Netflix crew attacked by 'incredibly hungry' sharks in Hawaii

A crew faced multiple attacks from 'incredibly hungry' sharks while filming for a documentary series in Hawaii, resulting in a boat explosion and emergency landing.

The Netflix crew, working on the docu-series "Our Planet II", faced back-to-back encounters with tiger sharks.

The incident occurred when the crew were capturing underwater footage around the Hawaiian island of Laysan, where tiger sharks were known to congregate near the shallows.

Th filmmakers wanted to document the behaviour of Laysan albatross chicks, which spend their initial months learning to fly in the area. However, the plans took a perilous turn when the terrifying sharks attacked.

The crew embarked on inflatable boats to get closer to the albatross chicks. Unexpectedly, two tiger sharks attacked the boats, according to the Mirror.

"It was like something out of 'Jaws.' The crew was panicked and basically made an emergency landing on the sand," Cordey recounted.

"It was like something out of 'Jaws.' The crew was panicked and basically made an emergency landing on the sand," Cordey recounted.

Toby Nowlan, a producer and director for the documentary's first and third episodes, also described the harrowing ordeal.

The crew noticed a rapid surge of water heading towards them. In a horrifying spectacle, a tiger shark lunged at one of the boats, inflicting significant damage.

"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," Nowlan revealed.

Explaining the horrific moments, he went on: "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."

Nowlan found the behavior of the sharks they encountered "extremely unusual" and attributed it to their heightened hunger due to a scarcity of natural food sources. Remarkably, the crew managed to reach the shore safely, as they were just 328 feet away. However, their troubles were not yet over.

Our Planet II, narrated by famous British biologist Sir David Attenborough, follows various animal populations as they adapt to an ever-changing planet.

The series, consisting of four episodes each approximately 50 minutes long, was released on Netflix on June 14. The film features remarkable creatures such as humpback whales, polar bears, bees, sea turtles, and gray whales.