Galapagos: Realm of Giant Sharks Page #4

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forming a bait ball.

Sea lions join the attack.

The school evades them by

twisting and turning as one.

But as fatigue finally sets in,

the predators move in to

pick off individuals.

Moving through these fertile waters,

riding the north-bound current,

a mysterious line of whale sharks is

headed for a tiny, remote outpost:

Darwin Island.

What draws them here?

That's the question this team

is hoping to answer

as they too arrive at Darwin island.

Jonathan Green:

The blue skies give way to low cloud

and the ocean reflects gunmetal grey.

The morning is spent

activating the satellite

tags, removing the old leaders,

and replacing them with shorter,

plastic-covered steel wire.

We then paint them with

an anti-fouling coat

and hang them to dry in the aft.

The guns are ready, lubricated

and cleaned.

Narrator:
Boarding a pair of

small boats, the team sets out

for the turbulent waters

of Darwin's arch.

Their strategy is simple:

Wait on the rocks.

If no whale sharks pass by,

they'll swim out into the current to

search for them in open water.

Jonathan Green:
After 30 minutes close

to the rocks, we head out to the blue

and almost immediately spot

a large female whale shark.

Clear markings, probably young, she is

pregnant and measures around 11 meters.

I am able to get alongside and shoot

the dart through the dorsal fin,

about 2/3 of the way,

close to the leading edge.

The dart goes all the way through about

15 centimeters of cartilage.

Narrator:
Then, the team witnesses

a scene that can only

deepen the mystery

of these giant sharks.

Another female suddenly appears.

It converges on the first,

then gives it a shove with its snout.

Was this a show of strength?

Or some other signal,

just between sharks?

Their two paths diverge into the deep.

The expedition is off to a great start,

at least, that's how it appeared

on its second day.

Jonathan Green:
The current remains

to the north, but is fluctuating.

Sea surface temperature still high,

25 degrees centigrade.

Big schools of hammerheads pass by,

out in the blue and down, deep below us.

We do a shallow dive before

lunch as skip-jack tuna

are feeding close to the anchorage.

Bright streams of quick silver weave

a complicated dance with sharks.

Late afternoon, we photograph

the sunset over Darwin,

and the light catches the spray

from the crashing breakers.

The Arch appears to capture

the last beams of sunlight,

like a magnifying glass,

concentrating them into a single

spotlight of white and gold.

Quite ethereal, but then, so is

the experience we are living.

Narrator:
Day three brings

an unexpected shift

in the currents that

swirl around Darwin.

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