Ocean Odyssey: The Blue Realm

From tropical seas to the cold waters of Canada, sharks are big business in adrenaline-fueled eco-tourism. Beyond the security of a protective cage, camera teams test the limits of shark behavior, including a face-to-face encounter with a 15 foot great white! The program also features shark behaviorist Dr. Erich Ritter and his recovery efforts from a nearly fatal bull shark attack.

he waters of Papua, New Guinea and Australia's Great Barrier Reef are among the richest on Earth. Harbouring an exceptional variety of venomous fish, reptiles and invertebrates, their coral reefs conceal frightening secrets. The poisons of these animals are some of the most lethal known to man, but they also hold enormous potential in the development of new medicines.

Do squid and octopus talk with their skin? This program joins scientists in a remarkable quest to unravel the secrets of one of the sea's most enigmatic creatures, cephalopods. The episode features the bizarre behavior and sexual rituals of Caribbean reef squid, giant octopus of the Pacific Northwest and cuttlefish at the National Resource Center for Cephalopods in Galveston, Texas.

The remote and barren Socorro Islands offer little refuge to humans, but they are a magnet to migrating fish, whales and large sharks. This program focuses on the archipelago's most intriguing residents, giant manta rays, their unusual behavior and surprising intelligence. The episode also features a captive manta ray at the Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas and her release back into the wild.

Whale sharks can reach nearly 50 feet in length and weigh 30 tons or more! With space age technology, researchers can now identify, catalogue and track individual sharks. In Mexico and Western Australia, whale shark tourism has proven to be both a blessing and a curse. The program also features the remarkable story of the capture and transport of whale sharks to the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta.

Some thrill seekers deliberately pursue close encounters with deadly sharks - without the protection of a cage. The bigger and more dangerous the shark, the better. At Mexico's Guadalupe Island, guests come face to face with great whites. In the Bahamas, scuba divers pay big bucks to get up close and personal with tiger sharks. But have we taken this risky sport too far?