Shark Superpower

That sounds like an intriguing setup for a documentary or educational segment! It looks like the focus is on measuring the strength and capabilities of sharks in their natural habitat. Here’s a bit more on what this might involve:

Turbo-Charged Hunt: This would refer to the shark’s ability to move quickly and efficiently while hunting. Sharks are known for their speed and agility, which are crucial for catching prey.Powerful Bite: Sharks have some of the most powerful bites in the animal kingdom. Measuring this power involves studying bite force, which can be done through various methods such as bite force sensors or analyzing bite marks on prey.Measuring Raw Power: This could involve several techniques, including:Tagging and Tracking: Using GPS and accelerometers to track the shark’s movements and behavior.Bite Force Measurement: Using specialized equipment to measure the force of a shark's bite in different scenarios.Behavioral Observation: Studying how sharks hunt and interact with their environment to assess their efficiency and power.BROCQ: Everybody biting, everybody biting. NARRATOR: By using the latest tech. ANDY: That is the fastest drone I have ever seen. NARRATOR: On these apex ocean predators. BROCQ (over radio): Shark coming in, shark coming in. NARRATOR: But they'll have to go hard. BROCQ (over radio): It's going off down here. NARRATOR: And fast. MARK: Go, go. ANDY: Go! NARRATOR: As they attempt to put shark speed and bite force to the test. ANDY: Wow, yeah, he's biting my fin. BROCQ (over radio): Yep she got it. Oh it's a good bite. NARRATOR: Can they reveal the truth behind shark superpower? (theme music playing) ♪ ♪ NARRATOR: Shark pro and cinematographer Brocq Maxey and his team are in the Bahamas. They're about to undertake a ground-breaking new experiment. With the advice from scientists they'll attempt to demonstrate the power of a shark's bite, in the wild. And not just any shark, but two of the world's biggest and most powerful sharks. The hammerhead. And the tiger shark. DAN: Studying bite force is a terrific way to come to understand why sharks have been such dominant predators for over 400 million years. NARRATOR: You can tell a lot about a shark just from looking at its bite. How it lives, and how it hunts. Every species has a slightly different technique. One that's evolved to perfectly suit their prey and environment. But when it comes to the power behind the bite, we still have a lot to learn. DAN: Measuring voluntary bite forces on free swimming sharks in the wild is a really difficult thing to do. NARRATOR: So far most of our knowledge comes from captive species or computer modeling. But how do these results stack up when it comes to sharks in the wild? The only way to find out, is to take bite force science out of the lab, and into the ocean. Something that will take a level of skill possessed only by shark experts like Brocq and his team. BROCQ: Forever, sharks have been a part of, part of my life. I grew up in the Bahamas. When it comes to diving with sharks, I understand that they're better than me down there. I definitely have a fear that leads to an understanding and a respect. NARRATOR: Brocq has spent his career working on marine research projects, filming and handling sharks. Skills this mission will test to the max. So how do you measure the power behind these jaws, and live to tell the tale? You build the ultimate shark chew-toy! Because this has never been done before, the team commission a bespoke piece of equipment. A device sensitive enough to capture the force of a shark's bite in the wild. But robust enough not to get crushed in the process. BROCQ: Okay so this is the bite force gauge. We're trying to get the shark to give us a bite pretty much in the middle here. At the end of the device here is the mechanism which is sending a signal up to this box which is giving us the bite force. NARRATOR: Bite force will be measured as the weight bearing down on the gauge. As the shark bites, the reading will show in pounds. BROCQ: You can actually see when I push down... (grunts) (beeps) So that was 105 pounds of force. And that's basically what we're trying to get the shark to do and then we can make an assessment on who around these parts is giving us the most bite force. NARRATOR: To make sure no human or shark gets harmed the team will need to take extreme care. Even for an expert like Brocq, getting a reading won't be easy. DAN: First you need to get the animals to come in close enough to wherever you are, whether it's as scuba divers or up on a boat. Then you need to get the shark to bite down in a specific spot to get any kind of good data. NARRATOR: Before they search out the hammerheads and tiger sharks, Brocq and dive instructor Lil want to test it on something a little smaller. BROCQ: We're actually going to try to use it initially here at the surface with the lemon sharks. We're going to try to entice one of them to bite the gauge. Everybody ready? Lil you good? LIL: I'm ready! BROCQ: Okay! All right, everybody biting! Everybody biting! NARRATOR: The gauge has been fitted with handles so that Brocq can keep his hands away from hungry mouths. They may be smaller but these lemon sharks still have plenty of teeth. BROCQ: Oh bite it. Creepy. Oh yeah. (grunts) Oh he's got it. Good bite. (laughs) Lil what did we get? LIL: Yeah I got a reading of 168. BROCQ: Oh, that looks good. NARRATOR: Success. They've got their first bite force reading. At 168 pounds the result seemed to tie up with previous lab-based estimates. But it's still a surprisingly low number for an apex predator. Barely matching the 170 pound bite of a German shepherd dog. But this was just the warm up. The next shark they're hoping to test, will be much more of a challenge. What will this set of jaws do to the bite force gauge? Hammerheads do most of their hunting on the sea floor. Scanning for sting rays and squid. Their mouths are much smaller than other sharks. Will that affect how hard they bite? BROCQ: We're here in Bimini, the Bahamas, this is probably the best place in the world to dive with great hammerhead sharks. What we're gonna try to do is entice a hammerhead to come in and give it a bite. This is the first time that it's really ever been done. It could be a bit of trial and error, their mouth is a bit up under their body, so it's going to be a little difficult to get the device in a position where they're going to give it a good bite. NARRATOR: Brocq heads down to the sea floor where the hammerheads hunt. Nurse sharks are quick to sniff out the chum, but Brocq's not here for them. He's here, for this. BROCQ (over radio): Oh here she comes. This hammer is an absolute bus, which is gonna be good for our bite force gauge. Try and give her one or two feeds, just so she starts getting used to us. NARRATOR: By carefully guiding the shark by the nose, Brocq has some control over their movement. BROCQ (over radio): Beautiful hammer. Oh, she's big! NARRATOR: It's a move that should only be attempted by experienced shark handlers like Brocq. Having dived these waters for almost two decades, he knows these sharks and how to read their mood. BROCQ (over radio): She looks like she's ready to rock. NARRATOR: They liked the fish but what will they make of the bite force gauge? BROCQ (over radio): Here she comes... Stand by, stand by. Nope, no luck. Going for a bite, stand by. Oh. Didn't bite down on the gauge, just took the piece of bait. Stand by Lil, she's coming in... She looks good. (groans) NARRATOR: Brocq's struggling to get the gauge into the shark's mouth. LIL: The hammerhead's very wary of the giant piece of metal he's trying to get the shark to bite down on. BROCQ (over radio): Stand by. Oh. She, she just used a little bit of her teeth just to take what she needed. She's not really giving us a bite down. NARRATOR: The hammerheads are taking the bait without biting the gauge. (groans) BROCQ (over radio): I'm coming up. BROCQ: It is not easy. So, um, I think we knew that it was going to be difficult. NARRATOR: The large female hammerhead has Brocq out-foxed. BROCQ: She's a great feeder but as soon as you try to present her with the bite force gauge, she becomes smarter than me. (laughs) She's been coming in nicely, comes right up to the bite force gauge and she's almost like using the tip of her teeth to just take the piece of bait out so she's not really giving us a solid bite. We'll keep on trying. ♪ ♪ NARRATOR: Shark expert Brocq Maxey is investigating the power of a shark's bite by using a shark size chew-toy. Taking his results straight from the jaws of one of the Bahamas biggest sharks, the hammerhead. BROCQ (over radio): All right, stand-by. NARRATOR: It's not been easy but Brocq's hoping perseverance will pay off. BROCQ (over radio): All right, she's coming back in. Oh bite. What'd you get Lil? LIL: Brocq on that last one I got 104.7. NARRATOR: More of a nibble than a bite. The sharks are playing the system, taking the bait without taking a bite. BROCQ (over radio): She's coming around. All right, going for a bite. Yeah, she's got it. Oh it's a good bite, what'd you guys get? LIL: Uh, so we just got a really big reading, 505.5. NARRATOR: Success, the first known bite reading from a hammerhead in the wild. LIL: That's pretty good. NARRATOR: This 11 foot hammerhead bit down with over 500 pounds of force. For their prey that's like being crushed by the weight of two NFL players. But surprisingly this result isn't top league when compared to other predators. The strongest bite in the animal kingdom belongs to the saltwater crocodile. Hippos are another high hitter. DAN: When we compare sharks to other groups of animals, what we find is that they actually don't bite that hard. If you look at bite forces on a pound for pound basis, sharks actually bite relatively weakly compared to other big time predators. NARRATOR: So how can sharks, apex predators, with an infamous set of jaws, not be one of the power players? DAN: One of the reasons why we think sharks, pound for pound, don't have very high bite forces is because of the shape of their teeth. NARRATOR: Sharks do something few other animals can. DAN: We can see that sharks have lots and lots of teeth. Any shark is going to have several hundred teeth in its mouth at any given time and these teeth are continuously moving forward and replacing teeth that fall out at the front. So a shark's mouth is like a conveyor belt of teeth and a given shark will go through thousands upon thousands of teeth throughout its lifetime. NARRATOR: By constantly renewing their teeth, they never have time to wear down. Every tooth is razor sharp, and the sharper the blade the less effort it is to cut. With 505 pounds of force behind its dagger-like teeth, this hammerhead, like many other sharks, has more than enough bite power to hunt prey like rays and squid. But the team's mission isn't over yet. Next, they want to see how this result compares with another Bahamas heavyweight. One with a much tougher meal to swallow. A giant armored sea creature. But while Brocq and his team reset and prepare for the next stage of their mission, off the coast of San Diego, California, another shark super power is about to be put to the test in the wild, speed. Makos are thought to be the fastest sharks on the planet. Estimates for their top speed run anywhere from 30 to 70 miles per hour. But up till now, nobody has managed to get a definitive reading. And just like bite force, speed stats are crucial to our understanding of sharks. They could explain how speed has helped sharks stay at the top of every ocean food chain. So today, shark cinematographer Andy Casagrande is taking on the mako speed test challenge. ANDY: With the fastest shark in the world you've gotta bring your A game and you gotta be ready. NARRATOR: With decades of shark filming experience behind him, Andy's hoping he can succeed where all others have failed. But keeping up with a mako at full throttle will test him to the max. This is science at sea and at speed. ANDY: Is that where we're heading out there? NARRATOR: Andy will need all the help he can get. So he's teamed up with local boat captain Mark Martin. ANDY: Well I think we've found the spot here. Lots of birds, lots of life. MARK: Feels sharky out here. ANDY: Yeah super sharky. How fast have you seen a mako shark move? MARK: I, I couldn't even tell you, um... ANDY: But if you had to guess? MARK: If I had to guess, I'd say well over 40 miles an hour. ANDY: Right. MARK: It sounds like it's a fisherman's tale, everyone's got their, "I've seen makos go 70 miles per hour." ANDY: Right. MARK: No one's ever clocked it on a clock. NARRATOR: Andy is hoping to change that. He knows mako sharks better than most. Something he hopes will give him an advantage. ANDY: Check it out, we've got a mako right here. Seems like it's pretty curious. It's coming up to my fins. Whoa yeah, he's biting my fins! Uh, looks like my fin, uh, should still work. Mako sharks are in the same family as great whites and they have that same big shark attitude. They literally have an avalanche of razor blades which is their mouth, and if you make a mistake it could be a really, really bad day. NARRATOR: Andy will be up against a shark with sass and speed. Makos are built for life in the fast lane. Their tail provides maximum thrust. A torpedo shaped body reduces drag. Their fins are rigid and act as stabilizers. Even their scales have, "Go faster," ridges to reduce resistance and maximize speed. But while mako sharks may have the edge, all sharks can claim speed as a superpower. MARIANNE: Speed can be a matter of life and death for sharks. It's a really important characteristic. It really determines, are you able to get away from a predator, are you able to find the prey you need to eat and survive? NARRATOR: Sharks are fast because their survival depends on it. But how will Andy keep up with the fastest shark of all? ANDY: It's gonna be tough but I've got a few tricks up my sleeve! ♪ ♪ NARRATOR: What happens when one of the world's most experienced shark cinematographers, tries to race the world's fastest shark? Andy Casagrande is attempting to measure the top speed of a mako, by taking the race to the sky. ANDY: Drones are actually the perfect tool for measuring speed. If we can get this above a mako, we should be able to correlate the speed of the drone with the speed of the mako. NARRATOR: Andy's monitor tells him exactly how fast his drone is flying. So as long as he can track the mako and keep it inside this square, he'll know that the speed of the drone is a perfect match for the speed of the shark. And to provide some incentive for the sharks to hit the gas, they're using a lure that looks like a fish. ANDY: Your job is to get it going as fast as possible. (drone buzzing) Three, two, one, go. Oh let's get the visual target out! NARRATOR: The plan sounds simple enough, but not everyone is convinced it will work. MARIANNE: If someone wanted to chase a mako with a drone that would be really hard. You need to be able to keep that really fast moving and efficient shark in the field of view of a camera in a drone. So that's going to be a really big challenge in and of itself. Mako's are going to swim really fast so they're going to be out of your field of view probably within a second. NARRATOR: Like all sprinters, human and animal, makos are thought to only reach max speed in short sharp bursts. So these sharks will make for a tricky target. They're able to change speed and direction at any moment. ANDY: Mako, mako, woo-hoo! That's a big shark. Okay coming in. Oh let's pull it in. Oh he's coming in hot, check it out, woo-hoo! Ah, it's just too fast, keeps going out of frame. MARK: Okay he's, he's coming back. ANDY: He's coming up, coming up. I'm just struggling to track with it. Whoa, ah man! NARRATOR: To qualify as an accurate result Andy must keep the mako inside the square for long enough to register a speed reading. A tough task, even for expert drone pilot Andy. ANDY: All right, here we go. Oh sharks coming right up to the boat, whoa. That shark just ripped through frame, I just can't keep up with him. NARRATOR: It's becoming clear why this has never been done before. ANDY: I'm right over the top. NARRATOR: The makos have the advantage. They set the pace and direction of this race. ANDY: Yeah it's not working. I can't maneuver with the mako. Oh man, just can't stay with him. NARRATOR: The makos are living up to their reputation. But scientists think there's a very good reason they need to speed. MARIANNE: Makos eat prey like tunas. Tunas are among the fastest swimming fish in the ocean and the shape of a tuna tail is really similar to a Mako's. Mako's have evolved to have a tail shape that helps them be as fast and efficient as their prey. NARRATOR: When your food is fast, you need to be faster. Scientists know that tuna can swim at up to 43 miles per hour. Which suggests makos are capable of even higher speeds. Possibly upwards of 50 miles per hour. A speed that in these windy offshore conditions could prove too much for Andy's drone. Time for reinforcements, and an extra dose of adrenaline. ANDY: Whoa. NARRATOR: Joining the team is Jeff Russell and his racer drone. JEFF: 99, 101! Whoo! ANDY: Oh, my... Whoa, oh, this is going to be fun. That is the fastest drone I have ever seen. That's incredible! NARRATOR: This drone isn't just fast, it's agile. It may just have the speed and moves they need to maneuver with a mako. ANDY: Wow! Dude that thing is incredible. How fast is this? JEFF: So this'll go zero to 80 miles an hour in less than a second. ANDY: What! Are you serious? JEFF: Yeah. ANDY: And how do you actually know how fast it's going when you're flying? JEFF: So in the goggles I have a readout that tells me exactly the speed I'm going... ANDY: Okay. JEFF: Because of this little GPS here. ANDY: It's all up to you buddy. All right, here we go! Three, two, one, go! Whoa! Look at that thing. Look how it flies, like upside down. NARRATOR: This is the Formula 1 of the drone world. ANDY: Unreal. NARRATOR: But how will it perform against the Formula 1 of the shark world? ANDY: Mark you see anything up there? MARK: We got one coming up this slick here, 200 yards out. Get ready. JEFF: All right, eh, got a shark. ANDY: What is it, what is it? You got a mako? JEFF: Uh, got him, got him yep. ANDY: Oh, it's coming in on the line, looks like it's coming up to the line. NARRATOR: Can the racer drone get into position quick enough? It may be fast and agile, but there's a price to pay. Racer drones are not designed for stability and they're certainly not designed to track a mako shark. ANDY: Man, it is hard to fly and pay attention to the shark at the same time. NARRATOR: Then suddenly. (drone buzzing) Could the race be all over? ♪ ♪ NARRATOR: Cinematographer Andy Casagrande has suffered a setback with his mako shark speed test. ANDY: We gotta keep trying man, we gotta keep trying... I think there's a reason why no one's ever done this before. It's almost impossible. Almost. NARRATOR: Matching a mako's speed from the air has proved impossible. So Andy has come up with a new plan. Time for a quick physics lesson. If you can't measure speed, you can calculate it from distance over time. ANDY: The whole idea is this, essentially I've created a ruler. Mapped out in one foot increments. I wanna run this out the back of the boat. That's going to give us the distance. NARRATOR: The current will stretch out the 150 foot floating ruler. Allowing Andy to measure how far the shark swims. But he still needs to record how long it takes to travel the distance. So he'll use the internal clock of a drone, to both film and time the shark as it swims along the ruler. The race track is ready but they still need a mako to race along it. Andy's plan is to use another drone to pull a lure along the line. If that sounds complicated, it's because it is. ANDY: What do you think? MARK: I like it, I think it's kind of a crazy plan you came up with, but I don't see why it can't work. NARRATOR: Nobody has ever managed to record the definitive top speed of a mako. But then nobody has ever created a bespoke mako race track before, is it genius or madness? Andy is about to find out. MARK: All right, Andy here we go, here we go. ANDY: What you got one? MARK: He's right in front of the buoy. Yeah. It's definitely a mako. ANDY: How big? MARK: Can't tell the size. ANDY: All right, firing the drone up. Coming in, still interested? MARK: Still interested, yep. ANDY: All right, we're all clear. MARK: All clear. ANDY: Three, two, one, firing up one, two, three taking off. All right, you still got eyes on him? MARK: Yeah, why don't you go just straight back to the buoy and just wait for him to come right there. ANDY: All right, I'm right at the buoy I'm lined up. MARK: Once you get there, drop it in and just run one right down the line. All right, he's leaving the buoy go ahead, go ahead, go ahead. ANDY: Oh he's coming up, he's coming up. MARK: Go ahead. He likes it, keep going he's behind it. ANDY: Yeah. MARK: Hang right there, hang right there. NARRATOR: The shark needs to be hungry enough to chase and get the race started. MARK: He's looking, he's looking. ANDY: I just need that burst speed. MARK: Go, go, go, go... ANDY: Go! MARK: Oh he pulled off of it. ANDY: Oh okay I'm going to reset. MARK: Yeah. ANDY: All right, heading back. NARRATOR: A false start, but Andy is ready to go again. ANDY: All right, I'm reset right there. MARK: Okay. ANDY: All right, I'm dropping down. I got eyes on the shark. All right, coming towards the boat now. MARK: Okay run the rope, run the rope. ANDY: Coming in, coming in. MARK: Yeah he likes it, he sees it. NARRATOR: The race is on. MARK: Go! ANDY: I see it, I see it! NARRATOR: In one quick burst the mako swims right past the ruler. ANDY: Woo-hoo! NARRATOR: But was it enough to get a speed reading? Time for some physics. Thanks to the floating ruler we know the mako swam a total distance of 72 feet or 0.01 miles. And the timer on the camera shows it took just two seconds to do it. Using the formula: speed is distance over time, that works out as almost 25 miles per hour. Almost five times faster than Michael Phelps's personal best. ANDY: Yes! NARRATOR: But hold the celebrations Andy. At 25 miles per hour this mako couldn't catch a tuna swimming at 43 miles per hour. This result can't be their max effort. Andy's lure just wasn't enough to wet their appetite and get that burst of top speed the makos use to chase down prey. ANDY: Now we have a technique so maybe it's a matter of come back again and try next year. Until then the mako shark's top speed remains unknown and this time they won the race. NARRATOR: Attempting to reveal the science behind the super power comes packed with challenges. As back in the Bahamas, Brocq is about to discover. In a test of bite force that will push his shark skills to the limit. BROCQ (over radio): The tigers are non-stop down here, it's a conveyor belt of tigers. ♪ ♪ NARRATOR: Tiger sharks are one of the largest predatory sharks on the planet. They feed off an extensive menu, whales, birds, even other sharks. But there's one delicacy that takes more effort than others, sea turtles. So how much jaw power does it take to crunch through their tough shells? Here in the Bahamas, Brocq and the team are about to find out. Facing up to the jaws of a tiger shark is strictly for pros. Brocq has spent almost two decades diving with these sharks. He knows the best way to stay safe is to take things slow. BROCQ: This first dive, we're going to go down, we're not going to bring the bite force gauge, we're just going to see what tigers are here, come back up and we'll get some more back up support, in terms of safety and we'll grab the bite force gauge. What could go wrong? (laughs) NARRATOR: This area is known as Tiger Beach and it quickly lives up to its name. These tiger sharks are used to diver interactions. They're not shy, Brocq will need to stand his ground. BROCQ (over radio): There's two tigers, coming right on me, right now. NARRATOR: The sharks know where the food is kept. BROCQ (over radio): Little snack for my girl. NARRATOR: It doesn't take long for other sharks to sniff out a free meal, and nobody is waiting in line. BROCQ (over radio): Ah, they won't even let me get set. Oh, look at how big she is. She's kind of eating the drum. Oh! NARRATOR: If ever a scene needed a, “Don't try this at home!” Warning. This is it. Brocq manages the situation by guiding the sharks away from the bait, to help them settle and relax. But it's not the easy trial run Brocq had hoped for. (groans) BROCQ (over radio): New tiger just arrived. There's three tigers on the drum right now. The tigers are non-stop down here. It's a conveyor belt of tigers. NARRATOR: The more sharks, the more they compete for Brocq's attention. BROCQ (over radio): Four tigers right here. Tiger on tiger on tiger. LIL: These tigers don't like to wait their turn, so a lot of the times you'll get four coming in at once, and you don't even have enough arms to keep ‘em all off of you. NARRATOR: Brocq has an underwater safety team at his side, but with this many sharks around staying in control is still a tough job. BROCQ (over radio): It's getting kinda crazy down here. I think we should move. NARRATOR: By taking the food into a more open area, there's more time to see where the sharks are approaching from and react. BROCQ (over radio): All right, guys we got quite a few tigers now, they're feeding quite nicely. I think we give the bite force gauge a go. BROCQ: All righty, thank you. NARRATOR: If these sharks can crunch through a turtle shell, what will they do to the bite force gauge? BROCQ (over radio): All right, I'm gonna try to give them the bite force gauge. Coming in. All right, stand by. LIL: Copy Brocq. (groans) BROCQ (over radio): Yeah she didn't really, she just kinda gummed it. Did you get a reading? LIL: Negative Brocq did not get a reading. BROCQ (over radio): Okay, here we go. Coming in, stand by. (grunts) That didn't work. All right, I've got enough air for one more time. Here we go, I'm try it again. She's turning, she's turning, she's lining me up, stand by. Oh bite. NARRATOR: Looks promising, until... BROCQ (over radio): Bah, bah, bah, bah, bah! NARRATOR: A lemon shark gets in the way. (thuds) BROCQ (over radio): Ah, cable got severed by a lemon! ♪ ♪ NARRATOR: In the Bahamas, the bite force gauge is broken before they even got a reading. BROCQ (over radio): A lemon got the cable in its mouth, and the cable is cut. NARRATOR: It's a setback but shark expert and cinematographer Brocq thinks the wires can be re-connected. BROCQ: As you can see here, I've been fixing this up. A lemon shark came in... And it just got caught on one of his little teeth, cut the cable right in two. So we're going to go back down and try and get some more readings. NARRATOR: They're still missing that elusive first bite force reading, from one of the huge tiger sharks down here. Will the patched up wires hold long enough for them to get a bite? BROCQ (over radio): Three tigers here now. Shark coming in, shark coming in. He's biting it! How was your reading on that one? It was a good bite. LIL: Copy Brocq, we read 449.5, that was an awesome bite! BROCQ (over radio): Ah! NARRATOR: Not a bad first bite, but Brocq thinks these turtle hunters are capable of more, so he keeps going. But with a weakened wire, he has to be extra careful the tigers don't snag it, and they're coming in thick and fast. BROCQ (over radio): It's going off down here. We've got four or five now I think, non-stop. Big, big, big, big, big, big, big, big mommas. There's two coming in. All right, stand by. Bite time. Nice bite there. LIL: Oh, that's definitely a bite, three, four, 500, 520, 549.5. BROCQ (over radio): Wow, that's cool. NARRATOR: For anything unlucky enough to end up between this set of jaws, that's like being crushed by the weight of a motorcycle. BROCQ (over radio): Stand by Lil, stand by. Here she comes, coming in, coming in. Oh, these girls are big. Ah, we got a nice bite. That was a proper solid one we just had now. Did you get a reading there? LIL: We got a recording of over 600. NARRATOR: A bite that's like being crushed by a vending machine. It's the highest result so far. He's on a roll, and sets his sights on the biggest shark of the group. BROCQ (over radio): He is a monster. Coming in for a bite. Ah, it's a good bite. Did you guys get any reading then? LIL: Brocq we actually got reading of 864 on that last bite. (laughs) (laughter) BROCQ: Wa-hoo. NARRATOR: This nine foot tiger shark bit down with 864 pounds of force. That's about the same weight as a grand piano. It's the first known bite reading from a tiger shark in the wild. A huge achievement. BROCQ: It doesn't get much better than this. NARRATOR: But there's something surprising about the team's results. The hammerhead they tested measured 11 feet, and delivered 505 pounds of bite power. The tiger shark was nine feet in length. But at 864 pounds its bite was 70% more powerful than the hammerhead's, despite being two feet shorter. What could explain such a difference in bite force? Scientists think that jaw power isn't just about size. While big sharks certainly pack a punch, bite force comes down to several other factors. One of them is diet. Tiger sharks feed on sea turtles. A meal that takes raw power and killer technique. DAN: Tiger sharks are a great example of how the anatomy of an animal but also its behavior come into play. NARRATOR: These sharks not only have a wider jaw, and grippier teeth to wrap around the turtle's shell, they've evolved a bite technique to break through it. DAN: Tiger sharks shake their heads back and forth and back and forth, from right to left, to use the teeth like a saw. NARRATOR: Dinner does not come easy for these sharks. Whereas hammerheads have a more simple grab and go approach. And this, “One quick bite,” strategy takes a lot less power and a smaller set of jaws. Behavior that could explain why the smaller tiger shark recorded a stronger bite than the bigger hammerhead. DAN: Studying bite force is a really useful way to understand the relationship between how animals are built and what they do in the environment, and these are relationships that evolve over enormous scales of time. So bite force helps us understand why sharks have been such dominant predators for a long time. NARRATOR: Bite force and speed are the skills that have helped sharks rule almost every ocean, and, by putting them to the test, scientists are discovering that the greatest superpower of all could be adaptability. The ultimate evolutionary survival skill. Captioned by Cotter Media Group.