River Monsters

I'M JEREMY WADE.

FISH ON! FISH ON!

I'VE TRAVELED TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH

IN SEARCH OF RIVER MONSTERS,

TRACKING DOWN AQUATIC KILLERS IN RAGING RIVERS,

DENSE JUNGLES, AND REMOTE CORAL REEFS.

BUT NOW IN THE CHILLY WATERS

OF THE COAST OF MY NATIVE ENGLAND,

A MONSTER HAS COME TO ME.

IT WAS ENORMOUS.

IT WAS LIKE JAWS.

WHAT IS THIS MYSTERIOUS CREATURE IN MY OWN BACKYARD

AND WHAT'S IT DOING HERE?

IS IT A NEW PREDATOR TO FEAR?

SOME OF THE ENCOUNTERS I'VE HAD

HAVE BEEN INCREDIBLY SCARY.

I CONSIDER THEM TO BE LIKE AN OPPORTUNISTIC PREDATOR.

MY INVESTIGATION WILL TAKE ME TO THE ROOF OF THE WORLD

TO FIND OUT WHAT'S LIVING IN THE MYSTERIOUS

FROZEN SEAS AROUND ARCTIC, GREENLAND.

YES, THIS IS A BIG ONE.

AND ON TO THE ICY NORWEGIAN FJORDS,

FISHING DEEPER THAN I'VE EVER FISHED BEFORE.

YES, YES, HERE WE GO.

YEAH!

CAPTIONS PAID FOR BY DISCOVERY COMMUNICATIONS

ON THIS BRITISH BEACH, ONE DAY IN 2013,

SOMETHING VERY UNUSUAL WASHED UP ON THE SHORE,

A MYSTERIOUS 9-FOOT-LONG SEA MONSTER.

THE CREATURE WAS DISCOVERED ON THE SAND

SHORTLY AFTER SUNRISE.

BOAT CAPTAIN ANDREW DOUGLAS

WAS ONE OF THE FIRST ON THE SCENE.

IS THIS WHERE IT WAS?

I GOT A CALL TO SEE THAT THERE WAS A BIT OF A CREATURE

OR SOMETHING ON THE BEACH.

SO, WORD WAS SPREADING.

WORD WAS SPREADING, AND THE LOCALS WERE STARTING TO TALK.

BUT WHEN I GOT HERE, YOU KNOW, IT WAS MONSTER-LIKE.

MONICA KERNEL WAS ON A MORNING JOG

WHEN SHE STUMBLED ACROSS THE BIZARRE BEAST.

I WAS THINKING, "OH, IT'S PROBABLY A DEAD SEAL."

AS I GOT CLOSER, I THOUGHT, "WELL, MAYBE IT'S NOT A SEAL,

MAYBE IT'S A WHALE."

AND IT WASN'T REALLY UNTIL I LOOKED CLOSER AT IT.

IT HAD TEETH LIKE A SHARK.

IT WAS ENORMOUS.

IT WAS LIKE JAWS OR SOMETHING.

THE DISCOVERY SENT SHOCKWAVES

THROUGH THE QUIET SEASIDE COMMUNITY.

THE INITIAL CONSENSUS WAS THAT IT WAS

SOME KIND OF MONSTER SHARK,

BUT WHAT KIND EXACTLY?

IT TURNS OUT THIS SHARK SPECIMEN WAS SO UNUSUAL

AND SO IMPORTANT THAT SCIENTISTS WANTED IT PRESERVED.

SO, IT WAS PUT ON ICE.

IT WAS TRANSPORTED ALMOST 350 MILES TO HERE --

THE NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM IN LONDON.

I'VE BEEN GRANTED PERMISSION TO GO BEHIND THE SCENES

TO THE TANK ROOM,

WHICH HOUSES ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT FISH COLLECTIONS

IN THE WORLD.

THIS IS WHERE THE MUSEUM STORES SOME OF ITS RAREST

AND MOST BIZARRE UNDERWATER SPECIMENS.

MANY OF THESE STRANGE-LOOKING CREATURES

WERE COLLECTED NEARLY 200 YEARS AGO

BY WORLD-TRAVELING NATURALIST, CHARLES DARWIN.

BUT I'M LOOKING FOR A MORE RECENT ADDITION,

THE MYSTERIOUS NORTHUMBERLAND SEA MONSTER.

ITS GUARDIAN IS FISH CURATOR OLIVER CRIMON.

JEREMY?

HI. GOOD TO SEE YOU. IT'S IN HERE, IS IT?

IT IS.

I'M ABOUT TO COME FACE-TO-FACE

WITH THE CREATURE FROM THE BEACH.

AH, THAT'S A GREENLAND SHARK, ISN'T IT?

IT CERTAINLY IS.

AND WHAT IS THAT DOING ON A -- ON A BEACH IN THE U.K.?

WELL, WE DON'T REALLY KNOW.

UM, ITS DISTRIBUTION

IS IN THE NORTH ATLANTIC AND THE ARCTIC.

BUT WE HAVEN'T ENCOUNTERED THEM IN THE U.K.

VERY OFTEN AT ALL.

IS THIS A DANGEROUS SHARK POTENTIALLY?

WELL, 'CAUSE WE KNOW VERY LITTLE ABOUT ITS BIOLOGY,

GENERALLY SPEAKING, THEY'VE BEEN OUT OF SIGHT

IN DEEP COLD WATER.

IT HAS BEEN SURMISED TO BE A SCAVENGER.

BUT THERE'S NO REASON

WHY THIS COULDN'T DISMEMBER ACTIVE PREY.

SO, WE BASICALLY DON'T KNOW.

WE DON'T KNOW.

NOW, THE GREENLAND SHARK IS NOT ENTIRELY NEW TO ME.

I HAVE MET THIS MONSTER ONCE BEFORE.

THREE YEARS AGO, IN THE DEAD OF NIGHT,

I HAULED ONE OF THESE GIANTS

FROM THE FREEZING DEPTHS OF A NORWEGIAN FJORD.

ALSO KNOWN AS SLEEPER SHARKS,

THEY'RE SAID TO BE SLOW MOVING AND DOCILE.

SO AT THE TIME, I HAD NO REASON

TO THINK IT WAS ANYTHING OTHER THAN HARMLESS.

SO MUCH SO, THAT I EVEN GOT IN THE WATER WITH IT.

BUT WHAT IF I'D GOT IT WRONG?

FRESH RESEARCH INTO THIS SHARK

IS MAKING ME QUESTION THAT DECISION.

THESE LITTLE-KNOWN SHARKS CAN GROW

TO THE SIZE OF A GREAT WHITE

AND THEY BITE WITH FOUR TIMES AS MANY TEETH.

AND I'M UNCOVERING FRIGHTENING STORIES

ABOUT THESE SHARKS

RIGHT ACROSS THE COLD WATERS OF THE NORTH ATLANTIC.

IF THERE IS A COLD-WATER KILLER LURKING IN MY BACKYARD,

I NEED TO KNOW.

ACCORDING TO MY RESEARCH,

THE BEST PLACE TO BEGIN MY INVESTIGATION IS HERE,

THE COUNTRY THAT GAVE THE SHARK ITS NAME.

SO, I'M HEADING NORTH TO GREENLAND.

80% OF THE LAND MASS HERE IS COVERED IN SOLID ICE,

AND WITH JUST 56,000 INHABITANTS,

GREENLAND HAS THE LOWEST POPULATION DENSITY

OF ANY COUNTRY ON EARTH.

THIS IS JUST AMAZING.

I'M ALMOST SPEECHLESS.

IT ALMOST FEELS LIKE ANOTHER PLANET.

IT'S ACTUALLY MY FIRST TIME HERE IN THE ARCTIC CIRCLE

AND THAT WHITE DOWN THERE IS NOT LAND,

IT'S ICE,

AND THIS BEING A FIELD,

THE WATER UNDERNEATH THE ICE

IS PHENOMENALLY DEEP.

AND THE CREATURE I'M AFTER LIVES WAY DOWN BELOW THE ICE.

SIGHTINGS OF GREENLAND SHARKS ARE RARE.

BUT ONE GROUP OF PEOPLE DO ENCOUNTER

THESE RECLUSIVE BEASTS, INUIT ICE FISHERMEN.

SO I'M HEADING TO THE FISHING PORT OF UUMMANNAQ,

400 MILES NORTH OF THE ARCTIC CIRCLE.

IT'S 5 DEGREES BELOW FREEZING.

WITH A POPULATION OF AROUND 1,300,

UUMMANNAQ IS ONE OF THE BIGGEST TOWNS IN GREENLAND.

THERE ARE NO ROADS IN OR OUT.

AND FOR FOUR MONTHS OF THE YEAR,

THE SEA IS SOLID ICE.

SO THE FISHING FLEET GOES NOWHERE.

I REALLY FEEL LIKE I'VE COME TO THE END OF THE WORLD HERE.

IT JUST LOOKS SO DIFFERENT

FROM ANYTHING I'VE EXPERIENCED BEFORE.

BUT IT'S A SENSORY THING, AS WELL. YOU FEEL IT.

IT IS JUST SO COLD HERE AND IT SUDDENLY OCCURRED TO ME.

I'M NOT ON A FROZEN BEACH.

I'M ACTUALLY STANDING IN THE MIDDLE OF THE HARBOR.

I'M ON SEA ICE.

IT'S FIRST TIME OF MY LIFE I'VE ACTUALLY WALKED ON THE SEA.

THE HARBOR FEELS DESERTED.

BUT EVENTUALLY I'M DIRECTED

TO A FEW FISHERMEN OUT ON THE ICE.

-HI. -HELLO.

Wade: WHAT NAME THESE FISH?

-SOURSID. -SOUR-- SOURSID?

-SOURSID. -SOURSAY?

-SOURSEE. -SOURSEE?

MY MASTERY OF GREENLANDIC --

NONEXISTENT AT THE MOMENT,

BUT THEY LOOK LIKE COD TO ME, NICE-SIZED COD.

THE LOCALS HERE ARE MAINLY INUIT,

THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLE OF ARCTIC, GREENLAND,

CANADA, AND ALASKA,

AND THEY'VE FISHED THESE WATERS FOR 5,000 YEARS.

OH, YOU HAVE ONE. YOU HAVE ONE, HUH?

IT'S A LONG WAY TO BRING THE LINE IN.

GOOD SIZE?

BIG ONE.

A BIG ONE? OH, CAN SEE IT.

CAN SEE IT, CAN SEE IT.

THERE IT IS.

THANKS TO ANTIFREEZE PROTEINS IN THEIR BLOOD,

COD THRIVE IN COLD ARCTIC WATERS

AND ARE CLEARLY ABUNDANT HERE.

DO YOU LET THE BAIT GO DOWN TO THE BOTTOM?

SLOWLY GETTING SOME LIFE BACK TO MY RIGHT HAND.

- -WE'RE HERE.

SO WE'RE ON THE BOTTOM.

OOP.

OOH, I THINK I'VE GOT -- YEAH.

YES, YES, YES, YES, YES, YES, YES.

THAT'S -- THAT'S A FISH ON.

MY FIRST -- I WAS GONNA SAY ICE-CAUGHT FISH.

I HAVEN'T CAUGHT IT YET.

FELT ANOTHER KICK.

OH, IT'S GOING ON FOREVER.

OH, I CAN SEE SOMETHING.

HERE IT IS.

THERE IT IS.

IT'S MY FIRST EVER ICE-CAUGHT FISH.

I'M GONNA GET IT OFF THE HOOK AND HAVE A PROPER LOOK AT IT.

SO THIS IS AN ATLANTIC COD,

AND I ACTUALLY USED TO FISH WITH THESE WHEN I WAS A KID,

OFF THE BEACH IN ENGLAND, AND I DON'T THINK I EVER CAUGHT ONE.

I THINK THIS COULD BE MY FIRST COD,

WHICH MAKES IT SORT OF DOUBLY MEMORABLE.

WHO'D HAVE THOUGHT ALL THOSE YEARS AGO