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 automotive; ran a triathlon whereas carrying a 100-pound tree; and climbed a 65-foot rope time and again till he’d climbed the equal of Mt. Everest—all for charity. In 2016, he set the world report 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 finally 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 acute 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 aim after which reverse engineering and deconstructing it,” Edgley advised Ars. “[Sharks are] the last word ocean athletes. We simply had this concept: what in the event you’re loopy sufficient to try to comply with within the footsteps of 4 superb sharks? It is an unimaginable 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 convey science and ocean conservation to a brand new viewers.”

And who higher than Edgley to tackle that unimaginable problem? “The keenness he brings to the whole lot is absolutely infectious,” marine biologist and shark skilled 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 understanding 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 digicam,” Heithaus recalled. “For the report, I received one rep in and I am very happy with that.” Rating one for the shark skilled.

(Spoilers beneath 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 large our bodies absolutely out of the water in an arching leap. That maneuver is known as a polaris, and it is important to the nice white shark’s survival. It helps that the shark has 65 % muscle mass, notably concentrated within the tail, in addition to a lightweight skeleton and a big liver that serves as buoyancy gadget.

Edgley, by comparability, is roughly 45 % muscle mass—a lot larger 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 recommendations on biomechanics from the Aquabatix synchronized swim workforce, since synchronized swimmers should incessantly launch their our bodies absolutely 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, incessantly 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 apply, he succeeded in launching 75 % of his physique (in comparison with the shark’s one hundred pc) 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 identified for with the ability to swim quick and activate a dime, due to a versatile skeleton that allows them to bend and contort their our bodies almost in half. They’re capable of stand up to some spectacular G forces (as much as 3 G’s) within the course of. In keeping with Heithaus, these sharks feed on different rays and different sharks, in order that they have to be constructed for velocity and agility—therefore their means 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 through the winter. That footage additionally consists of photographs of divers feeding fish to a few of the hammerheads by hand. “They know each shark by identify and the sharks know the feeders,” mentioned Heithaus. “So you may safely get shut to those massive superb creatures.”

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

However in line with Heithaus, the hammer form additionally operates a bit like the massive broad flap of an airplane wing, leading to glorious hydrodynamics. Transferring at excessive speeds, “You’ll be able to simply tilt the top a tiny bit and financial institution an enormous diploma,” he mentioned. “So if a ray turns 180 levels to flee, the hammerhead can observe 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 aircraft. The catch: Edgley will not be a fan of flying. And as he’d feared, he turned horribly airsick through the problem, even puking into a little bit airbag at one level. “It seems so cool within the clip,” he mentioned. “However on the time, I used to be in a world of hassle.” Pilot Mark Greenfield lastly reduce the experiment brief 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 manner over 1000’s of miles with out meals, solely feasting at journey’s finish.  “I used to be making an attempt to grasp the psychology of a tiger shark as a result of there’s simply nothing for them to eat [on the journey],” mentioned Ross. And as soon as they arrive at their vacation spot, “they will chow down on whole 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, by which he tried to find out which species of of shark have been attacking dolphins, and simply how massive these sharks is perhaps. He come across the thought of creating a dolphin form out of gelatin—primarily the identical stuff FIU’s forensic division makes use of for ballistic assessments—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 an enormous 6.2-pound chew out of it. We all know what number of energy are in whale blubber so Heithaus was capable of 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 discipline 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,” mentioned 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 info and pleasure with the general public.”

Then it was time for Edgley to make like a migrating shark and embark on a rigorously 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 repeatedly for twenty-four hours with a mixture of weight coaching, working, 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. “When you’re in a very disadvantaged state, you discover out what your physique truly wants, not what it desires,” mentioned Edgley.

After slaking his thirst, it was time to gorge. Over the next 24 hours, Edgley consumed an eye-popping 35,103 energy in rigorously 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 closing weight of 199 kilos. “I want I had Ross’s means to eat that a lot and stay at 0 % physique fats,” mentioned 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 solely 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 big in sprinting,” he mentioned. “That may very well 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 “assume 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 capable of 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 folks 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,'” mentioned Edgley. Verdict: Edgley is 24 % mako shark

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

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

Shark populations have declined sharply by 70 % or extra during the last 50 years. “It is actually crucial that we shield and restore these populations,” Heithaus mentioned. Tiger sharks, for example, eat massive grazers like turtles and sea cows, and thus shield the ocean grass. (Amongst different advantages, the ocean grass sequesters carbon dioxide.) Sharks are additionally fairly subtle of their habits. “Some have social connections with different sharks, though to not the identical extent as dolphins,” mentioned Heithaus. “They’re extra than simply loners, they usually could have personalities. We see some sharks which can be extra daring, and others which can be 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 in peril. Nonetheless, “We have been mates. I am not on its menu,” Edgley mentioned. “There are such a lot of totally different species.” He likened it to being chased by a canine. Individuals may assume it was a rottweiler giving chase, when in truth the basking shark is the equal of a poodle. “Hopefully what folks take away from that is shifting from a worry and misunderstanding of sharks to respect and admiration,” Edgley mentioned. “That’ll make the RAF fighter pilot aircraft value 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+.