their daughters who surf like this.
I'm getting a lot of exercise this morning walking up and down the beach.
The surfing mums have new calves.
It's vital Janet gets photos, so she can follow the daughters who are keeping the surfing tradition going.
We want to know, after they graduate from nursing, whether the calves are going to be beachers.
I've got good shots of all of them so I'm pretty happy about that.
It's been a good day for Janet but there is still no news on Puck or missing India.
The next day, Janet is back on the water looking for them both.
That's probably India.
It's a relief to see India safe and well, but Janet is in for a surprise.
Instead of hanging out with the other young boys, as most do, he's with a notorious female and her calf.
Janet is not impressed.
India should not be with Nikki at all.
Nikki is the only mother in the bay I would call a bad mother.
She ignores her offspring.
Sometimes they make it to weaning, but then don't survive after that.
India seems to have got it all wrong.
Nikki is a dolphin with no scruples.
Oh, that is so uncool.
Nikki sped in and she basically stole his fish and that is extremely rude behaviour for a dolphin to do.
I cannot believe she did that because dolphins are very polite when it comes to hunting behaviour.
So I'm hoping he'll find some better company soon.
A mile away, Janet finds the rest of the Beachies family and she immediately sees Puck is behaving differently.
I notice Puck comes up first.
I wonder if she's, you know, breathing more, "I need more oxygen.
" You can actually often see she closes one eye.
I think she's tired.
Puck's up right now.
Flexing! Ooh, she really did a big flex then.
See that? Could this be the moment everyone has been waiting for? Puck is arching her back and then stretching it out.
Slowed down, Puck lifts her head back and stretches.
It's a subtle, but very distinct movement.
Puck is about to become a mother for the eighth time.
The labour could take several more hours.
With the light fading, the team reluctantly head back to base.
No-one knows where dolphins go to have their calves.
But that night, somewhere in the bay, Puck gives birth.
The Beachies family have a new arrival.
Pucks precious eighth calf is a boy named Samu.
No more than a few hours old, the baby instinctively shadows his mum's every move.
Samu calls continuously to her, as if to say, "I'm here, I'm here.
" In the first hours of Samu's life, he is on a huge learning curve.
Less than a metre long, Samu must first perfect the art of breathing and swimming.
Bobbing up and down, Samu's movements are jerky and uncoordinated.
His tiny dorsal fin is still floppy from being squashed up inside Mum.
Puck doesn't let her baby out of her sight for a second.
Until now, Puck has chosen to be alone with Samu, perhaps giving him time to adjust to his new world.
Then, something remarkable happens, as the rest of the Beachies family start to arrive.
As if to celebrate, Puck's daughters and grandchildren are gathering to welcome the youngster into this close-knit family.
Whether she called them in will never be known, but at last the rest of the Beachies family meet little Samu.
With her family around her, Puck can afford to relax, knowing there's safety in numbers.
The research team have been out since dawn looking for Puck.
It's now the height of the shark season.
Samu has been born at the worst time.
Oh, look at it go We've been waiting for Puck to have her calf and now she's finally here, we're all so relieved that we can actually see the calf and that the calf is actually good and healthy.
HIGH-PITCHED CALLS Though Puck's been calling to Samu since before he was born, it's thought it will take him a week to learn her call.
He swims very close to Puck's head, listening intently to her whistle.
The one thing he must avoid is getting separated from her.
This would mean certain death.
Puck may not eat for a week, she cannot risk losing sight of him for a moment.
Oh, shark! Is that a shark? That's a shark, a long one.
Approaching from behind, the family are unaware it's closing.
Samu is in grave danger.
This shark looks like a tiger.
It looks huge.
Yeahhe's big.
Oh, the sharkthe shark! One of Puck's daughters rushes in to help protect Samu.
Without the family, Samu could easily be eaten.
What happened next will never be known, but it's likely the rest of the Beachies mobbed or even rammed the shark with their beaks, chasing it away.
Is it Puck? They're up in front.
Is that the shark? No, I don't see it.
On your left? At 11, it's coming up, it's coming up! This is another one.
It's a hammerhead.
With the family now on full alert, it's not getting anywhere near Samu.
But seeing two sharks so soon after the birth doesn't bode well.
Round here, only half of the calves survive beyond their third year.
Most are lost in the first few weeks of life.
Danger over.
Samu is finally able to feed.
Puck's milk is five times richer than human milk.
Suckling every few minutes, he'll gain weight fast.
He is going to need all his strength to survive.
With a new baby at the heart of the family, the affectionate Beachies seem closer than ever.
Three days pass and the research team is once again out looking for the Beachies.
They catch up with Puck and Samu as she leads him out into deep water for the first time.
It's his first big challenge.
Deep water is a much more dangerous place for Samu.
He could easily get lost.
He's still learning his mother's call.
Sensing the danger, Samu stays close to her side, mirroring her every move as he's swept along in Puck's slipstream.
Samu seems a little bit more co-ordinated today.
A little less skittish and keeping up well with Mum.
Normally calves can only dive a metre or so in their first week of life, but Samu is diving deeper and for longer than any other calf the researchers have seen before.
It's a good sign.
With Samu doing so well, Puck is finally able to start fishing again.
She heads for a bait-ball.
Mothers lose a lot of weight in the first weeks of their calf's life.
While Puck's nursing, she needs to increase her food intake by 50%.
Later that afternoon, something very unexpected happens as visitors from across the bay start arriving.
Mothers and calves from at least three different families are gathering to meet Samu.
Just how the news of the birth travelled so far and how only the mums with their calves know where to come is unknown.
But just as the Beachies family seemed to welcome Puck and Samu, the bay's other mums seem to want to do the same.
It's Samu's first chance to meet other baby calves.
But young females also are drawn to the gathering.
Fascinated by newborns, these wannabe mums often try to lure them away to play.
With so many dolphins all milling together, it's a challenge for Puck to keep track of Samu.
He is extremely sensitive to motion.
It's how he knows how to follow his mum.
Until he's learnt her call, there's a risk Samu will chase any fast-moving dolphin that comes close.
A mischievous young female deliberately rushes past Samu, knowing the newborn will instinctively follow.
Another female look's to be stealing.
She's trying to take Samu.
Ooh! Puck is having none of it.
It's the only time female dolphins ever show aggression towards each other.
Rushing past Samu is the only way Puck can retrieve him.
The young female meant no harm to Samu, but Puck isn't taking any more chances and leads him away to safety.
The sooner Samu learns her call, the better.
It's been a fascinating day for the research team, but as they return to base, there's another surprise.
Puck's older son India has reappeared.
No longer in the bad company of the rogue mother, he's finally joined up with other young males.
When boys leave their families, it can take them up to 15 years to form an all-male alliance.
Once formed, they'll stay together for the rest of their lives.
Many young males go missing when they leave their families.
Seeing India finally join up with his new teenage mates is good news.
It looks like India is finally cutting his ties with Puck and the Beachies family.
Even with his new-found friends, a young dolphin like India is still vulnerable.
A big adult male gang has arrived, and they've cornered a female to mate with.
These encounters can be brutal.
Not far away, India and his mates need to be very careful.
They could easily be beaten up and chased out of the area by the gang.
India's little group take flight.
It's a wise move.
Its now late summer and four months since Samu's birth.
Shark numbers are still at their peak.
Across the bay, they've been feasting on scores of dugong and dolphin calves.
Has Samu survived his first, most critical months? Janet is out on patrol looking for Puck and her baby.
She catches up with the family on the Monkey Mia flats.
I'm just really anxious to see them, you know? Oh, look, there's Samu! Then finally she sees Samu.
Not only is he thriving, but he has a new playmate.
This is exciting.
We have the whole Puck family here.
Here come the kids.
Hello.
Samu is now almost a metre long.
He's looking very strong.
His young playmate was born shortly after him.
Look at them.
They are best pals.
They are best pals.
But as Puck passes the boat, the team get a stark reminder of just how much danger she and the family are facing.
Oh, she has a shark bite.
Did you see that? Did you see that scar? That's a new one! That's new, that's bad! It's on the same side as her previous shark bite.
Looks like whatever happened, she got in the way of the tiger shark or something.
The calf looks fine.
It's highly likely Puck took the bite, protecting little Samu.
Dolphin mums will risk their lives to protect their calves.
I noticed this morning that Puck has a good-sized shark bite scar, but she's healed up.
They heal remarkably fast.
There's not a mark on Samu, so obviously he remains unscathed.
But since nearly 80% of the dolphins here have shark bite scars, he's bound to get one sooner or later.
Puck's choice of this shallow, sandy bay is no chance.
It's the safest place for Samu to play.
During shark season like this, it's the perfect spot.
Shallow, beautiful water.
You can see everything around you.
If a big tiger shows up, they'll be able to see it from miles away.
Look at him, he's a cutie.
Now Samu is three months old, Puck allows him a lot more freedom.
He races along, chasing a tiny shoal of fish.
It's the first time he's been this far away from Puck and he's clearly enjoying his freedom.
Skimming along on his back, he's trying to trap the fish just beneath the surface.
Belly up, the fish is backlit and easier for him to see.
Get it, get it, get it! Over there! Go, go, go! No, he missed it! It's right behind you! We can get it Little Samu is just starting to use his sonar, but perfecting it will take some time.
JANET LAUGHS Determined to give it a go, this is his very first, proper attempt at catching a fish.
Oh, he got a fish right there.
He got one.
It was, like, this big.
First fish! It will be some months before he can join the rest of the family chasing bigger fish in the shallows.
I don't know where Puck is.
Oh, she's way down there, right in line with the end of the cliff.
300 metres away, Mum Puck is showing how the experts fish.
Then suddenly, as if Samu realises Mum is nowhere to be seen, he starts anxiously calling for her.
From the far end of the bay, she immediately answers, her calls telling him exactly where she is.
Now he knows her call, Samu rushes off to find her.
Reunited, she leads him towards the shore.
The two touch.
It's as if Puck is reassuring him that all is OK.
Samu suckles for the briefest of moments.
One small fish is not enough to keep a growing calf going.
Despite his increasing independence, the bond between mother and son remains extremely strong.
As the endlessly energetic Samu rushes off to play, closing one eye, Puck grabs the chance for a quick nap.
It's tiring raising a youngster.
Lying still in the shallows, Puck sleeps with half of her brain awake.
She has to consciously breathe or she would drown.
While his mum snoozes, Janet is watching Samu.
She sees something she's never seen before.
Samu joins up with one of Puck's granddaughters.
The young female appears to be giving him fishing lessons.
Look, she's got the little fish and she's, like, she's, like, knocking little Samu with her little fish in her mouth.
Oh, and she's letting it go ahead of her again.
She let it go.
She's catching it.
It does look like she's showing him.
She is repeatedly catching and dropping an injured fish in front of Samu.
She keeps grabbing it very closely in front of him, like this is how you grip it, it almost looks like she's showing him how to grip it.
It's the first time Janet has ever seen behaviour like this.
That was the closest I've seen to teaching so far.
What is so exceptional is that the young female appears to be consciously showing Samu how to catch a fish.
Examples of teaching in the Animal Kingdom are very, very rare.
If Puck's granddaughter really is teaching Samu, it's strong evidence of how self-aware and intelligent dolphins are.
Another four weeks pass.
And there's a familiar face.
Puck's wayward son India is back.
The pull of the family is too strong.
For the moment, Puck tolerates his return, letting him hang out with the family.
Young Samu plays with his older brother while he can .
.
but the day will soon come when India will have to go for good.
Winter has returned to Shark Bay.
The waters are cooling and the tiger sharks are finally leaving.
I really like May because things are calming down.
The sharks are gone and the males and females actually have some nice interactions.
The males aren't harassing the females like they do six to eight months out of the year.
With the big sharks finally gone, Samu has survived the most dangerous first few months of his life.
Seeing Samu growing up so strong and independent bodes well for his future.
He is already showing all the signs of becoming one of the bay's top males.
But one day, he too will have to leave the loving companionship of the Beachies.
At 33 years old, Puck's long reign of the Beachies will soon come to an end.
This wonderful dolphin has taught Janet more than any other.
A wise and gentle mother, Puck's shown her children how to survive in the dangerous waters of Shark Bay and shown us the richness of dolphin family lives, if we just choose to look beneath the surface.
Making The Dolphins Of Shark Bay was a real challenge for the British and Australian film crew.
Dolphins are capable of swimming at speeds of over 20 mph.
Quick witted and elusive, the team were up against it from the very start.
To tell Puck and Samu's remarkable story, director Nick Stringer decided the only way to do it was to use a miniature high definition camera called a pole-cam.
Nobody's really ever told the story of a family of dolphins before.
It was a very ambitious vision and probably one of the biggest challenges I'd ever faced.
We're getting some nice stuff over the sea grass beds.
I'm happy about that.
It's going really well.
The little camera is working! Using the pole-cam was a two-man operation.
The camera, no larger than a water bottle, was operated by Ben Cunningham.
Live images of the dolphins were then fed back to Nick, who was watching on a small monitor.
Tilt down and right, Ben, tilt down and left.
He was then able to guide Ben towards the dolphins.
That's a beautiful shot.
Look at that! But the team didn't have it all their own way.
The filming was immensely challenging.
Shark Bay is one of the windiest places in Australia and when we did get out on the water, visibility was often terrible .
.
and the dolphins were very difficult to get close to.
Our patience was severely tested.
10 metres, 12 o'clock.
Roll it.
The team's biggest challenge was trying to film young Samu.
Swimming away, just out of range, I think.
Cut it.
He appeared to be playing games with the crew Rolling.
.
.
coming tantalisingly close to the boat before swimming away.
He might go behind.
Gone behind.
Man, that was close.
Right there.
There were times when I thought it was going to be an impossible task.
Five metres, maybe, four Come this way! Could you see that?.
When Puck finally brought Samu up to the boat, it was a magical moment.
10 metres, 11 o'clock.
Roll it.
Tilt down and left.
Here it comes.
Yes! Got it! It's coming inyes! Getting them here on a day like this is just what we've been waiting for.
It's been worth the wait, definitely.
Yeah.
It all seems to be coming together at the end of the shoot, as ever.
With shots of young Samu in the bag, the team moved north to Peron to try and film the hydroplaning dolphins.
It was hard enough trying to follow the dolphins from the boat, but the crew's next challenge was to try and follow them on foot.
It was to become the wildlife-filming equivalent of an army boot camp.
Getting the hydroplaning was a real key part of the film because it's such a dynamic and fantastic bit of behaviour.
The crew had just arrived at Peron after a long drive.
Can you see that? There's a dolphin.
Dolphins, right down there.
To spot dolphins immediately was really unexpected.
Come on, Ben, let's go.
Let's go.
Quick, quick! Ben and Nick try and catch up with the dolphins, but soon find themselves chasing them up and down the beach.
By late morning, they've failed to capture a single shot and the only wildlife around is a growing number of flies.
The flies are unbelievable.
They're such a pain.
You just don't know when the action's going to start.
It could happen like that.
To help the team out, biologists Eric and Shay set up a lookout high above them on the cliffs.
We're really able to spot pretty much anywhere on this little beach where the dolphins are and tell Nick and Ben to hurry up and run over there and see if they can get a shot of it.
It's stifling already.
It's going to be about 35, 40 today, I reckon.
Then, up on the cliff, Eric spots some movement.
Oh, here comes one, just around the point where the birds are flying off.
She's really close in so she might do it.
I'm going to let them know.
Just coming around the point by the birds.
She's really close into shore so she looks like she might start hydroplaning.
'Roger.
' Let's see if we can get it.
Come on! Normally, natural history shoots are a game of patience.
This one is turning into a chase in 40-degree heat.
Oh, there she goes.
They've already run more than five miles this morning.
Oh, this sand is hard work.
She's starting to do it, she's starting to hydroplane.
She's really close.
I don't know if you guys can see her.
OK.
Thanks.
We're on it, over.
What's happening, Nick? Looks like she's looking for fish.
What they seem to be doing is herding them away from the rocks towards the beach so they can get them on the hydroplane.
Whoa, that's a first for us.
There she goes.
Look at that.
She's just come up on the beach.
Did you see that? It's incredible.
It's incredible to be so close to it.
Oh, that's a big one and her calf is just right there, watching her.
Yeah, she just got that big mullet! She's taking it out deeper now and chomping on it.
That's what I really love about this job.
Just when they thought it was over Hi, Janet.
.
.
a radio call comes in from the other end of the beach.
'Nick, we've got Cha-Cha and Flamenco coming towards you guys.
' OK.
Which side of the bay are they coming in, over? 'They're straight out from where my hand is pointing.
' OK.
We're going to run to the other end of the beach right now.
'Go!' With the camera and equipment weighing over 25 kilos, it's hard work.
If we're not fit by the end of this They're chasing something.
He's chasing.
Going, Ben.
Coming up! They consume over five litres of water each.
As the daylight fades, they try to grab the last few shots.
They've run more than 15 miles.
I think my calves are growing, and my thirst is great, and the flies are swarming, but you know, it's about the dolphins and we're getting some great stuff.
I am not going up the beach again, you guys.
I didn't realise I'd be marathon training.
Well, it's getting to the end of day now, and we've had an extraordinary day.
We've seen, gosh, at least five or six, seven big chases of fish.
Yeah, we captured some really, really nice stuff, I think.
And lots of flies! I just swallowed one.
I was looking at them on your lips, James.
I couldn't even see your lips.
We're not out of food at all!
Home to more than 3,000 bottlenose dolphins Here, a devoted mother called Puck battles to keep her little calf Samu alive in a very dangerous world.
Every summer, thousands of tiger sharks come to the bay, looking for an easy meal.
Many of the calves are taken.
The shark, the shark! The survival of Puck's baby calf Samu will depend on the devotion of his mum, and the strength of his family.
For the first time, the extraordinary behaviour of a family of dolphins has been captured on camera.
All the drama of Samu's first few months is played out in the shallow waters of Shark Bay.
Where only the lucky few survive.
500 miles north of Perth, a group of islands stretch out into the rough waters of the Indian Ocean, sheltering a vast, shallow bay beyond.
A World Heritage Site, its enormous sea-grass beds carpet the shallows, creating one of the richest marine environments on Earth.
Several hundred families of bottlenose dolphins live here and one of the largest is called the Beachies.
Puck began her family 15 years ago.
Heavily pregnant, she is about to give birth to her eighth calf.
With Puck today are two of her daughters, two granddaughters and her only son, India.
At five years old he is still a bit of a mummy's boy and never far from her side.
Janet Mann has been following the lives of the bay's dolphins for 23 years.
We have the entire Puck family.
Puck is the one with all speckles.
In fact, she is due any day now.
She's enormous.
Puck was the first dolphin Janet got to know when she started her study.
Hiya, Puck! She's really quite extraordinary.
She was just a young animal back then.
We know every calf she's had, every trial and tribulation she's endured.
Ohh, you are wide.
So much of what we understand about dolphin mothers and their calves comes from Janet's study.
Now 33 years old, Puck is an old-hand at being a mum.
At the end of her year-long pregnancy, this will be her eighth and probably her last calf.
She's already lost four babies, at least one to sharks.
This new calf will be especially precious.
Very little is known about the first days of a calf's life.
It's a rare opportunity for Janet to learn more.
They're all very close and they just sort of stay together tight and rest.
All the dolphin families in Shark Bay are mostly made up of females.
Just like cuddling in humans, the Beachies spend a lot of time touching and petting.
Family is everything for dolphins.
Son India swims alongside Puck.
At five-and-a-half years old, he is still unusually attached to her.
Most young males leave the female families at around four years old, but India isn't in any hurry to go.
He knows it's a big bad world out there with the big bad boys so he's staying close to mum for now.
He is not going to want to give all this nice family fun up, but he might have to.
With Puck's new baby due soon, India's days with the Beachies are numbered.
Across the bay, most of the females have already had their calves, timing their arrival to well before the big sharks arrive.
Puck's baby is dangerously late.
Over the next month, tiger shark numbers will increase tenfold as they head south to their hunting grounds in the bay.
For Puck's calf to stand the best chance of surviving, she needs to have it soon.
Newborns are easy prey.
By late morning, Puck is leading her family into the Monkey Mia Flats.
Its one of their favourite places to fish and where their nickname, the Beachies, comes from.
Most dolphins only hunt in deep water, but the Beachies family are shallow-water experts.
Puck's enormous belly prevents her joining the hunt.
Bouncing along the seabed, she risks getting stranded.
We've got the whole Puck family going after this big school of mullet.
They've just been chasing it closer and closer to the shore.
Puck's not going all the way to the beach cos she's too big.
With belly swollen to more than three times its normal size, Puck retreats into the safety of deeper water and wisely waits for the family to return.
It's every dolphin for themselves, as they chase down their prey.
There they go, right into the beach.
Reaching speeds of up to 20mph, Puck's son India chases the shoal towards the shore.
Oh, yeah! we've got some serious hunting here.
It's high risk in this shallow water, India could easily strand.
I saw India catch a big one, he's a good hunter.
Everything the Beachies do is recorded in minute detail.
Across Shark Bay, Janet's research team follow different families of dolphins.
She's found the bay's females live in very specific areas.
And each has adapted how they hunt to best exploit their environment.
Off the rocky shores to the north live the surfer mums who've gone to even greater extremes than the Beachies, chasing their prey right onto the beach.
To the south, in the deep channels, there are dolphins who show just how intelligent they are by using tools.
The females here wear sponges on their beaks.
It's thought they use them to protect themselves while feeling around for food on the seabed.
They're the only dolphins ever recorded using tools.
Shark Bay is the only place in the world where dolphins hunt in such diverse and unique ways.
Fishing over, the Beachies family re-unite.
Hi, guys! India must soon leave the Beachies.
When he does, he will spend a lifetime roaming the bay with other males, becoming a much more generalist hunter.
For now, he is safe with his mum and sisters.
Here's Puck right here with India.
He just stroked her along the side.
Right now Puck seems to be very tolerant of India.
I don't know if that will happen when the baby is born.
She might really have to push India out of the way.
Puck can't support two calves at once and certainly not a giant one along with a little one.
Home, for the research team, is this mobile caravan.
It's been a long day following different families in the bay.
The life stories of more than 1,600 dolphins are stored in this state-of-the-art database.
Every birth, every death, every interaction, is input with painstaking detail.
When I started this research project in the 1980s, virtually nothing was known about wild bottlenose dolphins.
Since then, we have learned a tremendous amount.
But we still haven't followed a single animal from birth to very old age.
Puck could be the first wild dolphin whose entire life story is known.
Three weeks later and Puck is still waiting for her baby to be born.
Today, she's out hunting alone.
These grassy meadows are exceptionally rich feeding grounds, but it's dangerous hunting out here.
The tiger sharks are arriving and this is their favourite place to feed.
A stealth hunter, it uses the cover of the sea-grass to creep up on its prey.
Puck needs to watch out.
As she searches in the sea grass, she'll be unaware of any shark approaching.
If a tiger shark closes in from behind, her sonar cannot detect it.
Distracted, Puck could easily be attacked.
Once detected, Puck can easily out-swim a shark.
But when her calf arrives, it won't be so easy for her to escape.
It gets very shallow in here, this is the low tide too.
Dugongs! Mother and a calf.
Look at this little baby! Look at that! More than 10,000 dugongs live in Shark Bay.
It's the largest population in the world.
Grazing on the grass beds, they're the most vulnerable to shark attack.
In the shallows they have less room to manoeuvre.
The calf swims on top of its mum.
That way it's protected from the tiger sharks, which could make a good meal of a dugong calf.
Much slower swimming than dolphins, thousands of dugong calves are taken by the sharks every summer.
We've got dolphins and dugongs together here.
Hey, Puck Oh, you are wide.
Looking for clues as to when Puck might give birth, Janet lowers a special microphone into the water.
WHISTLING Oh, a whistle! I thought I heard a whistle there.
Something extraordinary is happening.
Puck uses her unique call to identify herself to other dolphins.
Yet strangely there are no other dolphins around.
Janet believes Puck is calling to her unborn calf.
If she's right, it's an astonishing discovery.
She's basically advertising to the calf, "I'm your mum, I'm your mum, hear me, hear me.
" And hopefully the baby then knows where to go after it's born.
Puck only calls to her unborn calf when she's alone.
Janet suspects this happens in the week before the calf is born.
She thinks the birth is imminent.
Ohh! It's a shark, that's a pretty big one, I don't know, three metres, maybe? The tiger shark numbers are starting to build up.
Soon, thousands more tiger sharks will arrive in the bay.
Having already lost one calf to sharks, this is the worst possible timing for Puck.
More than 75% of the dolphins bear the scars of their attacks.
Many of the mothers have been bitten, bravely trying to protect their calves.
I'm a little worried about Puck's calf.
She's really having the calf at peak shark-attack time.
Most of the calves are born by December.
This way, the calf has a little bit of time to learn how to breathe, stay with the mum, won't get into trouble but Puck's got a big family, maybe they can look out for her.
Puck and her unborn calf are in grave danger.
Perhaps sensing her vulnerability, Puck's family gather around her but there's one member of the Beachies missing.
Mummy's boy, India, has disappeared.
The next day, the rest of the team keep an eye on Puck, and look out for missing India.
With still no sign of Puck giving birth, Janet heads North to study the surf mums of Peron.
Here in Shark Bay, everybody has different hunting tactics, but that's particularly true for the females, not the males, and the females pass them on from mother to daughter.
Janet is here to find out which daughters are carrying on the surfing tradition.
Geez, look at that! Down on the beach, hunting conditions are perfect.
We got here this morning at Peron Point and it looks like there might be some beaching early this morning.
It's high tide, and huge shoals of mullet are feeding in the shallows.
Travelling at speeds of up to 20mph, they drive the mullet onto the beach.
Trapped, the fish have nowhere to turn.
Flattening out their bodies like surfboards, they skim in just inches of water.
The surf mums are the only dolphins in the world who hydroplane and beach like this.
It looks fun, but this a high-risk game.
They could easily strand, but with a few effortless wriggles, they're back in the water.
What's so fascinating is that it's only the mums and their daughters who surf like this.
I'm getting a lot of exercise this morning walking up and down the beach.
The surfing mums have new calves.
It's vital Janet gets photos, so she can follow the daughters who are keeping the surfing tradition going.
We want to know, after they graduate from nursing, whether the calves are going to be beachers.
I've got good shots of all of them so I'm pretty happy about that.
It's been a good day for Janet but there is still no news on Puck or missing India.
The next day, Janet is back on the water looking for them both.
That's probably India.
It's a relief to see India safe and well, but Janet is in for a surprise.
Instead of hanging out with the other young boys, as most do, he's with a notorious female and her calf.
Janet is not impressed.
India should not be with Nikki at all.
Nikki is the only mother in the bay I would call a bad mother.
She ignores her offspring.
Sometimes they make it to weaning, but then don't survive after that.
India seems to have got it all wrong.
Nikki is a dolphin with no scruples.
Oh, that is so uncool.
Nikki sped in and she basically stole his fish and that is extremely rude behaviour for a dolphin to do.
I cannot believe she did that because dolphins are very polite when it comes to hunting behaviour.
So I'm hoping he'll find some better company soon.
A mile away, Janet finds the rest of the Beachies family and she immediately sees Puck is behaving differently.
I notice Puck comes up first.
I wonder if she's, you know, breathing more, "I need more oxygen.
" You can actually often see she closes one eye.
I think she's tired.
Puck's up right now.
Flexing! Ooh, she really did a big flex then.
See that? Could this be the moment everyone has been waiting for? Puck is arching her back and then stretching it out.
Slowed down, Puck lifts her head back and stretches.
It's a subtle, but very distinct movement.
Puck is about to become a mother for the eighth time.
The labour could take several more hours.
With the light fading, the team reluctantly head back to base.
No-one knows where dolphins go to have their calves.
But that night, somewhere in the bay, Puck gives birth.
The Beachies family have a new arrival.
Pucks precious eighth calf is a boy named Samu.
No more than a few hours old, the baby instinctively shadows his mum's every move.
Samu calls continuously to her, as if to say, "I'm here, I'm here.
" In the first hours of Samu's life, he is on a huge learning curve.
Less than a metre long, Samu must first perfect the art of breathing and swimming.
Bobbing up and down, Samu's movements are jerky and uncoordinated.
His tiny dorsal fin is still floppy from being squashed up inside Mum.
Puck doesn't let her baby out of her sight for a second.
Until now, Puck has chosen to be alone with Samu, perhaps giving him time to adjust to his new world.
Then, something remarkable happens, as the rest of the Beachies family start to arrive.
As if to celebrate, Puck's daughters and grandchildren are gathering to welcome the youngster into this close-knit family.
Whether she called them in will never be known, but at last the rest of the Beachies family meet little Samu.
With her family around her, Puck can afford to relax, knowing there's safety in numbers.
The research team have been out since dawn looking for Puck.
It's now the height of the shark season.
Samu has been born at the worst time.
Oh, look at it go We've been waiting for Puck to have her calf and now she's finally here, we're all so relieved that we can actually see the calf and that the calf is actually good and healthy.
HIGH-PITCHED CALLS Though Puck's been calling to Samu since before he was born, it's thought it will take him a week to learn her call.
He swims very close to Puck's head, listening intently to her whistle.
The one thing he must avoid is getting separated from her.
This would mean certain death.
Puck may not eat for a week, she cannot risk losing sight of him for a moment.
Oh, shark! Is that a shark? That's a shark, a long one.
Approaching from behind, the family are unaware it's closing.
Samu is in grave danger.
This shark looks like a tiger.
It looks huge.
Yeahhe's big.
Oh, the sharkthe shark! One of Puck's daughters rushes in to help protect Samu.
Without the family, Samu could easily be eaten.
What happened next will never be known, but it's likely the rest of the Beachies mobbed or even rammed the shark with their beaks, chasing it away.
Is it Puck? They're up in front.
Is that the shark? No, I don't see it.
On your left? At 11, it's coming up, it's coming up! This is another one.
It's a hammerhead.
With the family now on full alert, it's not getting anywhere near Samu.
But seeing two sharks so soon after the birth doesn't bode well.
Round here, only half of the calves survive beyond their third year.
Most are lost in the first few weeks of life.
Danger over.
Samu is finally able to feed.
Puck's milk is five times richer than human milk.
Suckling every few minutes, he'll gain weight fast.
He is going to need all his strength to survive.
With a new baby at the heart of the family, the affectionate Beachies seem closer than ever.
Three days pass and the research team is once again out looking for the Beachies.
They catch up with Puck and Samu as she leads him out into deep water for the first time.
It's his first big challenge.
Deep water is a much more dangerous place for Samu.
He could easily get lost.
He's still learning his mother's call.
Sensing the danger, Samu stays close to her side, mirroring her every move as he's swept along in Puck's slipstream.
Samu seems a little bit more co-ordinated today.
A little less skittish and keeping up well with Mum.
Normally calves can only dive a metre or so in their first week of life, but Samu is diving deeper and for longer than any other calf the researchers have seen before.
It's a good sign.
With Samu doing so well, Puck is finally able to start fishing again.
She heads for a bait-ball.
Mothers lose a lot of weight in the first weeks of their calf's life.
While Puck's nursing, she needs to increase her food intake by 50%.
Later that afternoon, something very unexpected happens as visitors from across the bay start arriving.
Mothers and calves from at least three different families are gathering to meet Samu.
Just how the news of the birth travelled so far and how only the mums with their calves know where to come is unknown.
But just as the Beachies family seemed to welcome Puck and Samu, the bay's other mums seem to want to do the same.
It's Samu's first chance to meet other baby calves.
But young females also are drawn to the gathering.
Fascinated by newborns, these wannabe mums often try to lure them away to play.
With so many dolphins all milling together, it's a challenge for Puck to keep track of Samu.
He is extremely sensitive to motion.
It's how he knows how to follow his mum.
Until he's learnt her call, there's a risk Samu will chase any fast-moving dolphin that comes close.
A mischievous young female deliberately rushes past Samu, knowing the newborn will instinctively follow.
Another female look's to be stealing.
She's trying to take Samu.
Ooh! Puck is having none of it.
It's the only time female dolphins ever show aggression towards each other.
Rushing past Samu is the only way Puck can retrieve him.
The young female meant no harm to Samu, but Puck isn't taking any more chances and leads him away to safety.
The sooner Samu learns her call, the better.
It's been a fascinating day for the research team, but as they return to base, there's another surprise.
Puck's older son India has reappeared.
No longer in the bad company of the rogue mother, he's finally joined up with other young males.
When boys leave their families, it can take them up to 15 years to form an all-male alliance.
Once formed, they'll stay together for the rest of their lives.
Many young males go missing when they leave their families.
Seeing India finally join up with his new teenage mates is good news.
It looks like India is finally cutting his ties with Puck and the Beachies family.
Even with his new-found friends, a young dolphin like India is still vulnerable.
A big adult male gang has arrived, and they've cornered a female to mate with.
These encounters can be brutal.
Not far away, India and his mates need to be very careful.
They could easily be beaten up and chased out of the area by the gang.
India's little group take flight.
It's a wise move.
Its now late summer and four months since Samu's birth.
Shark numbers are still at their peak.
Across the bay, they've been feasting on scores of dugong and dolphin calves.
Has Samu survived his first, most critical months? Janet is out on patrol looking for Puck and her baby.
She catches up with the family on the Monkey Mia flats.
I'm just really anxious to see them, you know? Oh, look, there's Samu! Then finally she sees Samu.
Not only is he thriving, but he has a new playmate.
This is exciting.
We have the whole Puck family here.
Here come the kids.
Hello.
Samu is now almost a metre long.
He's looking very strong.
His young playmate was born shortly after him.
Look at them.
They are best pals.
They are best pals.
But as Puck passes the boat, the team get a stark reminder of just how much danger she and the family are facing.
Oh, she has a shark bite.
Did you see that? Did you see that scar? That's a new one! That's new, that's bad! It's on the same side as her previous shark bite.
Looks like whatever happened, she got in the way of the tiger shark or something.
The calf looks fine.
It's highly likely Puck took the bite, protecting little Samu.
Dolphin mums will risk their lives to protect their calves.
I noticed this morning that Puck has a good-sized shark bite scar, but she's healed up.
They heal remarkably fast.
There's not a mark on Samu, so obviously he remains unscathed.
But since nearly 80% of the dolphins here have shark bite scars, he's bound to get one sooner or later.
Puck's choice of this shallow, sandy bay is no chance.
It's the safest place for Samu to play.
During shark season like this, it's the perfect spot.
Shallow, beautiful water.
You can see everything around you.
If a big tiger shows up, they'll be able to see it from miles away.
Look at him, he's a cutie.
Now Samu is three months old, Puck allows him a lot more freedom.
He races along, chasing a tiny shoal of fish.
It's the first time he's been this far away from Puck and he's clearly enjoying his freedom.
Skimming along on his back, he's trying to trap the fish just beneath the surface.
Belly up, the fish is backlit and easier for him to see.
Get it, get it, get it! Over there! Go, go, go! No, he missed it! It's right behind you! We can get it Little Samu is just starting to use his sonar, but perfecting it will take some time.
JANET LAUGHS Determined to give it a go, this is his very first, proper attempt at catching a fish.
Oh, he got a fish right there.
He got one.
It was, like, this big.
First fish! It will be some months before he can join the rest of the family chasing bigger fish in the shallows.
I don't know where Puck is.
Oh, she's way down there, right in line with the end of the cliff.
300 metres away, Mum Puck is showing how the experts fish.
Then suddenly, as if Samu realises Mum is nowhere to be seen, he starts anxiously calling for her.
From the far end of the bay, she immediately answers, her calls telling him exactly where she is.
Now he knows her call, Samu rushes off to find her.
Reunited, she leads him towards the shore.
The two touch.
It's as if Puck is reassuring him that all is OK.
Samu suckles for the briefest of moments.
One small fish is not enough to keep a growing calf going.
Despite his increasing independence, the bond between mother and son remains extremely strong.
As the endlessly energetic Samu rushes off to play, closing one eye, Puck grabs the chance for a quick nap.
It's tiring raising a youngster.
Lying still in the shallows, Puck sleeps with half of her brain awake.
She has to consciously breathe or she would drown.
While his mum snoozes, Janet is watching Samu.
She sees something she's never seen before.
Samu joins up with one of Puck's granddaughters.
The young female appears to be giving him fishing lessons.
Look, she's got the little fish and she's, like, she's, like, knocking little Samu with her little fish in her mouth.
Oh, and she's letting it go ahead of her again.
She let it go.
She's catching it.
It does look like she's showing him.
She is repeatedly catching and dropping an injured fish in front of Samu.
She keeps grabbing it very closely in front of him, like this is how you grip it, it almost looks like she's showing him how to grip it.
It's the first time Janet has ever seen behaviour like this.
That was the closest I've seen to teaching so far.
What is so exceptional is that the young female appears to be consciously showing Samu how to catch a fish.
Examples of teaching in the Animal Kingdom are very, very rare.
If Puck's granddaughter really is teaching Samu, it's strong evidence of how self-aware and intelligent dolphins are.
Another four weeks pass.
And there's a familiar face.
Puck's wayward son India is back.
The pull of the family is too strong.
For the moment, Puck tolerates his return, letting him hang out with the family.
Young Samu plays with his older brother while he can .
.
but the day will soon come when India will have to go for good.
Winter has returned to Shark Bay.
The waters are cooling and the tiger sharks are finally leaving.
I really like May because things are calming down.
The sharks are gone and the males and females actually have some nice interactions.
The males aren't harassing the females like they do six to eight months out of the year.
With the big sharks finally gone, Samu has survived the most dangerous first few months of his life.
Seeing Samu growing up so strong and independent bodes well for his future.
He is already showing all the signs of becoming one of the bay's top males.
But one day, he too will have to leave the loving companionship of the Beachies.
At 33 years old, Puck's long reign of the Beachies will soon come to an end.
This wonderful dolphin has taught Janet more than any other.
A wise and gentle mother, Puck's shown her children how to survive in the dangerous waters of Shark Bay and shown us the richness of dolphin family lives, if we just choose to look beneath the surface.
Making The Dolphins Of Shark Bay was a real challenge for the British and Australian film crew.
Dolphins are capable of swimming at speeds of over 20 mph.
Quick witted and elusive, the team were up against it from the very start.
To tell Puck and Samu's remarkable story, director Nick Stringer decided the only way to do it was to use a miniature high definition camera called a pole-cam.
Nobody's really ever told the story of a family of dolphins before.
It was a very ambitious vision and probably one of the biggest challenges I'd ever faced.
We're getting some nice stuff over the sea grass beds.
I'm happy about that.
It's going really well.
The little camera is working! Using the pole-cam was a two-man operation.
The camera, no larger than a water bottle, was operated by Ben Cunningham.
Live images of the dolphins were then fed back to Nick, who was watching on a small monitor.
Tilt down and right, Ben, tilt down and left.
He was then able to guide Ben towards the dolphins.
That's a beautiful shot.
Look at that! But the team didn't have it all their own way.
The filming was immensely challenging.
Shark Bay is one of the windiest places in Australia and when we did get out on the water, visibility was often terrible .
.
and the dolphins were very difficult to get close to.
Our patience was severely tested.
10 metres, 12 o'clock.
Roll it.
The team's biggest challenge was trying to film young Samu.
Swimming away, just out of range, I think.
Cut it.
He appeared to be playing games with the crew Rolling.
.
.
coming tantalisingly close to the boat before swimming away.
He might go behind.
Gone behind.
Man, that was close.
Right there.
There were times when I thought it was going to be an impossible task.
Five metres, maybe, four Come this way! Could you see that?.
When Puck finally brought Samu up to the boat, it was a magical moment.
10 metres, 11 o'clock.
Roll it.
Tilt down and left.
Here it comes.
Yes! Got it! It's coming inyes! Getting them here on a day like this is just what we've been waiting for.
It's been worth the wait, definitely.
Yeah.
It all seems to be coming together at the end of the shoot, as ever.
With shots of young Samu in the bag, the team moved north to Peron to try and film the hydroplaning dolphins.
It was hard enough trying to follow the dolphins from the boat, but the crew's next challenge was to try and follow them on foot.
It was to become the wildlife-filming equivalent of an army boot camp.
Getting the hydroplaning was a real key part of the film because it's such a dynamic and fantastic bit of behaviour.
The crew had just arrived at Peron after a long drive.
Can you see that? There's a dolphin.
Dolphins, right down there.
To spot dolphins immediately was really unexpected.
Come on, Ben, let's go.
Let's go.
Quick, quick! Ben and Nick try and catch up with the dolphins, but soon find themselves chasing them up and down the beach.
By late morning, they've failed to capture a single shot and the only wildlife around is a growing number of flies.
The flies are unbelievable.
They're such a pain.
You just don't know when the action's going to start.
It could happen like that.
To help the team out, biologists Eric and Shay set up a lookout high above them on the cliffs.
We're really able to spot pretty much anywhere on this little beach where the dolphins are and tell Nick and Ben to hurry up and run over there and see if they can get a shot of it.
It's stifling already.
It's going to be about 35, 40 today, I reckon.
Then, up on the cliff, Eric spots some movement.
Oh, here comes one, just around the point where the birds are flying off.
She's really close in so she might do it.
I'm going to let them know.
Just coming around the point by the birds.
She's really close into shore so she looks like she might start hydroplaning.
'Roger.
' Let's see if we can get it.
Come on! Normally, natural history shoots are a game of patience.
This one is turning into a chase in 40-degree heat.
Oh, there she goes.
They've already run more than five miles this morning.
Oh, this sand is hard work.
She's starting to do it, she's starting to hydroplane.
She's really close.
I don't know if you guys can see her.
OK.
Thanks.
We're on it, over.
What's happening, Nick? Looks like she's looking for fish.
What they seem to be doing is herding them away from the rocks towards the beach so they can get them on the hydroplane.
Whoa, that's a first for us.
There she goes.
Look at that.
She's just come up on the beach.
Did you see that? It's incredible.
It's incredible to be so close to it.
Oh, that's a big one and her calf is just right there, watching her.
Yeah, she just got that big mullet! She's taking it out deeper now and chomping on it.
That's what I really love about this job.
Just when they thought it was over Hi, Janet.
.
.
a radio call comes in from the other end of the beach.
'Nick, we've got Cha-Cha and Flamenco coming towards you guys.
' OK.
Which side of the bay are they coming in, over? 'They're straight out from where my hand is pointing.
' OK.
We're going to run to the other end of the beach right now.
'Go!' With the camera and equipment weighing over 25 kilos, it's hard work.
If we're not fit by the end of this They're chasing something.
He's chasing.
Going, Ben.
Coming up! They consume over five litres of water each.
As the daylight fades, they try to grab the last few shots.
They've run more than 15 miles.
I think my calves are growing, and my thirst is great, and the flies are swarming, but you know, it's about the dolphins and we're getting some great stuff.
I am not going up the beach again, you guys.
I didn't realise I'd be marathon training.
Well, it's getting to the end of day now, and we've had an extraordinary day.
We've seen, gosh, at least five or six, seven big chases of fish.
Yeah, we captured some really, really nice stuff, I think.
And lots of flies! I just swallowed one.
I was looking at them on your lips, James.
I couldn't even see your lips.
We're not out of food at all!