Summary
- Monster Mako: Fresh Blood and Belly of the Beast showcase the strength and drive of mako and white sharks, revealing their fascinating dynamics and behaviors.
- The man-made whale carcass used in Belly of the Beast was designed to study great white feeding activity, and scientist Dr. Austin Gallagher had a first-hand experience with the sharks during the experiments.
- Gallagher’s idea for the fake whale carcass had been kicking around for a couple of years before it was realized, and it was successful in attracting and studying great white sharks, with the potential for further modifications in the future.
Shark Week returns for another bite on Discovery with a number of new programs including Monster Mako: Fresh Blood and Belly of the Beast. Monster Mako: Fresh Blood explores the fascinating dynamic between massive mako sharks and great whites off the coast of California, and Belly of the Beast shows the use of a first-of-its-kind man-made whale carcass designed for studying great white feeding activity. Both shows showcase the strength and drive of mako and white sharks alike, and put scientists up close and personal with the animals.
Both Monster Mako: Fresh Blood and Belly of the Beast heavily feature marine scientist Dr. Austin Gallagher. Gallagher is the CEO and founder of the non-profit organization Beneath the Waves and has participated in a number of Shark Week programs like Tiger Queen, Brad Paisley’s Shark Country, and The Daily Bite. In Belly of the Beast, Gallagher himself was in the man-made carcass and had a front-row seat to a number of great white feeding frenzies.
Dr. Austin Gallagher spoke with FilmmakerFocus about Belly of the Beast and Monster Mako: Fresh Blood, working with sharks, and more.
The highly anticipated Shark Week is back on Discovery with thrilling new programs like Monster Mako: Fresh Blood and Belly of the Beast. Monster Mako: Fresh Blood takes you on an exploration of the captivating relationship between massive mako sharks and great whites along the California coast. Meanwhile, Belly of the Beast introduces a groundbreaking man-made whale carcass designed to study the feeding habits of great white sharks. These shows offer an up-close look at the strength and determination of both mako and white sharks,
Dr. Austin Gallagher on Belly of the Beast & Monster Mako: Fresh Blood
FilmmakerFocus: [In Belly of the Beast] you make EARL, the fake whale carcass from which you observe the sharks, which is an amazing idea. Can you talk about where that came from, and also how long this idea was kicking around before it was realized?
Dr. Austin Gallagher: I had the idea for probably two or three years, [and] actually pitched it to Shark Week and worked with a production company, HAZMAT, who I worked with a lot on this one. But the idea came from science that I’ve actually been involved in for over 10 years. What we’ve done is, we’ve actually studied what these whale carcasses mean for great white shark science and great white shark ecology. What we’ve learned is that they’re really important. They bring out the largest white sharks, they bring out the most white sharks, [and] they’re incredibly important from an energetic standpoint to these animals.
We wanted to try and simulate that because A., we would get some incredible footage, and B., [we wondered if this could be] used to bring some of the large great whites off of South Africa close to us. These are the white sharks that have kind of disappeared because the orcas off of South Africa have scared and hunted a lot of those great whites away. That’s what we wanted to do, and it took a couple [of] years to put the ideas together [and] engineer it, but we did it.
Is it something that you would utilize again, and are there design changes you were thinking of as you were in there?
Dr. Austin Gallagher: I would definitely do it again, and we might actually do it again because it worked really well. Honestly, I don’t know if I would change much. I might make a few modifications to the side flanks and have some more areas for the white sharks bite onto. [If] a shark leaves a tooth back, we can age the shark based on its tooth, [and we can measure] bite force. The whole device, EARL, was rigged with GoPro cameras, so we got a lot of really great footage. We’re actually going to analyze some of that against real whale carcasses from a scientific standpoint, which would be cool. But no, it worked really well. And it was actually very safe, too, which was good for me.
In Monster Mako, there’s a thrilling moment when Andrea and Rosie in the shark dome have to resurface because they haven’t seen anything for a while. But for every captivating scene that makes it to the show, there’s a lot of waiting and not getting what you’re after.
Dr. Austin Gallagher: A lot. Shark research, in general, involves a great deal of sitting and waiting. Sometimes luck is on our side, and the sharks are right there when we arrive. But most of the time, it takes patience to get them comfortable and accustomed to our presence. It’s a waiting game, and that’s something people often overlook. We condense five, six, or even seven days of shooting into a 44-minute show for Shark Week, but that’s just the highlight reel. The reality is, there’s a lot of sitting and waiting involved.
So how do you strike a balance between creating an entertaining show for viewers who may not be familiar with the subject matter, while also ensuring there’s enough scientific value to keep you and your team engaged?
Dr. Austin Gallagher: It’s all about finding that delicate balance. The network wants a show that appeals to a wide audience, and we understand that. But luckily, we don’t have to manufacture excitement because sharks are naturally thrilling creatures. They possess an inherent sense of danger and fear, and what we do is inherently risky. It’s all part of the show’s natural appeal. Of course, we add music and make some edits to enhance the excitement for the general public. However, I always strive to incorporate as much science as possible in a concise manner. This not only helps scientists convey their messages to a broader audience but also adds value to the show. Finding that balance is incredibly enjoyable.
About Belly of the Beast and Monster Mako: Fresh Blood
Belly of the Beast: In a Shark Week first, researchers with cameras brave a great white shark feeding frenzy from inside a life-size whale decoy. Their findings could be the key to finding the biggest great white shark in South African history.
Monster Mako: Fresh Blood: Twelve-foot-long monster mako sharks compete head-to-head with great whites for prey off the coast of California. Using a custom clear, acrylic diving bell, Dr. Austin Gallagher and legendary free diver Andre Musgrove get up close with both predators and track makos breaching eight feet out of the ocean.
Check out our other Shark Week interviews here:
- Tom Hird on Cocaine Sharks and Great White Fight Club
- Forrest Galante on Alien Sharks: Strange New Worlds
Belly of the Beast premiered on July 23 and Monster Mako: Fresh Blood premieres July 27 at 9 pm for Discovery’s Shark Week.