Expedition Great White Page #6

CREW Yeah, you've

got good water flow.

DOMEIER:
We're going

to start with the DNA

samples.

We're going to just take

them right off the dorsal

fin this time.

Save some time.

WHITEY Who has the drill?

DOMEIER:
Don't worry

about the drill.

We're going to

do this first.

Hold that.

Open one.

There's one.

It's in.

Give it a shake.

Here's another one.

JODY:
We got fifteen

more minutes.

DOMEIER:
Okay, perfect.

CHRIS:
Okay, Jody, what

was our fight, fight time?

JODY:
One hour and five

minutes was our fight.

189. 190.

CREW 190 overall.

NARRATOR:
The great

white's monster-sized at

almost 16 feet.

CHRIS:
Is it

the female, Doc?

DOMEIER:
Big

female, yeah.

WHITEY She's got a crook.

DOMEIER:
Oh,

she's curled over.

NARRATOR:
Domeier's seen

this distinctive droopy

fin before.

It's Keiko.

It was photographed by

Tom Pfler in 2002.

He's concerned about the

effectiveness of his

tracking device.

Will her damaged fin

even break the surface?

DOMEIER:
I'm wondering

about this tag.

You know this

fin is bent over.

So the, how well it fins

is going to definitely be

a little affected

by that bend.

NARRATOR:
But tagging

mature females is critical

to Doctor Domeier's

work -he'll go for it.

JODY:
She's six minutes

out of the water.

DOMEIER:
What we've

learned in our studies at

Guadalupe Island is that

the males come back every

year, but the

females don't.

They only come

every other year.

What we don't know is in

that odd year when the

females are not there

where the heck do they go?

We have no idea.

NARRATOR:
Domeier hopes

these new tracking devices

will ultimately reveal

where these females go

when they leave

Guadalupe Island.

DOMEIER:
And when we get

that information back,

we have just advanced our

knowledge of this species

tremendously.

How's the irrigation

look, Brett?

BRETT:
Good.

Water coming out

of that one good,

getting some

out of this one.

I'm switching

them in a second.

CHRIS:
Hook

location, Brett.

BRETT:
Corner

of the mouth.

Left side.

CHRIS:
Hook removed.

BRETT:
Yep.

CREW Hook out.

CHRIS:
Take that.

Got the hook out,

fellas, good job.

NARRATOR:
They securely

bolt the satellite tag to

Keiko's less-than-perfect

fin so it won't come loose

over the years.

Now Domeier is ready

to draw some blood.

DOMEIER:
Alright, blood

from this would be a

really good thing.

NARRATOR:
He goes for the

same area on Keiko that he

did earlier on Skid.

The caudel vein that runs

to the tail...

but Keiko's vein remains elusive.

Can't get blood.

Yeah. it's very disappointing.

Domeier has yet

to successfully draw blood

from a mature female

- a key element for

determining the

mating season.

With the clock ticking

-he needs to move on.

Domeier:
Naw, blood

ain't going to happen.

Alright, let me get my

camera, take my pictures.

NARRATOR:
Keiko is

ready to go now.

DOMEIER:
Go guys, look

out, look out, look out.

Look out!

JODY:
Holy moly!

How big...

PAUL:
Hop over, hop

over, there you go.

DOMEIER:
You got me trapped

a little bit here, Jody.

JODY:
No, I got you.

I'll watch you.

I'll pull you out.

JODY:
Eleven minutes

out of the water.

NARRATOR:
Keiko is the

perfect candidate for

Domeier's research.

They'll need to catch many

more females like her to

find out where and

when they mate.

DOMEIER:
She may kick a little

bit when I do this.

Dr. Domeier attaches a seconday

pop-up tag to Keiko.

The technology in these tags

has also advanced.

DOMEIER:
Nice.

Perfect.

These tags are essentially

miniature computers and

they collect all kinds of

information about where

the shark is going and

what the shark is doing.

It's like a back up

for our spot tag.

NARRATOR:
He's still

hopeful the long-term

satellite tag with perform

on Keiko and that he can

follow her path

for years to come.

CHRIS:
Time, Jody?

JODY:
Got 12 minutes

out of water.

CHRIS:
Like to be done in

less than 5 minutes if we

can, fellas.

JODY:
Good job,

Chad, good thinking.

NARRATOR:
With time running

out - they pick up speed

to finish up.

JODY:
She's at 18 minutes.

BRETT:
Do you still need to

get blood or you get it?

DOMEIER:
It's on

my stick holder.

Bleeding but just

not enough blood.

NARRATOR:
They're

disappointed but to keep

Keiko alive - they need to

get her back in the water

- now.

CHRIS:
Okay, everybody off,

so you're going to have to

help, we're going to

get to the nose here,

we're going to

get this hose out,

we'll get the hose out.

CREW:
Are you ready to go?

CHRIS:
She's starting

to move her tail.

Stand back.

JODY:
She's out.

CHRIS:
Hose is out.

Everybody off,

everybody out!

Everybody off.

Get off.

BRETT:
Bring the hose up

whoever gets up there

first.

DOMEIER:
Everybody off,

she's going to hurt

herself.

CHRIS:
So are you taking

her down, Johnny?

Down, down, down!

CREW:
She's

right behind ya.

CHRIS:
Come on, let

Keiko go for a swim.

I don't like that gate

over there sitting the way

it is.

He's kick, she's kicking,

she's going to be fine.

Like she just burped.

Do you want them

to stop it there?

DOMEIER:
That's good.

CHRIS:
Stop.

NARRATOR:
Keiko is taking

her time - the team grows

concerned.

JODY:
Might need

to touch her.

Okay, she's starting

to move her tail now.

JODY:
Maybe poke

her in the tail.

DOMEIER:
She'll go

PAUL:
Go in there and just give her

a little tap on her butt,

send her on her way.

DAVID:
Hold this,

hold this camera.

NARRATOR:
Camerman David

Olson puts his life on the

line to help her go free.

DOMEIER:
I think if she

feels that there's no

weight under her

she'll start to swim.

thing.

DOMEIER:
Dave can

you push her?

Can you push her anymore?

DAVE:
You want me

to push her off?

DOMEIER:
Yeah, just

get her head over it.

PAUL:
Come on, Viking

power, there she goes.

CHRIS:
Is that good.

That's good, Dave, that's good

DAVE:
Okay.

CHRIS:
Oh, yeah,

she's kicking now.

PAUL:
She's

kicking her tail.

JODY:
There she goes.

She's wagging her tail.

CHRIS:
Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh

she's kicking away strong.

CREW MEMBER:
Good deal.

CHRIS:
Right on!

Okay Johnny up, up, up.

DOMEIER:
She's gone now.

She swam.

CHRIS:
Nice job Doc!

NARRATOR:
Keiko's been

spotted at Guadalupe three

times over a

seven-year period.

They suspect her extensive

scarring resulted from

being stuck in a

shark cage in 2002.

Today two more sharks

are safely released.

The male Skid and

the female Keiko.

Her signal is picked up

after 4 days but only

transmits a few locations.

Her droopy fin probably

has trouble breaking the

surface.

Skid takes 3 days to check

in and sends a precise

location about

a week later.

He has been sending in

regular updates ever since

and has traveled hundreds

of miles into an area

called SOFA, later

returning to Guadalupe.

For the team, there's

much more to be done.

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