An ultra-athlete goes head-to-head with the world’s most formidable sharks

Extremely-athlete Ross Edgley isn’t any stranger to pushing his physique to extremes. He as soon as ran a marathon whereas pulling a one-ton automobile; ran a triathlon whereas carrying a 100-pound tree; and climbed a 65-foot rope again and again till he’d climbed the equal of Mt. Everest—all for charity. In 2016, he set the world document for the world’s longest staged sea swim across the shoreline of Nice Britain: 1780 miles over 157 days.

At one level throughout that swim, a basking shark appeared and swam alongside Edgley for a day and a half. That have ignited his curiosity about sharks and ultimately led to his new Nationwide Geographic documentary, Shark vs. Ross Edgley—a part of 4 full weeks of 2024 SHARKFEST programming. Edgley matches his athletic prowess towards 4 totally different species of shark. He tries to leap out of the water (polaris) like a nice white shark; stand up to the G forces produced by a hammerhead shark‘s quick, speedy turns; mimic the intense fasting and feasting routine of a migrating tiger shark; and match the swimming velocity of a mako shark.

“I really like this concept of getting a purpose after which reverse engineering and deconstructing it,” Edgley advised Ars. “[Sharks are] the final word ocean athletes. We simply had this concept: what in case you’re loopy sufficient to try to comply with within the footsteps of 4 superb sharks? It is an unattainable job. You are going to fail, you are going to be humbled. However within the course of, we may use it as a sports activities/shark science experiment, virtually like a Malicious program to carry science and ocean conservation to a brand new viewers.”

And who higher than Edgley to tackle that unattainable problem? “The passion he brings to the whole lot is basically infectious,” marine biologist and shark knowledgeable Mike Heithaus of Florida Worldwide College advised Ars. “He is sport to strive something. He’d by no means been within the water with sharks and we’re throwing him straight in with massive tiger sharks and hammerheads. He is loving the entire thing and simply devoured all the knowledge.”

That Edgley physique would not keep itself, so the athlete was up at 4 AM swimming laps and figuring out each morning earlier than the remainder of the crew had their espresso. “I am doing bicep curls with my espresso cup and he is doing bicep curls with the 60-pound underwater digital camera,” Heithaus recalled. “For the document, I bought one rep in and I am very happy with that.” Rating one for the shark knowledgeable.

(Spoilers under for the varied shark challenges.)

Ross vs. the nice white shark

For the primary problem, Edgley took on the nice white shark, a creature he describes as a “submarine with tooth.” These sharks are ambush hunters, able to propelling their huge our bodies totally out of the water in an arching leap. That maneuver known as a polaris, and it is important to the nice white shark’s survival. It helps that the shark has 65 % muscle mass, significantly concentrated within the tail, in addition to a light-weight skeleton and a big liver that serves as buoyancy system.

Edgley, by comparability, is roughly 45 % muscle mass—a lot increased than the typical human however falling wanting the nice white shark. To assist him attempt to match the nice white’s highly effective polaris maneuver, Edgley sought tips about biomechanics from the Aquabatix synchronized swim workforce, since synchronized swimmers should continuously launch their our bodies totally out of the water throughout routines. They sometimes get a lift from their teammates to take action.

The workforce did handle to spice up Edgley out of the water, however sharks do not want a lift. Edgley opted to work with a monofin, continuously utilized in underwater sports activities like free diving or finswimming, to see what he may obtain on his personal energy. After a little bit of follow, he succeeded in launching 75 % of his physique (in comparison with the shark’s 100%) out of the water. Verdict: Edgley is 75 % nice white shark.

Ross vs. the hammerhead shark

Subsequent up: Edgley pitted himself towards the outstanding underwater agility of a hammerhead shark. Hammerheads are recognized for with the ability to swim quick and activate a dime, because of a versatile skeleton that allows them to bend and contort their our bodies almost in half. They’re in a position to stand up to some spectacular G forces (as much as 3 G’s) within the course of. In accordance with Heithaus, these sharks feed on different rays and different sharks, so that they should be constructed for velocity and agility—therefore their capability to speed up and switch quickly.

The NatGeo crew captured spectacular underwater footage of the hammerheads in motion, together with Edgley assembly a 14.7 hammerhead named “Queenie”—one of many largest nice hammerheads that visits Bimini within the Bahamas throughout the winter. That footage additionally contains photographs of divers feeding fish to a number of the hammerheads by hand. “They know each shark by identify and the sharks know the feeders,” stated Heithaus. “So you’ll be able to safely get shut to those massive superb creatures.”

For years, scientists had questioned in regards to the objective of the distinctive hammer-shaped head. It might assist them scan a bigger space of the ocean flooring whereas searching. Like all sharks, hammerheads have sensory pores known as ampullae of Lorenzini that permit them to detect electrical alerts and therefore potential prey. The hammer-shaped head distributes these pores over a wider span.

However in accordance with Heithaus, the hammer form additionally operates a bit like the large broad flap of an airplane wing, leading to wonderful hydrodynamics. Transferring at excessive speeds, “You may simply tilt the pinnacle a tiny bit and financial institution an enormous diploma,” he stated. “So if a ray turns 180 levels to flee, the hammerhead can monitor with it. Different species would take a wider flip and fall behind.”

The airplane wing analogy gave Edgley an thought for the way he may mimic the tight turns and excessive G forces of a hammerhead shark: take a flight in a small stunt airplane. The catch: Edgley shouldn’t be a fan of flying. And as he’d feared, he grew to become horribly airsick throughout the problem, even puking into a bit airbag at one level. “It seems to be so cool within the clip,” he stated. “However on the time, I used to be in a world of bother.” Pilot Mark Greenfield lastly reduce the experiment quick when he decided that Edgley was too sick to proceed. Verdict: Edgley is 0 % hammerhead shark.

Ross vs. the tiger shark

The third problem was making an attempt to match the fortitude of a migrating tiger shark because it makes its method over hundreds of miles with out meals, solely feasting at journey’s finish.  “I used to be making an attempt to know the psychology of a tiger shark as a result of there’s simply nothing for them to eat [on the journey],” stated Ross. And as soon as they arrive at their vacation spot, “they’ll chow down on complete whale carcasses and eat absolutely anything. That concept of feast and famine is one thing we people used to do on a regular basis. We stay fairly comfortably now so we have misplaced contact with that.”

Step one was to determine simply what number of energy a migrating tiger shark can eat in a single chew. Heithaus has been a part of SHARKFEST for a number of years now and recalled one throwback present, Sharks vs. Dolphins, through which he tried to find out which species of of shark have been attacking dolphins, and simply how massive these sharks is likely to be. He come across the thought of constructing a dolphin form out of gelatin—primarily the identical stuff FIU’s forensic division makes use of for ballistic checks—and requested his forensic colleagues to make one for him, because the materials has the identical weight and density of dolphin blubber.

For the Edgley documentary, they made a big gelatin lollipop the identical density as whale blubber, and he and Edgley dove down and managed to get an 11-foot tiger shark to take a giant 6.2-pound chew out of it. We all know what number of energy are in whale blubber so Heithaus was in a position to deduce from that what number of energy per chew a tiger shark consumed (6.2 kilos of whale meet is equal to about 25,000 energy).

Such area work additionally lets him collect ever mire specimens of shark bites from a variety of species for his analysis. “The wonderful thing about SHARKFEST is that you just’re seeing new, cutting-edge science that will or could not work,” stated Heithaus. “However that is what science is about: making an attempt issues and advancing our information even when it would not work al the time, after which sharing that data and pleasure with the general public.”

Then it was time for Edgley to make like a migrating shark and embark on a fastidiously designed famine-and-feast regime. First, his weight and physique quantity have been measured in a “Bodpod”: 190.8 kilos and 140.8 pints. Then Edgley fasted and exercised virtually constantly for twenty-four hours with a mixture of weight coaching, operating, swimming, sitting within the sauna, and local weather chamber biking. (He did sleep for a couple of hours.)  He dropped 14 kilos and misplaced twelve pints, ending up at a weight of 177 kilos and a quantity of 128.7 pints. As an alternative of meals, what he craved most on the finish was water. “If you find yourself in a totally disadvantaged state, you discover out what your physique truly wants, not what it desires,” stated Edgley.

After slaking his thirst, it was time to gorge. Over the next 24 hours, Edgley consumed an eye-popping 35,103 energy in fastidiously managed servings. It is fairly the menu: Haribo combine, six liters of Lucozade, a Hulk smoothie, pizza, 5 slices of lemon blueberry cheesecake, 5 slices of chocolate mint cheesecake, fish and chips, burgers and fries, two cinnamon loaves, 4 tubs of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, two full English breakfasts, 5 liters of custard, 4 mars bars, and 4 mass gainer shakes.

When his weight and quantity have been measured one final time within the Bodpod, Edgley had regained a whopping 22 kilos for a ultimate weight of 199 kilos. “I want I had Ross’s capability to eat that a lot and stay at 0 % physique fats,” stated Heithaus. Verdict: Edgley is 28 % tiger shark.

Ross vs. the mako shark

Lastly, Edgley pitted himself towards the mighty mako shark. Mako sharks are the speediest sharks within the ocean, able to swimming at speeds as much as 43 MPH. Edgley is a long-distance swimmer, not a sprinter, so he threw himself into coaching at Loughborough College with British Olympians teaching him. He fell far wanting a mako shark’s high velocity. The form of the human physique is just a lot much less hydrodynamic than that of a shark. He realized that regardless of his greatest efforts, “I used to be making up hundredths of a second, which is large in sprinting,” he stated. “That might be the distinction between a gold medal on the Paris Olympics and never. However I wanted to make up many kilometers per hour.”

So Edgley determined to “suppose like a shark” and make use of a shark-like technique of driving the ocean currents to extend his velocity. He ditched the pool and headed to the Menai Strait in Wales for some open water swimming. In the end he was in a position to hit 10.24 MPH—double what an Olympic swimmer may handle in a pool, however simply 25 % of a mako shark’s high velocity. And he managed with the assistance or a workforce of 20-30 individuals dropping him into the quickest tide potential. “A mako shark would’ve simply gone, ‘It is a Monday morning, this is not an occasion for me, I am off,'” stated Edgley. Verdict: Edgley is 24 % mako shark

When the outcomes of all 4 challenges have been mixed, Edgley got here out at 32 % general, or almost one-third shark. Whereas Edgley confessed to being humbled by his limitations, “I do not suppose there’s anybody else on the market who may achieve this as nicely throughout the board as compared,” stated Heithaus.

The last word purpose of Shark vs. Ross Edgley—and certainly the entire SHARKFEST programming—is to assist shift public perceptions of sharks. “The nice Sir David Attenborough stated that the issues going through us by way of conservation is as a lot a communication subject as a scientific one,” Edgley stated. “The one method we are able to fight that’s by educating individuals.”

Shark populations have declined sharply by 70 % or extra during the last 50 years. “It is actually essential that we defend and restore these populations,” Heithaus stated. Tiger sharks, as an illustration, eat massive grazers like turtles and sea cows, and thus defend the ocean grass. (Amongst different advantages, the ocean grass sequesters carbon dioxide.) Sharks are additionally fairly refined of their conduct. “Some have social connections with different sharks, though to not the identical extent as dolphins,” stated Heithaus. “They’re extra than simply loners, and so they could have personalities. We see some sharks which are extra daring, and others which are extra shy. There’s much more to sharks than we might have thought.”

Individuals who hear about Edgley’s basking shark encounter invariably assume he’d been at risk. Nonetheless, “We have been mates. I am not on its menu,” Edgley stated. “There are such a lot of totally different species.” He likened it to being chased by a canine. Folks may assume it was a rottweiler giving chase, when in truth the basking shark is the equal of a poodle. “Hopefully what individuals take away from that is transferring from a worry and misunderstanding of sharks to respect and admiration,” Edgley stated. “That’ll make the RAF fighter pilot airplane price it.”

And he is sport to tackle much more shark challenges sooner or later. There are much more shark species on the market, in spite of everything, simply ready to go head-to-head with a human ultra-athlete.

Shark vs. Ross Edgley premieres on Sunday, June 30, 2024, on Disney+.