♪ this is "nightline." >> tonight, "jaws." in the midst of a record-breaking cluster of shark attacks in north carolina we're right there with the experts trying to figure out why this is happening. we're also with the first responders scrambling to keep everybody safe and the brave young survivor now learning to move on with his life. plus dude perfect. how do you keep topping the thing the last guy did when the thing the last guy did was this? why even big-time athletes like lebron james and nfl star russell wilson are fans of this surprisingly wholesome band of brothers. take a bow. >> and say hello to the newest prima ballerina. misty copeland talks about breaking barriers at the barre

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good evening. we begin with the summer of the shark in north carolina. just as peak beach season hits. we're satisfying a record-breaking cluster of shark

attacks. tonight we go on the front lines with the teams trying to figure out why this is happening and how to keep people safe. >> somebody's been attacked by a shark! his arm is gone! >> reporter: it's been a bloody summer off the coast of north carolina. eight shark attacks in four weeks and a public caught in the jaws of a real-life shark scare. >> it took a pretty big chunk out of my right leg. i started punching the shark. >> reporter: which is why this team of scientists is engaged in urgent work. >> so we are baiting 50 hooks with small-sized fish that sharks are attracted to. >> reporter: tagging sharks. >> there's one. >> there he is. >> reporter: following their movements. hoping to understand why they're attacking humans. it's a male shark, three feet long. >> this is a black nose shark. we've tagged it with an external tag so if someone else were to catch it they could call a number and report it. it's frustrating from our perspective because people turn

to us for answers. we spend our lives studying animals in the water. and when something like this happens, people want answers. we're not even sure what is involved in any of the attacks. >> reporter: this spike in attacks began a couple of weeks ago on the same day a shark tore the arm off of a 12-year-old girl and then just down the beach, another shark ripped the arm off of 16-year-old hunter treshel. >> i saw the shark on my left arm. it was halfway up my biceps. >> reporter: a record-breaking 11 shark attacks off the coasts of both north and south carolina in just a span of weeks, has everybody here scrambling for answers. >> it's clear we've got a perfect storm under way of a variety of environmental, biological, and human factors. >> reporter: he says the recent cluster of attacks may be due to warmer water than usual, more people in the water, and a surge of bait fish bringing sharks closer to shore for food.

and those fishermen with close encounters themselves like this one, pulling a six-foot-long shark out of the water. >> it was the biggest shark i've seen in person. quite scary. >> reporter: researchers are out looking for answers on the water. the recent surge in attacks has become the subject of a vigorous and sometimes emotional debate. >> i don't believe fishing is actually what's bringing the sharks to the beach. so when you start to look at if there was an action i could take that would guarantee we wouldn't have this activity certainly we would do it. >> reporter: the beaches are still open. but in some spots police have ramped up their presence on the lookout for sharks. >> i don't see anything today at all. >> reporter: we're inside the beach patrols along the 45-mile coastline, and today with the brunswick county sheriff's department at the site where 16-year-old hunter treshel lost his arm to a shark. >> ultimately we see sharks in the water and we notify people on the beach that there are

sharks in the water. it's up to them to get out of the water. you know? it's just that simple. if you don't come in contact with one, they can't bite you. >> reporter: as we make our way out to the open water, a call comes in. a missing boy. six-foot swells slam against the patrol boat. >> it's rate rough out here. >> yeah. >> reporter: a child could be swept away by a rip current or something else. >> this is the ocean crest pier. that's where some of the -- one of the bites happened. >> reporter: we travel toward the last place the boy was seen on the beach. after about 30 minutes -- >> i'm on 76th with the subject and his parents, positive i.d. >> nice. >> reporter: relief but a window into how on edge people are here. north carolina is not the first community to deal with a shark

epidemic. >> these people are losing their family members, their best friends. >> rep island in the indian ocean had been plagued with 17 shark attacks over the past four years. seven of them fatal. just three months ago, a 13-year-old surfer named helio canestri. >> translator: he loved the water, that was his element, the water. >> a little nervous. we are going in with bait. so there's no telling what's going to happen on the bottom. >> reporter: scientist craig o'connell is featured in the discovery channel's "shark week." in the upcoming episode "shark island" tries to get a closer look at the island's aggressive predators. >> is there something unique about these sharks that we can target to keep them away from swimmers? >> reporter: he's been developing a system that uses strong magnets to overwhelm sharks' electromagnetic senses. >> i have bait adjacent to these magnets, these sharks were come in for the bait at the last second get really violent

aversion responses. >> it's a technology that will allow sharks and people to peacefully coexist in the same environment. it could be something that could potentially be used in an area such as north carolina. >> reporter: no comfort to those who have fallen victim so far this summer like 16-year-old hunter treshel. >> the biggest adjustment has just been day-to-day activity, honestly. >> reporter: the teenager who lost his arm is home recovering. he was left handed and thousand has to relearn everything. >> i was trying to scoop ice cream. that's really difficult with one arm. it's a big process for everything. >> reporter: on this day he's meeting somebody who can relate. paul degelder has been this before. >> the shark continued to shake me, basically like a dog would a rag doll. >> reporter: he's an australian navy diver and survived this attack by a bull shark seen in discovery's "i escaped jaws." paul is missing two limbs.

he overcame his trauma and now studies sharks and even dives with them. >> you're just up and about. doing stuff, hang is out already. >> yeah i'm shocked. >> i was in hospital for nine weeks. you're like super human. >> you were a bit worse off than me, i think. >> reckon you'll end up getting back in the water? >> i think so at some point. not that beach. yeah, i would like to get back in the water. >> a couple of years' time whenever you're ready, we might be able to do a "shark week" show together. >> maybe. maybe, i'll think about it. >> baby steps? >> baby steps. >> he as remarkable kid. for much more on that encounter between hunter and paul don't miss "gma" first thing in the morning. "shark week" airs on discovery through sunday. up next on "nightline" it's not hard to see why 13 million people are fans of dude perfect. they've obviously got skills. but what happens when our own juju chang tries to pull off one

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. you are about to meet the

actual dudes behind the social media sensation dude perfect. they've made millions of fans and earned lucrative endorsement deals by pulling off seemingly impossible tricks on video yore tonight my "nightline" coanchor juju chang brings us another look at this burgeoning viral empire for our series "social stars." >> going up on a roof. i'm not exactly sure why. why am i holding this basketball? why are these burly guys egging me on? they want me to do something that seems impossible. >> okay laser shot off the roof! >> reporter: because that is exactly what they do for a living. >> yes, yes! >> reporter: they call themselves dude perfect. the high-flying, graphty-defying, trick shot-makinging me sa stars of the internet. with 13 million fans on facebook. nearly 6 million subscribers on youtube. racking up more than 750 million views. >> odell beckham jr. >> let's do some trick shots!

>> reporter: it's their testosterone testosterone-fueled yet boyish cham that's attracted obsessive fans of all ages. including my son. so i brought them along to dude perfect headquarters in texas. immediately, they put me to work. on my own version of dudette perfect, the "nightline" edition. >> this is the no-look shot! okay, i get it now! >> this is the pool party. >> reporter: i've been known to be competitive. >> come on, come on, come on! >> reporter: but their one ups man ship borders on fanatical. >> we're all super competitive. as soon as one guy does it, the other's trying to top it. >> reporter: that's what launched their empire. their first video, trick shot they were college buddies, went viral. their tricks growing more and more jaw have dropping. over a jumbo jet. even the goodyear blimp. yet the skeptics seemed to grow as well. >> everyone is convinced that

you guys are sneakily getting these trick shots. >> we kind of take that as a compliment. because, i mean, you've got to be really smart to be able to do that. we don't have that capability. >> i'm glad they think that highly of us. >> reporter: they say it's all real, no tricky camera edits. >> this is the juju shot. >> reporter: it really is just try, try, try, and try again. >> sorry about that! >> reporter: this little golf chip took me more than a dozen tries. which is why when they finally make the shot they celebrate like they've just won the super bowl. >> there we go! see! all you had to do is trust me. >> what's the longest it's taken? >> probably the slingshot. that was over a span of two full days of trying that shot. >> be there! yeah! >> is this something that you mature out of? >> i hope not.

>> i have a saying, trick shots are forever. >> reporter: and like peter pan, never growing up seems to be their plan. even though most of them are married. and garrett is even a new dad. >> do you feel like people who don't know them would look at it and say these guys they're just immature dudes? do you see it that way? >> i can see how pem would say -- they play for a living. i call cody and he's playing golf. after watching them do a shoot, i told cody i have so much more respect for you, i had no idea that much went into making a trick shot. >> how do you bring a little dude into this? >> i hope owen can grow up and enjoy what we do. it's just all about having fun. >> reporter: their wholesome, isn't that correct-free shenanigans spring from their christian values the anti-jackass. >> you've turned away alcohol sponsorship and that's lucrative. why? >> there's things we've got to

decide our audience we know is a lot younger. >> we get tweets from people saying, i'm waiting for mom or dad to get home from work so we can watch the video as a family. >> reporter: the family-friendly business plan has made the dudes a perfect marketing phenomenon. bringing in big money, not just from youtube but merchandising endorsements. >> this is our nerf edition. >> reporter: one estimate puts their net worth in the millions. >> everybody assumes you guys are billionaires now. give me a sense of how much money are you guys rolling in? >> yeah it's not billions. >> you're just precipitating it right there, right? >> no it's enough to support families and do pretty well for ourselves. we work really hard. >> reporter: it's a well-oiled machine. attracting some big-name celebrities. >> dude perfect, man. >> tim mcgraw. >> i'm russell wilson. >> they're genuine fans. >> that's one of the most humbling things that we get to see is what we see show up and meet russell wilson and coach

carroll, and this is awesome, let's do trick shots. they are a fan of us as much as we're a fan of them. >> reporter: one of the signature moves, turn the tables on their guests. >> so no-skip ball. oh, almost. whoa! >> reporter: which brings us back to that impossible shot off the roof. >> off the roof. oh! dit it! >> reporter: #nailedit. attempt number one. but that wasn't good enough for the dudes. >> all we sneedneed is swish. >> this is for dan harris and byron pitts. >> all right, show dan. >> reporter: failure is not an option. 36 tries later -- >> yeah! >> beautiful! >> wonder woman! >> reporter: for "nightline," i'm juju chang, shooting trick shots in texas. up next on "nightline," the woman quite literally changing the face of ballet. her backstory is simply

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finally, a huge triumph for an unlikely ballerina. here's abc's mara caf come poe. >> reporter: this is the moment misty copeland has been dreaming of most of her life. promoted on to principal dancer at the american ballet theater, the highest level for a ballerina. >> your dream has come true. have you had a chance to sit with that? >> no. it's -- it's something that i think every dancer when they enter into the classical ballet world, that's what you dream of

being. the percentage of dancers that actually make it there are very very small. >> reporter: but this didn't just make her dreams come true. it made history. copeland becoming the first african-american female principal in the prestigious company's 75-year history. >> once i got into the company, it was you know a question of is this really going to happen for me? not only because it's difficult to make it there, but as an african-american woman it had never been done before. so i definitely had my moments of questioning whether or not this was really the path for me. and it's so surreal that it's happened. >> reporter: by all accounts copeland is an unlikely ballerina. one of six kids being raised by a single meter she didn't start dancing until she was 13. that's old for ballet. her first class at the boys and girls club. she often get discouraged. >> it's a european art form and you're used to seeing a certain type of person as a ballerina. and i don't look like a lot of

the girls around me. so i heard things about just not fitting in. being told i'm too muscular i'm too short. >> reporter: her undeniable talent was quickly noticed. and then a different kind of attention. in 1998 at just 15 years old, copeland making headlines when she found herself at the center of a messy legal battle. briefly filing for emancipation from her mother so she could ith her dance instructor and continue her intensive ballet training. >> i just hoped to become a famous ballerina. >> reporter: copeland later dropped the case and went back to live with her family. she continued training and over the years has become one of the most famous dancers in the country. on the cover of "time" magazine. writing two books. scoring more than 500,000 instagram followers and an endorsement deal with under armour. >> you have the wrong body for ballet ballet. and at 13 you are too old to be considered. >> reporter: with an online ad watched by more than 8 million

people. and she just announced she'll be making her broadway debut in a few weeks. on the town. her fame introducing a whole new audience to the world of ballet. >> how does that feel to you to know you're not just changing the stage, you're changing the audience as well. >> you know i never dreamed at 13 years old, living in a motel, that i'd be in this position. and be able to bring in so many people that never felt that they belonged. and that they were interested in classical ballet. so it's just an incredible moment. >> reporter: for "nightline," mara shall have campo, abc news new york. >> a huge congrats to misty copeland. thank you for watching abc news tonight. as always we're online 24/7 at our "nightline" facebook page and at abcnews.com. thanks again for watching. good night.

what? what is it? it's braciole, you know, , stuffed beef. really? braciole? who made it? i did. just try it. you're not having any? no. i had some you know, with the kids. i had some with the kids. oh... how you feelin'? it's not poison, ray. if i wanted to kill you, i wouldn't do it that way.

all right, that goes in the file. hey! good? yeah! yeah...good. even better the second time, now that my tongue's not scared. mmm.man, this is great. yeah? you really like it? 's good. i really do. let me at it. oh! i'm so happy! oh, look you're sitting down! ooh! i did it, huh? i really did it. ally: mommy! yeah, honey! i'll be up in just a second! ok, i'm gonna get ally out of the bath. there's a lot more on the stove here. not for long. ha ha ha! mmm...mmm...mmm! heh heh!