From a specially-designed shark cage Ian Gordon introduces us to the ultimate predator, a 16-foot (4.9metre), 2200lb (1000kg) great white shark, one of the most feared animals on earth. He explains that these sharks have a nasty reputation for unprovoked attacks on humans, but Ian is out to show us that there is more to them than the image of a mindless killer. Great whites have been one of his greatest loves in 20 years of shark research, but in two to three decades of study about these animals researchers have only managed to scratch the surface when it comes to their behaviour. Apart from the danger involved in approaching them, their mobility and the fact that they live in deep, often rough, water makes them even harder to study. Ian sets off from South Australia’s Spencer Gulf, where they filmed the great white sharks for the movie Jaws. He plans to attach a special data tag to a great white for Australia’s scientific research organisation, CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation). This will record the depth and temperature of the water the shark moves through. Further up the coast Ian tosses the berley (bait) bag off the boat to create a scent trail that lures the white sharks away from their popular Neptune Island hunting ground, home to a massive colony of New Zealand fur seals. Most of the great whites attracted to the boat are instantly recognisable to Ian, as the 16 foot (4.9 metre), 2,200lb (1000kg) to 2,300lb (1045kg) “D8” and her gang. They have been tagged by Ian during the last few years and still wear his visual ID tags. Ian dons his dry-suit, hops in the shark cage and takes us down to meet D8, who gets a little aggressive with the cage as she goes for the bait. In 1996 he climbed out of the cage to test a shark pod on one of the whites. Fortunately a close call then had a happy ending. But he warns their massive jaws have a deadly reputation and swimming outside a cage with them is taking a big risk. As more of D8’s gang circulate Ian is more convinced of his theory that they probably hunt ambush style in packs. He believes they are thinking, social animals ? not just cold killing machines. Ian misses his first chance to tag “Jackie”, the 12-foot (3.6 metre) target for the CSIRO’s tag. Then the mission is temporarily halted as a huge storm blows through. Surprisingly, though, D8 and the gang are still around at the end of it, and once a few “strangers” arrive Ian goes underwater to show us the unmistakable body language evident among the pack and the ‘outsiders’. Jackie lunges for the bait at the rear of the boat giving Ian the perfect opportunity to secure her new tag. Her movements over the next five years will now be closely monitored.

Shark Gordon is aboard a spotter plane above Ningaloo Reef, off the West Coast of Australia, where some of the largest animals on earth are about to hold their annual meeting. Whale sharks, among the gentle giants of the sea, congregate at Ningaloo every April and May, but exactly where they come from, and where they go after they leave remains a mystery to scientists. Ian is here to help Dr John Stevens from Australia’s CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation), who is trying to track these huge creatures with limited success. The tethered transmitters he has been using so far have been detaching from the sharks. Ian thinks he can attach a plate to the shark’s fin that will keep the transmitter closer to the animal and upload data to a satellite whenever it comes to the surface. He goes through the plan with John and Peter Lake, a whale shark tour operator and one of the world’s most experienced whale shark divers. It’s been five years since Ian has swum with a whale shark and, even after 20 years’ experience with sharks, tagging one of these will be his biggest job yet. They have just two weeks to find the right sized shark and attach the tag before the sharks pass a particular patch of reef. Ian explains the natural wonder that attracts these huge animals to the reef. The coral is made up of tiny individual animals. Once every year around this time they all spawn together on a massive scale, stimulated by the tide and light from the full moon. Hundreds of whale sharks descend on Ningaloo to indulge in this ultra fine feast. Despite its huge mouth the whale shark is a forced filter feeder and Ian reassures us it’s not going to bite anyone. However, if the animal is disturbed, an accidental stroke from its powerful tail could inflict serious harm. Before tagging begins the spotter plane directs the researchers to a magical slow circle dance being performed by the sharks. A 30-foot (9.2 metre) male shark, with a previous tagging history, is targeted to wear the $5000 tag. The hole in his fin tells them he is “Sharkbite”, one of the first whale sharks to be identified here in 1984. Things take a turn for the worse when Sharkbite manages to dislodge his tag and winds of over 30 knots plague the mission for several days. With just one day remaining a new tag arrives on board and Ian and Peter prepare for their last chance — fitting the bolt using a compressed air drill. After an exhausting chase the mission is accomplished. But it could take years of transmissions and study to determine the true movements of the whale shark.

Presenter Ian Gordon is about to introduce us to one of only a few sharks that make him really nervous - the Oceanic White Tip, deep in the open ocean off the Hawaiian Islands.\nIt's a fast, aggressive pack hunter with a mean reputation and Ian warns that if your plane or boat goes down at sea and you survive your next problem is "the sailor's nightmare"!

A survivor of one of the most horrible sinkings of World War II, Ed Brown, lived that nightmare with 900 others who found themselves floundering in the Pacific Ocean 12 minutes after their ship USS Indianapolis was torpedoed. Ed tells how within minutes dozens of sharks, many of them thought to be Oceanic White Tips, were circling the survivors. As soon as a survivor drifted away from the group they'd get hit. Ed was one of just 360 to survive five days of shark circling torture.

Back then there was no useful defence against attack from Oceanic White Tips. Today there is and Ian is looking forward to meeting his favourite shark, one of the most dangerous, face to face to test the effectiveness of the latest anti shark device. Invented in South Africa to try and repel sharks from beach meshed areas rather than kill them, Ian has tested the POD on white sharks and although it's supposed to work on Oceanic White Tips they're less predictable.\nIt's a risky job and the crew and cameramen are warned to be exceptionally careful, particularly if the sharks get too excited. \nIan explains that in the event of a problem introducing another safety diver would be delivering "a lamb to the slaughter". It's serious stuff.

These sharks are known to attack suddenly without reason so Ian first takes to the water to test their reaction to the electric shark stick, which gives the shark a single jolt of electricity. Right on cue an 7ft (2.1 metre) Oceanic White Tip, big enough to tear him apart, swims up and gets a little too close even for a shark lover's comfort. The jolt makes him cautious, but he's still interested.\nIan manages to touch the shark's tail and both he and producer/camerman Mike Bhana emerge celebrating the buzz of swimming with such a dangerous animal.\nNext day Ian plans to test the POD unit on the sharks. The crew enjoy an awesome display of melon-head and Blainesville beaked whales, but no sharks to be seen.\nAnother day, another bucket of berley (bait) and the only killer Ian finds is an old piece of net drifting in the ocean. \nA spotter plane tracks a pod of pilot whales shadowed by Oceanic White Tips and Ian prepares to join them, this time testing the POD which fires continuous shots of electric field around the diver.\nHowever, if Ian uses his scuba gear today he'll risk decompression sickness as his flight leaves Hawaii tonight. He has to test the POD while snorkelling. He takes the electric stick for back up. Because the POD unit is designed to sit on a scuba tank Ian can feel the electric field himself and doesn't activate it until the shark gets extremely close. He's definitely interested but there's a line the animal just won't cross.\nIan is relieved to see the technology works on this species also.\nHe predicts a lot more high risk divers will be using the POD in their work and eventually this technology will be used in lifejackets to offer peace of mind to those like Ed, who faced the sailor's nightmare.\nIan concludes the Oceanic White Tip is the "scariest shark" he's ever dived with, but it's still his favourite.

Presenter Ian Gordon takes us along on a 1000-mile (1600km) air rescue mission to help save the rapidly declining populations of Grey Nurse sharks in the wild.\nAustralia's new Melbourne Aquarium needs a young female Grey Nurse to start its captive breeding programme.\nThe lucky girl is Julie, an 8ft (2.4 metre) four-year-old Grey Nurse, born at Mooloolaba Seaworld on Queensland's Sunshine Coast.\nWe visit Seal Rocks, 300 miles north of Sydney, an area where Grey Nurse sharks lived in abundance 20 years ago. There is scarcely a Grey Nurse in sight today.\nAustralia moved to protect these sharks, not prone to human attacks, in 1984, but not a moment too soon.\nIan explains the importance of captive populations as both a study tool and reservoir of breeding stocks.\nMooloolaba holds the world's largest captive Grey Nurse population where their visibly sharp teeth and fierce appearance make them a big hit with the public.\nJulie will be ready to breed in a year or two, which makes her a valuable specimen. \nIan teams up with Melbourne Aquarium's curator of sharks, Craig Thorburn, to capture Julie using a new clear experimental tube and fly her in a specially-designed one and a half ton (1.5 tonne) tank to her new home in Melbourne.\nBut it can be a risky procedure. If Julie gets too stressed during the transfer the resulting increase in toxins in her system could kill her.\nShe amazes Ian and Craig by swimming calmly into the tube.\nThey tilt her to make her belch, which will help her sink and lie flat in the transport tank. It's then all hands on deck to help carry the 230 pound (104 kg) shark by stretcher to the transport tank.\nBlood samples are taken to analyse stress factors and water quality in the tank is critical.\nIan and Craig aren't taking any chances - they're in for a long night of regular checks on Julie's condition.\nJulie is whisked off as guest of honour onto a regular freight flight where Ian and Craig play ‘Flying Doctors' to the ‘Flying Nurse' maintaining her condition for the two-hour flight to Melbourne.\nOnce in the holding pool at Melbourne Julie is clearly keen to stretch her fins and explore her new home. It's been a textbook transfer.\nAs is expected Julie is initially sinking a bit and Ian guides her to the surface, encouraging her to gulp some air into her stomach to help her flotation.\nFour months later Ian checks on Julie's progress. The males have been following her closely. Craig now has the beginnings of a breeding population, which means Grey Nurse sharks to study for years to come.\nIan's work is over - it's now over to Julie to impress the boys!

Surely it's destructive and illogical? For a few animals, the risk of being eaten by relatives is just one of the natural hazards of life. The fierce sibling rivalries of foetal sharks and surprising parental strategies of burying beetles have long perplexed scientists. Dr Jane Goodall grapples with ruthless chimp motivations, in an investigation that leads disturbingly close to humankind. Sequences recorded here for the first time reveal the logic of selfish strategies, deeply embedded in nature.

Episode two reveals some of nature's most powerful secrets from medical solutions for cancer and diabetes to finding the answers to the most vexing of questions, such as how can humans live longer, love longer and live in outer space?

n episode three we explore the world of animal senses and animal intelligence. We may think we're the smartest creatures on earth but animals often see and hear far more than we can. Their senses are more finely tuned and their responses much faster. Human roboticists are now turning to animal tech for inspiration in building the next generation of artificially intelligent machines.

It begins in the egg or the womb, and it isn't over even when the breath of life has finally departed the body. From birth to death and all those formative times in between; like growing up, leaving home, finding food and home building, this is a pacy romp through the weird and wonderful ways animals have of coping with the tough situations life throws at them.

Wherever there's life there's sex. Wild Sex shows us just how wild and weird nature can be when it comes to satisfying the carnal urge. There are fighters, dancers, posers, sneakers, orgies and sex changes... But is sex worth all the trouble?

Menacing Waters is the intriguing story of a surprising link between the waters of Northern Australia and the lifesaving laboratories of modern-day medicine.

This science-based programme explores the inner workings of powerful venoms produced by four marine creatures that are known to have taken human lives — the box jellyfish, the blue ringed octopus, the sea snake and the cone snail — and the groundbreaking research of four scientists studying the natural chemistry of venom in a quest for medical breakthroughs.

By understanding how the venom of these animals attacks the human nervous system, researchers are developing treatments for severe neurological conditions and — most especially — for pain relief.

Treacherous natural death traps have been killing animals since life began and then preserving their victims so we can find their remains and learn their stories. Some traps are still killing today, while others go back half a billion years to some of the earliest life on the planet. Now skilled paleo-detectives are unlocking the secrets of these natural death traps. They're putting flesh on long-dead bones at traps from the Arctic to Australia, from Canada to Mexico, and even in downtown Los Angeles. The traps are shedding light on age-old mysteries, such as why so many of the world's big mammals died out at the end of the last great ice age.

In the desert wilderness of Namibia, on southern Africa's western coast, there is an unusual river that lies hidden beneath the scorching sand for most of the year. It is an ephemeral river - a river that flows above ground for only a few days a year. The water that feeds the Hoanib River collects in the mountains of north-western Namibia. Its course cuts through the desert, travelling mainly underground all the way to the Atlantic Ocean where its waters fan out into a lagoon that is separated from the sea by a pebbled dune. Only when exceptional rains fall over the mountains does the water in the lagoon rise enough to break through to the sea.\nThe animals that live here have learnt to adapt to the harshness of the desert where both food and water is scarce. But, although the river flows underground, it provides enough moisture close to the surface to support a thin oasis of trees and bushes. Giraffes and elephants reach in the trees to pick leaves and pods off the ana tree - a remarkable tree that produces nutrient-rich pods when all other desert plants lie dormant. Small creatures such as gerbils hide in the small bushes that line the river's course. Along the course, underlying bedrock forces the river to the surface in the form of natural springs where animals, such as the terrapin, otherwise not associated with the desert, can survive on the thin trickle of water. Elephant herds migrate along the river valley in constant search for fresh vegetation and water. \nWhen the rains fall over the mountains the gush of water replenishes the Hoanib. The abundance of water flowing over the desert is short-lived, in just a few days it all seeps into the ground and the plants and animals of the desert have to rely once more on their skills to survive in one of the harshest environments on Earth.

Africa\'s landscape is sculpted by some formidable rivers and the Zambezi is one of the continent\'s mightiest. It is a river to which man has attributed a spirit of its own. It\'s course is marked by the Victoria Falls - one of the natural wonders of the world - as well as two dams, of which Kariba is as large as the country of Whales.

But the heart of this formidable river lies in the Zambezi Valley, a wild area protected from civilisation by tsetse fly infestation and the creation of two national parks that stretch into two countries - Zimbabwe to the south and Zambia to the north.

Through rain and drought, from summer to winter the animals of the Zambezi Valley find refuge along this section of the river as well as a guaranteed source of food and water. But these waters harbour dangers too. Crocodiles are always on the alert for prey and beneath the surface tigerfish, like the crocodiles, are accomplished hunters.

When the summer rains come to the valley, and fill the pools of the land buffalos and elephants leave the river, but some animals, like the resident birds and spotted-neck otters, will always rely on this river - one of Africa\'s mightiest - the Zambezi.

Hidden between the mountains of Africa's Rift Valley flows a majestic river that brings an abundant surge of water to the Luangwa Valley. But this abundance does not last throughout the year, changing dramatically between summer and winter from a full-flowing river to a muddy trickling stream.\nDuring this dry period life for the animals that live along this river becomes a constant struggle. Hippos that need to submerge in water deep enough to cover their bodies are pushed closer and closer together until violent fights break out, sometimes ending in the death of the weaker contestant. Animals, such as the elephants and the endemic Cookson's wildebeest are drawn to river from the surrounding valley, to find water and food. \nIn the drying pools that line the shrinking river course, buffalos find a deadly trap. But for the lions of the Luangwa this is a time of plenty taking advantage of the trapped animals. The drying pools become a death trap to fish as well. Their struggles in the muddy water attracts the larger birds such as pelicans, fish eagles and marabou storks who find the catfish an easily caught prey. Fights between the bird species ensue during the fishing party.\nAfter six months of no rain life for the animals becomes extremely desperate. Just as there seems to be no hope of survival, the clouds gather over the mountains and rain brings relief to the Luangwa Valley and its inhabitants. Almost overnight the river fills to its full majesty and all is well in this forgotten valley hidden between the mountains of Africa's Rift Valley.

One of Africa's most remarkable rivers spreads its waters over the desolate plains of the Kalahari Desert, forming the largest inland delta on Earth, the Okavango. Fed by the summer rains that fall over southern Angola, the Okavango River flows into the heart of the desert in Botswana. The water flows slowly over the flat expanse of the Kalahari and fans out into shallow lagoons and wide floodplains.\nWater plants germinate in the newly flooded lagoons and provide food for many water birds. At this time, several bird species such as marabou storks and herons breed and raise their young, living side by side in heronries.\nAs the floodwaters recede, African skimmers also breed, hatch and fledge their brood. In the shrinking channels of the delta, thousands of fish are chased out of hiding by barbel weaving among the reeds. The fish are also caught by egrets, storks and herons from above. Another predator that benefits from the barbel run is the Cape clawless otter, which preys on the barbel themselves.\nAs the water recedes further, the desert reclaims its land, except for a few permanent streams and lagoons. Eventually, the summer rains replenish the Okavango, and the delta once again becomes a bountiful oasis.

The seasons bring life to the valleys forged by the African rivers, but they also play a part in nature's tragedies. For most of the year, the Mara River flows peacefully through the wide grassplains of Southern Kenya, but during the dry months it displays the ultimate life-and-death struggle: the crossing of hundreds and thousands of wildebeests.\nThe great herds migrate from the south to their winter grazing grounds on the western bank of the river. The zebras are the first to brave the crossing of the Mara, despite the danger from the crocodiles. After a meagre diet of barbel, the crocodiles feast.\nThen the huge wildebeest herds arrive at the Mara's banks. Driven by instinct, they too forge the crocodile-infested river. After a gruelling river crossing, the wildebeests finally reach their winter pastures. They remain here until the summer rains prompt them to return to the Serengeti, but this involves crossing the Mara once more.