Shark Bites

Steve meets a super-speedy shark. Reaching speeds of 50kph, the mako is the fastest shark in the sea. With fast-swimming prey like tuna and mackerel, mako sharks need to move quickly. But how do they reach such meteoric speeds? Steve first snorkels with these lightning-quick sharks off the coast of San Diego in California, before getting under their skin in his shark lab, to reveal their hidden speed secrets.

Steve Backshall meets the most ferocious shark of all. The great white shark is one of the greatest hunters on the planet, and Steve looks at what it is that makes them such perfect predators. He dives with them in the open ocean, revealing clever camouflage, and heads into his shark lab to take a closer look at their terrific teeth.

Steve meets the most colossal shark in our seas. Measuring up to a record 18 metres, the whale shark is not only the largest shark, but the largest fish in the world. Steve dives with this gargantuan shark off the coast of Mozambique in Africa and reveals their somewhat surprising diet, before heading into his shark lab to get under their skin and reveal how they manage to filter their food from the water.

Steve Backshall meets the most sinister shark in our seas. The ragged tooth shark has a mouth that is overflowing with terrifying teeth. But why does it need such gnarly gnashers? Steve heads out on a dive after dark to see these fearsome fangs for himself, before revealing their sinister secret in his shark lab.

Steve comes face to face with the most ravenous shark in the sea - the tiger shark. Known for eating tin cans and even car number plates, there's more to these munchers than meets the eye. Diving with them in the warm waters of the Bahamas, Steve soon discovers they'll use their mouths to investigate potential food. In the shark lab, he reveals how they use clever countershading and camouflage to ambush their prey.

Steve Backshall meets the hammerhead shark, a shark with some seriously super senses. He dives alongside one in the warm waters of the Bahamas before heading to his shark lab to reveal how their bizarrely shaped head allows them to detect electrical fields given off by their prey.

Steve Backshall reveals the super sucker of all sharks, the nurse shark. This shark has a taste for shellfish and armoured crustaceans. In Mexico, Steve finds one resting amongst the coral, and explains how the nurse shark uses specialist sensory barbells to detect its prey in the sand or crevices. However, to understand how it actually eats its prey, we join Steve in his Shark Lab.

This time, he meets the snappiest shark in the world - the lemon shark. It scours the sandy seabed for food, but how does it get a good grip on hidden prey? Steve heads to the Bahamas in the Caribbean to dive with these feisty sharks. He heads down on his dive with a time slice rig to film the lemon shark's bite in three dimensions before heading into his shark lab to analyse it.

This time, he meets a shark that is a master of teamwork. The blacktip shark isn't the largest shark in its tropical territory, so it adopts a sensible solution in order to survive. Hunting in intimidating groups, they corral fish into tight shoals before attacking from all angles. Steve dives in amongst a blacktip frenzy and heads to his shark lab to explore one of the reasons they are so good at hunting.

This time, Steve looks at our very own gentle giant. The basking shark is a huge shark that we have right here in the UK and for such a sizable shark, it has a somewhat surprising diet. It visits our coastal waters every spring and summer, and Steve heads to his Shark Lab to reveal why.

Steve encounters a seriously smooth shark - the silky shark. Diving off the coast of Cuba, Steve comes face-to-face with these open ocean operators. With a tail that propels them forward, and super-smooth skin they are like silver bullets in the sea. However, there's more to their metallic looking skin than meets the eye. In his shark lab, Steve reveals how their skin helps to make them seriously streamlined.

Steve reveals the prehistoric sixgill shark. It has barely changed in two hundred million years. Living in deep waters they are also incredibly hard to see, but Steve knows one spot off Canada's mainland where they occasionally come to shallower depths. Armed with a remote underwater camera and some smelly bait to lure it in, he tries to catch it on camera. These sharks earn their name from their sixth pair of gills and back in his Shark Lab Steve explains how this ancient adaptation may help them to survive in these extremes.

Steve encounters the most striking shark of all - the thresher shark. With a tail as long as its body, it's a shark with a fantastic physique. Steve dives with two of these stunning sharks off the coast of the Philippines, before hitting the Shark Lab to explain how the thresher uses its tail as a secret weapon to stun its prey.

Steve meets one of the ocean's greatest sharks. The oceanic whitetip is an adventurer of the abyss. Steve and his crew track down this nautical nomad in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Hawaii. In the empty ocean, they are constantly on the move searching for food, relying on some vital features - their fins. Back in Steve's Shark Lab, he reveals how the shark uses its different fins for perfect power and sensitive steering.

Steve looks at a shark with superpowers. The epaulette shark is a small shark that lives in shallow, tidal waters and it is able to survive out of water for a long period of time, Steve heads into his Shark Lab to show just how they manage it.

Bold, bullish and packed with bucket loads of bite, the bull shark is the most menacing shark out there. Steve Backshall comes face to face with these apex predators off the coast of Mexico, and reveals it's not just the ocean that they hunt in - they can also move into freshwater rivers and lakes, and have been found thousands of kilometres up the Amazon river. Back in Steve's Shark Lab, he reveals how the bull shark adapts to the varying salt levels using its very clever kidneys.

Steve looks at the most graceful fish in our seas. Manta rays may not look like sharks, but they are part of the same family. Steve swims with them off the coast of Hawaii, observing how their wide, flexible, cartilage skeleton enables them to summersault through pockets of plankton, hovering it up. Back in the Shark Lab, Steve reveals the secrets behind how they glide and fly through the water so effortlessly.

Steve tracks down the ultimate aquatic athlete. Taking mega-migrations around the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, the blue sharks are ocean Olympians. Steve catches up with a couple of these bolts of blue off the Californian coast, before heading to the Shark Lab to reveal how these canny creatures rely on their liver to provide buoyancy, and hitch a ride on ocean currents, allowing these athletes to make mega-migrations across the great oceans.

Steve meets a shark that is the master of moves. The Caribbean reef shark has lightning-quick reaction times and is one seriously flexible fish. Steve heads to the Bahamas in the Caribbean to swim alongside them, before finding out the secrets to their flexibility in his Shark Lab.

Steve meets a night-time ninja. The whitetip reef shark has a cool and calm character by day, but after dark they turn into highly honed hunters. Scouring the reef, they search out prey that's hiding away in coral caves. Steve gets a closer look at them off the coast of Malaysian Borneo and gets under their skin in his Shark Lab to explain how they can fit where other sharks can't.