Synopsis
The crew seized an unexpected opportunity, when a perfect set of technical and animal circumstances converged, to film this behaviour for the first time. The diversion afforded by the tuna attack allows the unwieldy whale shark time to turn on the baitfish sheltering under its bulk. Interesting to the observers was that it didn't just ram feed but actively gulped deliberate great mouthfuls.
- Programme: Planet Earth
- Episode: Ocean Deep
- Channel: BBC One
- Broadcast year: 2006
- Biology
Licence: ERA Licence required
UK only
Staff and students of licensed education establishments only
Cannot be adapted
Add Notes
More clips from Planet Earth

10: Seasonal Forests | Planet Earth
10: Seasonal Forests | Planet Earth
Documentary series which celebrates our planet in all its glory. David Attenborough reveals the greatest woodlands on earth, from the nor...

11: Ocean Deep | Planet Earth
11: Ocean Deep | Planet Earth
Series showing our planet in its natural glory. A look at the largest of all habitats, the ocean, which encompasses 90 per cent of all the livi...

2: Mountains | Planet Earth
2: Mountains | Planet Earth
Documentary series which celebrates earth in all its glory. This edition looks at mountains, beginning with the birth of a mountain and ending at...

3: Freshwater | Planet Earth
3: Freshwater | Planet Earth
Documentary series which celebrates earth in all its glory. This edition follows the descent of the planet's mightiest rivers from their mountai...

4: Caves | Planet Earth
4: Caves | Planet Earth
Documentary series which celebrates earth in all its natural glory. This edition looks at caves, including Deer Cave in Borneo, a daytime retreat for...

5: Deserts | Planet Earth
5: Deserts | Planet Earth
David Attenborough looks at deserts around the world from Namibia to Chile, unravelling the secrets behind desert survival and revealing their ephe...

6: Ice Worlds | Planet Earth
6: Ice Worlds | Planet Earth
Documentary series which celebrates earth in its natural glory. How the advance and retreat of the ice in the polar regions becomes a real chall...

7: Great Plains | Planet Earth
7: Great Plains | Planet Earth
Documentary series which celebrates Earth in its natural glory. A look at the great plains - wildernesses which support the greatest gathering...

8: Jungles | Planet Earth
8: Jungles | Planet Earth
David Attenborough's natural history series. This episode looks at the tropical rainforests, which are home to a staggering 50 per cent of the worl...

9: Shallow Seas | Planet Earth
9: Shallow Seas | Planet Earth
From tropical paradises where the newborn calf takes his first faltering breaths to the storm-ravaged icy polar seas, the whales' great feedin...

Arctic Wolves | Planet Earth
Arctic Wolves | Planet Earth
To film rare footage of non-habituated, wild Arctic wolves, the crew had to camp 350km away from the nearest settlement.

Cave glow worms | Planet Earth
Cave glow worms | Planet Earth
Developed by Japanese TV company NHK, the image intensifier (II) system has a camera chip 300 times more powerful than the standard digibeta c...

Cenotes | Planet Earth
Cenotes | Planet Earth
Footage from diving in cenotes in the Mexican Yucatan Peninsula.

Flash flood | Planet Earth
Flash flood | Planet Earth
A flash flood is a rare chance for wildlife to build up food and water reserves.

Fungi | Planet Earth
Fungi | Planet Earth
The high humidity of the rainforest creates the ideal environment for life built on decay.

Great white shark vs seal | Planet Earth
Great white shark vs seal | Planet Earth
The great white sharks migrate to more tropical waters to capitalise on the seasonal abundance of seals.

Lechuguilla Cave | Planet Earth
Lechuguilla Cave | Planet Earth
The walls of these caves are covered in fragile crystals made of gypsum, which is created when limestone is dissolved by sulphuric acid.

Life in Death Valley | Planet Earth
Life in Death Valley | Planet Earth
A single shower can transform Death Valley.

Limestone | Planet Earth
Limestone | Planet Earth
How limestone has been shaped over millions of years into a variety of different rock formations, including underground cave systems.

Moisture in the Atacama | Planet Earth
Moisture in the Atacama | Planet Earth
Life exists in a strip of the Atacama Desert due to fog that blows in from the sea.
More resources about Ecosystems and Interdependence

1: Cauldron of Life | Galapagos
1: Cauldron of Life | Galapagos
Liz Bonnin joins a scientific team aboard the research vessel the Alucia on an expedition across the Galapagos Islands.

1: Island of Marvels | Madagascar
1: Island of Marvels | Madagascar
Series exploring Madagascar and its unique wildlife. David Attenborough reveals the most bizarre places and their inhabitants on this ecolo...

1: Pulse | H2O: The Molecule That Made Us
1: Pulse | H2O: The Molecule That Made Us
Documentary series that explores the importance of water to human civilisation. How H2O causes deserts to bloom, creates rivers in ...

1: Tropical Worlds | The Green Planet
1: Tropical Worlds | The Green Planet
Tropical rainforests are plant battlegrounds. New filming techniques allow us to enter the world of plants to see it from their perspec...

10: Seasonal Forests | Planet Earth
10: Seasonal Forests | Planet Earth
Documentary series which celebrates our planet in all its glory. David Attenborough reveals the greatest woodlands on earth, from the nor...

11: Ocean Deep | Planet Earth
11: Ocean Deep | Planet Earth
Series showing our planet in its natural glory. A look at the largest of all habitats, the ocean, which encompasses 90 per cent of all the livi...

2: Lost Worlds | Madagascar
2: Lost Worlds | Madagascar
David Attenborough looks at the island's eastern coast, home to cyanide-eating lemurs and leaf-tailed geckos.

2: Mountains | Planet Earth
2: Mountains | Planet Earth
Documentary series which celebrates earth in all its glory. This edition looks at mountains, beginning with the birth of a mountain and ending at...

2: Mountains | Planet Earth II
2: Mountains | Planet Earth II
The wildlife documentary series with David Attenborough continues with a unique and intimate glimpse into the secretive lives of mountain-dwel...

2: Ocean | Planet Earth III
2: Ocean | Planet Earth III
A groundbreaking journey from tropical shallow seas to the mysterious depths. Sir David Attenborough reveals extraordinary new worlds and unique ...

2: Secrets of the Deep | Galapagos
2: Secrets of the Deep | Galapagos
Liz Bonnin and the team of scientific experts set off beneath the waves in a specially equipped deep sea submersible and go in search of a...

2: The Deep | Blue Planet II
2: The Deep | Blue Planet II
The wildlife documentary series narrated by David Attenborough goes on groundbreaking journey to the deepest parts of the oceans.

2: The Deep | The Blue Planet
2: The Deep | The Blue Planet
David Attenborough narrates a natural history of the oceans to uncover the strange, otherworldly creatures living in the depths of the ocean.

2: Water Worlds | The Green Planet
2: Water Worlds | The Green Planet
A look at the beautiful, bizarre worlds created by water plants. Flowers smother rivers and lakes. Plants fight and hunt. A river bubbles ...

3: Coral Reefs | Blue Planet II
3: Coral Reefs | Blue Planet II
The wildlife documentary series narrated by David Attenborough reveals the ingenious ways life exists in the undersea cities of tropical reefs.

3: Deserts and Grasslands | Planet Earth III
3: Deserts and Grasslands | Planet Earth III
David Attenborough explores earth's greatest wildernesses, where extraordinary life survives in unexpected ways, and nature puts...

3: Freshwater | Planet Earth
3: Freshwater | Planet Earth
Documentary series which celebrates earth in all its glory. This edition follows the descent of the planet's mightiest rivers from their mountai...

3: Future Frontiers | Galapagos
3: Future Frontiers | Galapagos
In the culmination of this scientific expedition, Liz Bonnin and the team see first-hand the impact that humans have had on the Galapagos Isl...

3: Jungles | Planet Earth II
3: Jungles | Planet Earth II
Jungles provide the richest habitats on the planet - mysterious worlds of high drama where extraordinary animals attempt to survive in the most ...

3: Land of Heat and Dust | Madagascar
3: Land of Heat and Dust | Madagascar
This programme follows the animals' fortunes through the wet and dry seasons in this island of extremes.
More from Sir David Attenborough

3: Deserts and Grasslands | Planet Earth III
3: Deserts and Grasslands | Planet Earth III
David Attenborough explores earth's greatest wildernesses, where extraordinary life survives in unexpected ways, and nature puts...

The mystery of the whale shark nursery | Blue Planet II
The mystery of the whale shark nursery | Blue Planet II
Nutrients from the deep provide sustenance for a large gathering of sea life.

Ants vs Cows | Natural World
Ants vs Cows | Natural World
The super colony unites in a spectacular attack to defend their nest from curious cows.

Young spider monkey needs dad's help | Planet Earth II
Young spider monkey needs dad's help | Planet Earth II
In the forests of Guatemala a young spider monkey is going exploring. But she gets stuck and needs dad's help to get d...

Lizard Heaters | Life in Cold Blood
Lizard Heaters | Life in Cold Blood
Wall lizards take advantage of foul-smelling dead-horse arums.

How Many People Can Live on Planet Earth? | Horizon
How Many People Can Live on Planet Earth? | Horizon
Naturalist Sir David Attenborough investigates whether the world faces a population crisis and if it is the duty of indiv...

Cross-dresser | Life
Cross-dresser | Life
Some male cuttlefish are too small to fight for a mate, so have to come up with a sneaky plan if they are to get their way with the girls. Approaching a...

7: Great Plains | Planet Earth
7: Great Plains | Planet Earth
Documentary series which celebrates Earth in its natural glory. A look at the great plains - wildernesses which support the greatest gathering...

Our Precious Isles | Wild Isles
Our Precious Isles | Wild Isles
David Attenborough celebrates the rich variety of habitats in our wild isles, the existence of which is critical for the survival of species ...

2: Water Worlds | The Green Planet
2: Water Worlds | The Green Planet
A look at the beautiful, bizarre worlds created by water plants. Flowers smother rivers and lakes. Plants fight and hunt. A river bubbles ...

David Attenborough | The Queen's Platinum Jubilee
David Attenborough | The Queen's Platinum Jubilee
David Attenborough speaks about the environment. Also, includes footage of the drones that turn into animals.

COP26 delegates and climate scientists | Climate Change: The Facts
COP26 delegates and climate scientists | Climate Change: The Facts
COP26 delegates and climate scientist Hannah Cloke discuss their hopes for the COP26 conference.

Poison dart frogs battle it out | Attenborough's Life in Colour
Poison dart frogs battle it out | Attenborough's Life in Colour
A poison dart frog fights off a contender until he's sufficiently warned off.

Greta meets David Attenborough | Greta Thunberg: A Year to Change the World
Greta meets David Attenborough | Greta Thunberg: A Year to Change the World
Greta Thunberg and David Attenborough discuss their hopes for the future of the planet.

Mate or die trying | Seven Worlds, One Planet
Mate or die trying | Seven Worlds, One Planet
A male Jotus spider waves it paddle-like limbs to attract a mate.

The People v Climate Change
The People v Climate Change
Meet the 108 ordinary Brits who Sir David Attenborough says we should listen to. This warm and honest documentary reveals how everyday people fee...

How human impact on the environment is increasing the emergence of new diseases | Extinction: The Facts
How human impact on the environment is increasing the emergence of new diseases | Extinction: The Facts
An explanation as to why pandemic diseases are becoming more common d...

Tait's pups meet the pack… and honey badgers | Dynasties
Tait's pups meet the pack… and honey badgers | Dynasties
Tait introduces her tiny pups to the rest of the pack as they emerge for the very first time. But the pack is visi...

Marine predators team up | The Blue Planet
Marine predators team up | The Blue Planet
A variety of marine predators team up to capitalise on a large group of migrating sardines.

Compilation | Attenborough at 90
Compilation | Attenborough at 90
A short montage of the fun and amazing moments David Attenborough has shared in his documentaries over a 70-year career.