Expedition Great White: Catching the Ocean's Largest Predatory Fish

Nov. 13, 2009— -- Great white sharks. They're not just among the ocean's biggest creatures, they're among its fiercest.

They can detect tiny amounts of blood in water up to three miles away. They make about half of all the shark attacks reported in a given year.

But in National Geographic Channel's "Expedition Great White," which premieres Monday, scientists and sports fishermen do the unimaginable: They wrangle the multi-ton creatures, haul them aboard their ship, attach tracking tags, take measurements and DNA samples and then release them unharmed. All in the name of science.

The largest predators in the ocean (they can extend to more than 20 feet and exceed 5,000 pounds), great white sharks are listed as an endangered species because of overfishing, accidental catching and other factors.

Marine biologists and conservationists hope that by tagging them with tracking devices that transmit their locations, they'll be able to learn enough to protect the sharks' dwindling population.

"The ecosystems are changing fast today with the amount of overharvesting. We don't want to see white sharks wiped off the face of the Earth," Brett McBride, captain of the expedition vessel MV Ocean, says in the National Geographic Channel program.

Along with Chris Fischer, the expedition leader, and Michael Domeier, the lead scientist, McBride and his crew traveled 150 miles off the coast of Baja, Calif., to catch and tag great white sharks.

The area near the volcanic island Guadalupe is known as a white shark "hot spot" because the sharks are attracted by the fur and elephant seals that gather there to breed.

"Guadalupe is heaven for white shark researchers," says Domeier, "It's really clear water and relatively warm."

As the sharks swim by to catch their prey, the scientists try to nab them with the world's biggest fishing hooks -- 24-inch circle hooks that effectively catch the corner of the sharks' mouths without harming them.

But catching a great white shark is a hard-won victory.