The team of world class anglers, scientists, and crew anchors off the coast of Guadalupe Island, Mexico, where an abundance of seals entice hordes of great whites. After tagging a 15-foot male shark only hours before, tensions run high as the team anxiously awaits a bite from a mature female and argue over how to optimize their chances of getting a bite. When they at last get the female they are waiting for she's a bully.
With just a few days and 3 tags left, the great white expedition team amps up to tag their next sharks. But bait is running low and tensions high. A big biter takes the line and battles for over an hour. And then they come across a fresh seal kill with a big shark dining on it. Can they lure the great white onto their line and onto the boat?
With only hours left before the ship must head back, the crew has just one tag left and is still hoping to place it on the perfect female shark. To better their chances, the team fishes from both the mother ship and their much smaller chase boat, the Triton, where Paul Walker and two other crew members are stationed on the other side of the island. As luck would have it, it's the smaller ship that gets the bite, and this female shark is a fighter.
After catching, tagging and releasing 11 great whites, the crew speeds off to an ocean area pegged as the Shared Offshore Foraging Area (SOFA), a mysterious patch of ocean where great whites congregate and seem to disappear for six months.
The crew continues their expedition deep into the SOFA, the shared offshore foraging area, and the stakes in determining how great whites survive here are high. So far, they've lost more than a third of their bait and they haven't come close to catching a great white - yet. In their quest to land a big one, they discover two species of squid, which "the Doc" theorizes must be a good part of the sharks' diets.
The crew is on the verge of a scientific discovery that could finally solve the mystery of where great whites breed. To get the proof he needs, Dr. Domeier sets off to Guadalupe, Mexico to collect sperm samples from wild great whites! When they locate a large male, they immediately jump into action in an effort to prove Dr. Domeier's theory.
The adventure continues at Guadalupe Island, Mexico, where Dr. Domeier is on the verge of proving great whites come here to breed. But with his first sperm sample ending up inconclusive, Domeier desperately needs the fishermen to land another on the cradle. The sharks are feisty, the stakes high, and the team ready to catch another giant male.
An unprecedented great white shark expedition begins. A brazen team of seasoned fishermen and an innovative scientist join forces to unlock the mysteries of the worlds largest predatory fish. They seek to catch adult great whites, bring them on board their vessel, take DNA and blood samples and attach the most sophisticated tracking devices before setting them free. What it takes to make their first catch challenges their skills and preconceptions.
In the world of great whites, it's the females who rule -- surpassing males in size and muscle. The sexes migrate differently; landing a "Big Mama" is crucial to the crew's research and offers the best chance to uncover great white birthing sites. While stealth females play cat and mouse with the crew, feisty males eagerly take the bait, and give shark expert Dr. Michael Domeier a major clue into great white mating theories.
For "Fast and the Furious" actor Paul Walker, going up against a great white shark -- in a 25-foot inflatable boat -- is no Hollywood stunt. With Walker in tow, the crew heads after the ultimate prize: a massive female. But when the support boat blows an engine, the team must hop into the inflatable -- essentially a motorized balloon not quite twice as long as the shark they hope to capture. Light is fading fast and it's a grueling battle to get this great white back to the mother ship.
A hundred sixty miles off the coast of Baja California, a team of world-class anglers will land one of the most challenging fish imaginable: the great white shark. Unlike any other catch ever attempted, they'll lift an SUV-sized shark onto a platform, mount a long-lasting tracking tag by hand, take measurements and DNA samples, and release it unharmed... all within minutes. Marine biologist Dr. Michael Domeier uses advanced tracking devices to help uncover how this predator lives, with the ultimate goal of conserving and protecting this endangered species.
The crew begin working with a new science team and set out to tag tiger sharks in the Revillagigedo Islands in the Season 3 opener.
Behind-the-scenes video blogs from the cast of National Geographic Channel's new series, Expedition Great White.
