Expedition Great White Page #4

getting irrigated.

CREW MEMBER It's

a boy by the way.

CHRIS:
Yeah, it's a male.

DOMEIER:
It's a

boy by the way.

PAUL:
Yeah she looks

good on both sides.

Boy that was, that will

get your heart rate going.

CREW Alright, let's

get going on the...

WHITEY What do we

got on this one here?

DOMEIER:
We'll

remove that,

that's from me from a

couple of years ago - from

a pop-up tag.

CHRIS:
Oh, one of your,

you've tagged this fish

before?

DOMEIER:
Yeah I've

tagged it before.

CHRIS:
Very interesting

to see which one this will

be.

NARRATOR:
Unlike the

temporary pop-up tag,

they'll bolt this new

long-term satellite device

- onto the shark's

dorsal fin.

DOMEIER:
Are these tight?

Can I cut 'em?

BRANDON Yup.

NARRATOR:
This is the

highest point on the

shark.

When the shark breaks the

surface and a satellite is

overhead, the shark's

position can be

identified.

They also collect tissue

from the drill bit.

Its DNA will help

determine how sharks are

CREW Yeah.

DOMEIER:
Here comes the

tape up there, uh, Paul?

PAUL:
Yeah.

NARRATOR:
It's likely

humans have never touched

this guy and he

doesn't like it.

JODY:
Okay, see, she

wants...as soon as I touch

her tail, she wants to

start getting going.

CHRIS:
Rich,

Rich, Rich, Rich.

This is exactly, you know,

this isn't shocking,

and that this

thing is pissed.

This thing

fought like that.

NARRATOR:
Jody

tries again.

He needs to measure from

the tip of the nose to the

fork in the tail and from

the nose to the tip of the

tail.

JODY:
As soon as I

touch her tail...

CHRIS:
He's

trying to kick.

He's trying to kick.

CHRIS:
Okay...oh,

just don't touch it!

Just measure it.

JODY:
He wants it, he

wants the measurement!

CHRIS:
Guesstimate it!

Guesstimate it.

DOMEIER:
No, measure it!

Just measure it!

CREW Go, go,

go, go, go, go.

CHRIS:
Don't do what's

making it kick,

just measure it

the best you can.

JODY:
174 DOMEIER: Okay,

okay, now tie a rope,

tail rope it.

CHRIS:
Yep, 174

there, Jody?

JODY:
Yeah.

160 and then 174.

NARRATOR:
At 14

and a half feet,

he turns out to be good

sized after all and

Domeier's anxious to see

if he's here to mate.

DOMEIER:
This is

a mature male.

Running ripe!

CHRIS:
Mature male what?

DOMEIER:
It's

a mature male,

the claspers are calcified

and there is sperm in the

groove.

So this one is

here for a reason.

That's right there.

NARRATOR:
Claspers are

the male's reproductive

organs and great whites

have two of them.

CHRIS:
Sperm

in the groove.

That is awesome!

That is the right clasper,

is it also in the left?

DOMEIER:
Uh, I don't

see it in the left one.

CHRIS:
And they

are calcified?

DOMEIER:
Yep, calcified.

CHRIS:
Sperm only in

the right clasper.

NARRATOR:
The sperm

further supports Domeier's

theory that Guadalupe

could be a breeding ground

for great whites.

DOMEIER:
And let's check

for any blood coming off

this fish anywhere where

I can get a sample?

CHRIS:
I don't recommend

the business end there.

BRETT:
No.

CHRIS:
Wanna try

the tail again?

This is the one

that's nasty,

but we do have

it tail roped.

You could get on this side

over here and the tail

could not come at ya.

DOMEIER:
Irrigation

looks great.

Tag's almost on.

How 'bout a time

check there, Jody, how

long has the fish been out

of the water?

JODY:
Six minutes.

CHRIS:
Six minutes.

Good shape.

Hook location, Brett?

BRETT:
Corner

of the mouth,

corner of the mouth.

CHRIS:
Which side?

BRETT:
Right side.

CHRIS:
Right...right

corner.

NARRATOR:
Dr. Domeier

attempts to reach the

shark's primary blood

supply to the tail - the

caudal vein.

No easy task.

Unlike humans, a great

white's veins are buried

deep by several

inches of skin,

muscle and tendons but

Domeier's needle hits the

target.

DOMEIER:
Oh, I'm

getting blood!

CHRIS:
Nice Doc!

Oh Doc, you're getting

good blood there,

that's the best

we've done!

DOMEIER:
Ever!

NARRATOR:
This is a first

for the Doctor - drawing a

blood sample directly from

a great white's vein.

CHRIS:
Nice job, Doc!

Oh that's great!

PAUL:
Great spot

right there!

DOMEIER:
Got it!

CHRIS:
That would be

great if we could do that

same thing on the female.

Look, right in

the crevice.

Right in the

crack of the tail.

PAUL:
He knows right were

to draw the blood now.

CHRIS:
We have plenty

of time, fellas,

we're only at about eight

minutes and we're down to

what you all are up to.

NARRATOR:
As they finish

securing the satellite

tag, Domeier grabs his

camera to document the

shark's physical details.

In addition to

the gill slits,

pelvic fin and tail,

additional details will be

added to Domeier's

ever-growing database of

individual sharks.

DOMEIER:
Look at the

scar right there.

Massive scar from battling

with his compadres.

NARRATOR:
Domeier thinks

males may be fighting each

other here to establish

mating territories or

possibly battling over

individual females.

CHRIS:
How are we looking

on the irrigation there,

Brett?

BRETT:
Good.

CHRIS:
Time, Jody?

JODY:
She's been out of

the water 12 minutes

CHRIS:
Nice job, Dave.

JODY:
Are we done

with the data board?

DOMEIER:
Look at the

difference in height

though we're getting this

tag compared to last year.

CHRIS:
Much higher.

Right at the very tippytop.

Okay, everybody who can

start easing off.

We can start easing off.

Alright let's do it.

We might have a

little movement here,

with ya just a

second with Jody.

Everybody off that doesn't

need to be on here.

Alright, it's out, it's

clear, everybody out,

get the towel, get the

towel off him, Brett.

Everybody clear.

JODY:
Wait, Brett.

CHRIS:
We ready

to go down?

DOMEIER:
Down, Down.

CHRIS:
Down.

JODY:
Was out of the

water 17 minutes.

CHRIS:
It's a ripe

running male.

DOMEIER:
Ripe

running male.

CHRIS:
Just like you

though we might find.

DOMEIER:
He's ready

to go already.

GROUP Alright.

CHRIS:
He's

moving right out.

PAUL:
Didn't exactly take

the easiest route, did he?

CHRIS:
Beautiful.

Nice job, fellas!

Another one,

nobody's hurt.

Nice work.

DOMEIER:
Way to go.

NARRATOR:
Combing through

Doctor Domeier's database

they identify this

shark as Skid.

Not only did Domeier put a

pop-off tag on Skid five

years ago, he's been

spotted at Guadalupe every

year since 2002.

With his new statellite

tag Skid promises to open

up many more chapters

in Great White history.

Now what Domeier really

wants is blood from a

female.

CHRIS:
Reefed on

that one, bro.

DOMEIER:
Hey,et's get

a bait in the water man,

There's one under

the boat right now.

There it is right there.

DOMEIER:
That's a

pretty big fish!

CHRIS:
Well, a lot of

times when you see

information about

sharks today,

you get this

sensationalistic stuff

about "white sharks eat

people" or "sharks are

dangerous" you know, but

what we're doing rght

here is real.

This is real science;

trying to solve the puzzle

of the white shark; figure

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