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[NotWii]

Yes, it's as insane as it sounds

Going up? During a 2008 expedition, a great white shark swims into position for its first elevator ride in a scene from the new National Geographic Channel documentary series Expedition Great White, premiering Sunday at 9 p.m. ET/PT.

Able to lift 37 tons, the hydraulic lift had never been used on a marine animal before the great white studies—conducted aboard the research vessel Ocean—began in 2007.

Originally used to lift a power yacht on and off the 126-foot (38-meter) ship, the elevator was retrofitted with substantial railings to haul SUV-size great whites from waters off Mexico's Guadalupe Island (map) for study.

Data from satellite tracking tags fitted to the sharks during the expedition suggest the adult female great whites found around the island spend much of their lives in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

The hydraulic lift raises a great white shark, which had been caught with tuna bait, out of the Pacific Ocean off Mexico in 2008.

After being brought above deck, this shark was secured to the raised platform for about 15 minutes while the crew took blood samples, measured the shark, and attached a tracking antenna to the fish's dorsal fin.

The giant "shark elevator" has "broken a barrier on our capabilities on great white shark research," according to the 2008 expedition's lead scientist Michael Domeier, director of the California-based Marine Conservation Science Institute.

Previously researchers were able to get this close only to dead specimens, because of the danger the sharks pose in the water, he said.

Before the hydraulic lift lowers a great white shark back into the ocean, team member Jody Whitworth lifts the shark's nose, while the ship's captain, Brett McBride, removes the hydration hose—a device that pumps seawater into sharks' mouths and over their gills to stave off suffocation.

Shark conservationist Richard Peirce, chair of the U.K.-based Shark Trust, who wasn't part of the project, said that he "and others in the conservation community would have concerns about catch methods and moving such large animals from the support of the surrounding water. Inappropriate handling can result in damage to internal organs."

Expedition Great White lead scientist Michael Domeier said he had similar concerns. To address them, "we started with small sharks and gradually worked our way up to larger ones," he said. "We found it really wasn't a problem."

On the shark elevator, lead expedition scientist Michael Domeier takes a blood sample from a great white shark off Mexico's Guadalupe Island in 2008.

Tests of the sharks' sex-hormone levels could reveal whether the annual great white gathering to feast on seals around Guadalupe Island doubles as a mating opportunity. Sperm discovered in the claspers, or external sex organs, of local male sharks suggest eating isn't the area's only allure.

"Males are not in a state of reproductive readiness year-round, so the presence of sperm is a very strong indication of mating," Domeier said.

Expedition member Whitey Evans uses a blowtorch to heat-seal plastic bolts that secure a tracking antenna to a great white's dorsal fin off Mexico in 2008.

The hi-tech tracking tags, developed by researcher Michael Domeier, are designed to transmit up to 120,000 messages and can last for up to six years.

Previously Domeier had relied on conventional satellite tracking devices that "you can just harpoon into the sharks." But, he said, "they can only track the animals for nine to ten months."

The new devices are designed to chart migration patterns, which females can take several years to complete.

Because of the bolting required by the new antennas, "we have to capture the shark," Domeier said.

Lead scientist Michael Domeier watches over a great white as it's lowered in the shark elevator to be released back into the waters off Mexico's Guadalupe Island.

Each year the endangered predators gather around Guadalupe Island, some 160 miles (260 kilometers) off Baja California, to hunt fur seals and elephant seals during the mammals' pupping season.

Male great whites return to the site each year, but adult females show up less frequently.

"We wanted to know where they go," Domeier said of the female sharks. "We've learned that they go out in the middle of the ocean and then stay there."

A great white takes the team's bait—a chunk of tuna on a giant, barbless hook—during a 2008 expedition off Mexico's Pacific coast.

The hook is attached to a rope strung with buoys used to tire the powerful fish (a trick that failed to work in Jaws) until the shark is ready for the shark elevator.

"Raising these sharks out of the water," expedition leader Michael Domeier said, "gives me an unprecedented opportunity to examine them."

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/...-great-white-shark-elevator-science-pictures/

O_____O;

 

[BertramCooper]

Great. Now businesses are going to have to pay thousands of dollars to install shark elevators to accommodate their shark employees.

Where does it end?

 

[saltinekracka]

This can't end well.

 

[italianfreak240]

This dude has some big balls.

 

[AlexMogil]

Elevator goes in the water, you go in the water. Shark's in the water. Our shark.

 

[East Lake]

I read that the buoys tire them out, but you think that's the only thing that keeps them from flailing around on deck? Maybe their weight too. Kinda odd to see a big great white just chilling out above water.

 

[wenis]

Oh so that's the bigger boat he was referring to....

 

[Combichristoffersen]

They're gonna need a bigger boat

 

[hulkamania-owns-you]

I have already seen these tv shows, there is a handfull of episodes, I think its called shark men.

And lol when you watch it paul fucking walker is apart of the crew.

 

[JBaird]

This dude has some big balls.

Here he is afterward.

 

[tehfryguy]

This dude has some big balls.

You couldn't pay me enough

 

[NotWii]

Elevator goes in the water, you go in the water. Shark's in the water. Our shark.

Hehehe

 

[njean777]

hey thanks for reminding me of the show, the first episode is free on itunes. I wanted to watch this.

 

[Big Chungus]

That shark looks pissed.

Also reminds me of that part from Deep Blue Sea:

 

[Ominym]

I'm personally fine with keeping them down there.

 

[Jake.]

holy shit, he's welding on a spoiler to make it go faster.

 

[Unknown Soldier]

So this is how they are going to install the frickin' laser beams on the sharks' heads. :lol

 

[East Lake]

I'm personally fine with keeping them down there.

Yeah, the contraption is cool but I feel like these nature guys should leave the animals alone every once and a while, footage is enough. Don't know how necessary it is to try and interact with them based on whatever set of "rules" they think the animals have established. Not going to feel all that sad when a guy gets eaten.

Edit: For the second part of my post, talking about things like this. http://dsc.discovery.com/videos/shark-week-riding-a-great-white.html

 

[jax (old)]

amazing photos.

can't wait for the doco.

 

[∀ Narayan]

Great, now they have elevators! Fuck this! I'm outta here.

 

[Big-ass Ramp]

Shark Elevator. If I ever start a band, I'm totally naming it that.

 

[Maximus.]

first off that shark in the pic got messed up, look at all the war scars. Also, an elevator to lift the seas deadliest predator onto level ground with humans?? This is going to end bad one day :S

 

[dankir]

Yes, it's as insane as it sounds

O_____O;

First thing I thought of,

It's the same fucking size!!

 

[SolarPowered]

I just looked at the pics in the OP until I hit the bottom and it looks pretty fucking crazy. Definitely the best way to check the OP for maximum impact.

 

[dallow_bg]

Saw a clip on TV of them using a hand drill to make four holes in the fin to attach the antenna, and now this pic of them using a torch to heat the bolts.

So......................... it doesn't hurt?

 

[akachan ningen]

Saw a clip on TV of them using a hand drill to make four holes in the fin to attach the antenna, and now this pic of them using a torch to heat the bolts.

So......................... it doesn't hurt?

It doesn't hurt the guy who is drilling and cooking the shark.

 

[Siebzehn50]

Saw a clip on TV of them using a hand drill to make four holes in the fin to attach the antenna, and now this pic of them using a torch to heat the bolts.

So......................... it doesn't hurt?

I imagine that being put on an elevator and taken into a place where you can't breath wasn't a pleasant experience either.

Anyway, its pretty bizarre seeing them out of their natural habitat. They almost seem bigger out of the water.

 

[Chaser]

This is a most unsettling development.

 

[ScientificNinja]

Holy. Fucking. Shit.

 

[Furoba]

There's even people swimming with Great Whites. Magnificent creatures really, and less 'killer' than they're made out to be.

 

[ItAintEasyBeinCheesy]

There's even people swimming with Great Whites. Magnificent creatures really, and less 'killer' than they're made out to be.

Until they eat your legs off. Balls of steel is what that dude in the camouflage wetsuit has.

 

[Wes]

Giving sharks access to our technology... bad idea.

 

[Numpt3]

Bloody hell o_o

what stops it from thrashing around on the deck though? just the fact that they tired it out catching it?

 

[AFreak]

I love sharks. favorite animal. I just wish I weren't so scared of them.

 

[Pandaman]

Bloody hell o_o

what stops it from thrashing around on the deck though? just the fact that they tired it out catching it?

its weight, its too heavy to move much out of water.

 

[sankao]

I wonder what the other sharks will think when this one tells them about the strange ship it was abducted into where little beings performed experiments on its genitals.

 

[Joel Was Right]

I wonder what the other sharks will think when this one tells them about the strange ship it was abducted into where little beings performed experiments on its genitals.

:lol

 

[LabouredSubterfuge]

Right, that's it. I'm heading further inland.

 

[Witchfinder General]

Great. Now businesses are going to have to pay thousands of dollars to install shark elevators to accommodate their shark employees.

Where does it end?

This deserves to be quoted.

 

[Minamu]

The pictures remind me of alien abductions tbh.

 

[Snaku]

Elevator goes in the water, you go in the water. Shark's in the water. Our shark.

Farewell and adieu, to you fair Spanish ladies.

 

[LiquidMetal14]

Really neat.

 

[tekkenmasterAC]

When was this on? and does anyone know if its going to be replayed? this is some really cool stuff

 

[Marty Chinn]

Why the hell is Paul Walker there?

 

[ZeoVGM]

This is disgusting.

 

[vas_a_morir]

Shark Elevator. If I ever start a band, I'm totally naming it that.

Beaten; Motherfucker!

 

[fanboi]

Great White is not amused.

 

[kassatsu]

Why the hell is Paul Walker there?

Pretty much what I said when watching.

"THAT WAS MONEY"

 

[industrian]

Tests of the sharks' sex-hormone levels could reveal whether the annual great white gathering to feast on seals around Guadalupe Island doubles as a mating opportunity. Sperm discovered in the claspers, or external sex organs, of local male sharks suggest eating isn't the area's only allure.

 

[Binabik15]

This is disgusting.

That does look pretty brutal, but aren´t their fins made out of cartilage? I doubt he/she feels it. The welding part probably doesn´t upset it a tiny bit compared to getting hauled out of the water for 15(!) minutes.