By Jonathan Bell
Published Aug 9, 2014 at 8:00 am

Mighty encounter: An 800-pound tiger shark takes interest in the filming of the
Ocean Vet series at Challenger Banks. Photo by Choy Aming.

Spectacular footage of Bermuda’s tiger sharks has been captured by local photographer Choy Aming in a dive alongside ‘Ocean vet’ Neil Burnie, and is set to air on network TV.

The team swam with five of the enormous predators in the waters of Challenger Banks on Wednesday — with one 800-pounder filmed wrestling an enormous marlin head.

On camera: An 800-pound tiger shark takes interest in the filming of the
Ocean Vet series at Challenger Banks

“We swam with that fish for probably over an hour — he ate 60 pounds of marlin, and took this 45-pound piece in his mouth and tried to swim off with it.

The video footage we got of the shark trying to get it free is spectacular — he’s shaking and thrashing the water to a foam with this head in his mouth,” Dr Burnie said.

Snack attack: A tiger shark more than 12 feet long wrestles with a 45-pound marlin
head during the filming of the Ocean Vet TV series in Bermuda waters

The team lured and tagged the sharks for one of 12 episodes of the Ocean Vet series being filmed this summer. Bermuda vet Dr Burnie said Ocean Vet has been picked up by Cineflix, a major distribution company.

Speaking with The Royal Gazette yesterday as the team filmed the tagging of 30 turtles around Somerset Long Bay, the diver and shark enthusiast added: “Once we complete the episodes, which we should have by October, it will show on a network TV station. We’re not at liberty to say who it is right now, but we’ve had some nibbles from a number of interested networks.”

Mighty encounter: An 800-pound tiger shark takes interest in the filming of the
Ocean Vet series at Challenger Banks. Photo by Choy Aming.

Part of the aim of the episode, entitled Tiger Taggers, is to show how the animals interact with humans as well as with each other.

“The point of these close-up, personal shots of sharks with humans is to change people’s perceptions. We want to abolish the myth of them as mindless predators, and get rid of this idea that the only good shark is a dead shark. They’re worthy of respect, as any major predator is.”

The trick of facing down a tiger shark is not to play dead, but to demonstrate alertness, he explained.

“If you get in the water with them and don’t pay attention, the tiger shark’s job is to remove you from the ocean. If you pretend to be dead, dying or stupid, you have no right to be in the ocean with these fish — their job is to keep the ecosystem healthy. They deal with the injured and the sick.”

Dr Burnie uses a short stick to deter sharks, occasionally reaching out and shoving them when tiger sharks grow too inquisitive.

“When he feels that resistance, he turns away,” he said, adding that the majestic fish could become a “fantastic tourism draw” for the Island.

The Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute will show tiger shark footage, along with humpback whales, Galapagos sharks, grouper, marlin and other denizens of the sea in a special presentation at 7pm on Monday.

“It will probably sell out, but we’ll be announcing further dates so that everybody gets a chance to see what we’ve been working on,” he said.