I’m not really into shark fishing, Great White or not, and I don’t understand why anyone would actually want to sport fish for a shark. They do have a fascination in that they are incredible aquatic predators. I mean, what can you say. They got it all going. They are sleek, swift, have some nasty teeth, a serious appetite and are relentless in pursuit and I’m damn glad I didn’t come into this world as a seal in Great White water.
Great White Shark on deck, courtesy NGC
So when I got my review copy of this weekends (Sunday, June 6th) new National Geographic Channel special, “Expedition Great White-Feeding Frenzy” I of course popped it in the DVD hoping for some new “shark attack” footage. We love that stuff don’t we? Slow motion shots of those giant jaws and 2-3 inch razor sharp teeth sawing through some creatures flesh. Lightning attacks from the deep that show predator and prey locked in their deadly dance rocketing several feet in the air. Cool stuff. And what’s going through your mind? Yeah, you know it- what if that was me inside those jaws?
Well, this shows a little different. It’s research, but without a lot of boring “talking heads” stuff. Like a lot of marine creatures, even ones that aren’t being swallowed by an oil slick, shark numbers are dropping and researchers are trying to find out why. The truth is, not a lot is known about some sharks and especially the Great White. Expedition Great White hopes to add more to what little we know about these creatures, especially their reproductive lives, by tagging and tracking them by satellite.
So, how do you catch a Great White shark? Carefully. Actually, hooking them isn’t that hard. Big hook, big bait. It’s landing them that gets a little touchy. Taking a page out of the movie “Jaws”, these guys have a series of floats attached to their fishing line (cable would be more like it) so that when the shark dives it has to pull those floats down. Eventually, the fish tires itself out to the point that it can actually be wrangled onto a hydraulic deck that raises and lowers from a mount on the side of the ship. The trick is keeping the shark from either getting off the hook (these are BIG hooks) or breaking the hook off entirely before it finally exhausts itself enough to be handled.
Great White Shark taking the bait, courtesy NGC
And nothing looks more out of place than a giant shark out of the water. The smooth, patient, streamlined swimming hunter in the water becomes a floundering giant roped down to the deck so it doesn’t splatter some hapless human on the side of the ships hull. At the same time we get a pretty up close and personal look at them and even in dry dock, they are intimidating. Compared proportionally to their human handlers, it is easy to envision one of these Great White sharks having one of them for dinner.
This show is definitely worth the watch, seeing these sharks out of the water is a new perspective. While they still have that shark mystique they also seem very vulnerable in the hands of man, as if they were being weighed for their value in tomorrows ocean ecosystems.
Expedition Great White: Feeding Frenzy
Sunday, June 6, 2010, at 9 p.m. ET/PT (Special Series Premiere)
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This stuff is unbelievable. I have a few pictures pictures of a 6 foot shark a family I know gave me. The mom told me her husband caught it right off the beach where they swim down in florida. It’s the only fish I ever caught that you could tell was trying to bite back once I got it out of the water.
That’s a fish with a bad attitude. Did they throw him back? If they did, hopefully he has a short memory.
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