Netflix film crew attacked by sharks during Our Planet II shoot

A very close call.

We've seen some spectacular moments in nature over the last few years thanks to David Attenborough and the crew of Our Planet. But while we sit in front of our screens in the comfort of our own home, the people behind the camera are right in the middle of nature, sometimes coming a bit too close for comfort. That seems to be the case for the new season, aka Our Planet II, as it's been revealed that some hungry sharks saw an opportunity for a meal on one of the expeditions. Producer and director Toby Nowlan told the Radio Times of his crew's close call while filming the first episode of the new series, World on the Move. In it, they travelled to Laysan, an isolated island 1,000km from Hawaii, to film albatross fledglings as they try to avoid tiger sharks. Filming in inflatable boats, the crew encountered a shiver of 15-foot-long tiger sharks that seemed to be more interested in them than the birds. "This ’v’ of water came streaming towards us and this tiger shark leapt at the boat and bit huge holes in it," said Nowlan. "The whole boat exploded. We were trying to get it away and it wasn’t having any of it. It was horrific. That was the second shark that day to attack us." Fortunately they were close to shore and managed to escape unharmed to patch up the dinghy and try again. According to Nowlan, the behaviour of the sharks was out of the ordinary. “They were incredibly hungry, so there might not have been enough natural food and they were just trying anything they came across in the water.” So, shout out to the Our Planet II crew, risking their lives to bring us some incredible footage. All four episodes of the new season are available to watch on Netflix now.

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