Original subtitles

(lively music playing)

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PAIGE: Maui has a higher number of shark attacks than any of the other islands.

The state approached the shark lab to try to figure out what was going on.

Why do we see this seasonal influx?

So to help me solve this mystery,

I need to deploy a camera accelerometer package

on a free swimming tiger shark.

It involves me putting a clamp onto the dorsal fin of the tiger shark

while freediving.

(intense music playing)

PAIGE: Guys, guys, we have a shark on the line.

CORY: She's on it. She's on the bait.

JULIA: Oh, my gosh, Paige. This is huge.

(water splashes)

KAYLEE: Jules is trying to give us a signal.

KAYLEE: Paige is going down.

(intense music playing)

(suspenseful music playing)

PAIGE: Hawaii is a really, really special place to me.

It's like this little oasis in the middle of an ocean desert.

Animals here will test you just as much as the ocean itself will.

It requires you to be always on your game.

(hopeful music playing)

My name is Paige Wernli.

I study tiger sharks

at the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology Shark Research Lab.

(waves crashing)

(breathes)

PAIGE: I grew up in a super small town on a lake

where fishing was really my first love.

I was in high school and I got to go on my first fishing charter offshore.

And I saw a shark for the first time.

(suspenseful music playing)

PAIGE: I was so moved by it.

So I moved out to Hawaii.

You know, I've spent my entire adult life here

pursuing shark research.

And it has really shaped me into the woman and the scientist that I am today.

NARRATOR: This year at the shark research lab,

Paige aims to solve a mystery that began a decade ago on the Island of Maui.

PAIGE: Unfortunately, 10 years ago,

there was a rash of tragic accidents involving tiger sharks.

(splashes)

PAIGE: The state approached the shark lab to try to figure out what was going on.

NARRATOR: In order to get to the bottom of the attacks,

Paige's PhD advisor, Carl Meyer, began to tag and track tiger sharks.

CARL: It's a big girl. Look at that.

So we went to Maui, and we captured 40-odd tiger sharks.

And we equipped them with different types of transmitters

that allow us to study their movement patterns.

Carl went forward with not only looking at the sharks on Maui,

but obviously comparing them to the other islands.

NARRATOR: The data revealed something astonishing.

Tiger sharks across Hawaii stick to their home islands

most of the year.

Then, during the winter, they converge on Maui.

It's not really typical behavior for these animals

to come together in high numbers in one place like that.

The scientific community was baffled.

(mystery music playing)

NARRATOR: In order to solve the mystery, 15 receivers were placed around Maui.

They collected data every time a tagged shark passed by,

and one receiver stood out from all the rest.

(beeping)

When we recovered the receiver from Olowalu,

that's when we started to see this really interesting pattern.

NARRATOR: During the winter,

the concentration of sharks off the coast of Olowalu

was off the charts.

(waves crashing)

NARRATOR: Carl began to catch and fix sharks with cameras

to gather evidence.

CARL: There's the timer, there's the camera,

so I want the camera on the outboard side.

So that's when that's

NARRATOR: In 2015, he captured video from a male tiger shark

that almost solved the mystery.

(mystery music continues)

NARRATOR: Now he shows the footage to Paige for the first time.

And so here you can see the shark is actually swimming fairly sedately

over an area of coral reef

and then suddenly accelerates.

(intense music playing)

CARL: You can see the reef going back and forth,

back and forth, back and forth.

It starts banking and turning and it's swimming in these tight spirals,

as if it's trying to catch up with something

that's turning away from it.

(rustling)

CARL: There it is.

-Now there, as we know it. -(gasps)

NARRATOR: The tagged male pursues a female in what Carl thinks is an attempt to mate.

A behavior never before observed with tiger sharks.

Male and female, and she's rolling her eyes

indicating that she doesn't want this male to catch up with her.

CARL: She outmaneuvered him and swam off.

That is so close.

CARL: We've got the movement pattern showing the animals going there.

We've got evidence that the sharks are mating.

But what we don't have is any actual proof, direct proof.

NARRATOR: Paige thinks she may be able to get to the bottom of the mystery

with a new camera-tagging technique.

PAIGE: It involves me putting a clamp on to the dorsal fin of the tiger shark

while freediving with the animal.

NARRATOR: Scientists generally agree that shark behavior is disrupted

for about two days after being caught on a line and tagged.

So instead of bringing the shark to the scientist,

the scientist will go to the shark.

(intense music playing)

This deployment method is minimally impactful

and minimally invasive

and will hopefully not deter them from continuing on with their normal day.

NARRATOR: If it works, any shark on the hunt for a mate

could capture footage of the event immediately.

There's no guarantee of success.

But if we're able to get a tiger shark during mating season,

put a tag on it with one of these camera tags,

then there's a chance that we'll be able to get the smoking-gun evidence.

(waves crashing)

NARRATOR: First, Paige needs to perfect her tagging technique

and see if the sharks return to their natural behavior after the fact.

To do this, she'll start on her home turf of O'ahu,

where tiger sharks are more habituated to humans than on Maui.

Interacting with sharks in the water

when you're just diving with them is one thing,

but trying to quote-unquote, "do something to them,"

changes the dynamic completely.

NARRATOR: She needs an extra pair of hands and eyes in the water.

And there's one lab mate that fits the bill.

One shark, two sharks, three sharks,

-I won. -(screams)

(laughs)

PAIGE: I need Jules.

NARRATOR: Jules Hartl has been free diving with sharks for almost a decade.

She will act as Paige's safety diver.

JULIA: This is really Paige's project.

I'm here for the long haul and I'm here to help her as much as I can.

(intense music playing)

NARRATOR: Today, Paige's goal is to approach a shark from its blind spot

and attempt to make contact.

Now I have to get, kind of, right on top of one of these

in order to put the clamp onto its dorsal fin.

NARRATOR: There's no knowing how it will react.

But it is an essential step to prove that non-invasive tagging can work.

(suspenseful music playing)

NARRATOR: Before long, hungry Galapagos sharks begin to circle.

One of Hawaii's most fearsome predators,

they can grow to about 10-feet long

and usually stay deep,

hunting in groups just offshore.

But the scent of food has brought a frenzy to the surface.

Galapagos sharks are extremely calculating in the water.

PAIGE: We're seeing Galapagos sharks kind of stack in numbers

and they're kind of starting to surround us a little bit.

These are really powerful animals

that have the potential to be extremely dangerous

and cause a lot of damage.

(intense music playing)

PAIGE: We're just kind of watching their behavior, counting their numbers.

NARRATOR: Paige hopes this exercise will help develop skills

needed for her ultimate goal,

to put a tag on a tiger shark by hand.

But as she tries to make contact

the Galapagos shark swims off.

(intense music playing)

NARRATOR: The behavior of the group is changing.

(grunts)

NARRATOR: The sharks are skittish.

(intense music playing)

NARRATOR: Then Paige sees why,

a massive tiger looking for an easy meal.

PAIGE: This is the species that I need the most practice with,

because this is the species that I'm looking to put a tag on.

(intense music playing)

PAIGE: There is no playbook for this.

I'm literally kind of writing the book with Jules.

(intense music continues)

NARRATOR: The shark doesn't react at all.

Step one is complete.

PAIGE: If Jules is with me, I know that I can safely work with these sharks.

PAIGE: Yeah.

(laughter)

(intense music playing)

NARRATOR: The gathering of tiger sharks in Maui

grows closer by day.

The team heads out for the next step with the more habituated O'ahu tigers.

To prove that it's possible to tag a tiger shark while freediving.

The tag Paige has is light-years ahead of what her mentor Carl used in 2014.

We have a wheel here that gives me the tiger shark's speed through the water.

PAIGE: The camera's here.

NARRATOR: A gyroscope also records the orientation of the shark in the water,

and a beacon provides its location.

After a preset amount of time,

the tag will fall off the shark

and emit a radio signal so Paige can retrieve it.

JULIA: Paige, this is the shark. Get your tag.

NARRATOR: It's a big female.

PAIGE: Where is she?

JULIA: Went down right on the back corner.

PAIGE: Okay.

(intense music playing)

NARRATOR: Jules provides some incentive to stick around.

PAIGE: The first opportunity that I see, I need to just take advantage of it.

NARRATOR: The first approach startles the shark.

PAIGE: All I'm thinking is, "This is it."

I start kicking as hard as I can.

She angles her body down just as I'm putting the tag on.

And I release my hand from the tag a fraction of a second too early,

and the tag pops off of her,

and it just immediately starts sinking.

(somber music playing)

PAIGE: That one hurts a little, but getting closer.

NARRATOR: The mistake will cost Paige valuable time.

The clamp is programmed to dissolve in saltwater,

so the tag will stay at the bottom for 48 hours

before floating to the surface.

(waves crashing)

(suspenseful music playing)

NARRATOR: Two days later, things get even worse.

The tag should be at the surface by now,

but Paige isn't picking up a signal.

PAIGE: I am not hearing anything.

Not getting location information from a tag usually means that's it.

NARRATOR: It's the only tag she has.

The entire Maui mission could be sunk.

PAIGE: Oh, my gosh. I blew it.

NARRATOR: Just as the team is about to give up hope

on finding the camera tech,

Paige hears something.

(device beeping)

I hope I'm not, like, crazy.

I'm not, like, totally sure if I'm hearing something.

If I am, it's really faint.

(device beeping)

PAIGE: This way.

Turn into the wind.

More starboard, starboard.

(screams) Oh, my God!

-CARL: That's it. -Oh, it's my tag.

-JULIA: Yes, it is. -I can't believe it.

-JULIA: Wow. -(women giggling)

PAIGE: I looked that way and I couldn't believe

that there was this big orange $11,000 tag sitting in the blue water.

This little guy is what saved the day today.

Got you.

-(screams) Yeah! -(laughter)

I truly cannot believe I found that.

PAIGE: That's crazy.

Half of the game is just having the tenacity

to keep getting up and trying again every time you get knocked down.

(dramatic music playing)

NARRATOR: The team departs from Maui in less than three months.

And successful tag deployment is still a box unchecked.

Today, while the rest of the team focuses on tagging Galapagos sharks.

And then the other set it up.

NARRATOR: Paige will be on the lookout for another tiger.

Oh, my God, you're freakin' ripped.

NARRATOR: Joining the team is fellow scientist and shark researcher

-Chloe Blandino -One, two, three, lift.

Watch your toes.

and assistant Madison.

-Right on. -Woo-hoo.

Carl, anything else?

-Don't look at me. -(chuckles)

You guys call the shots.

(intense music playing)

NARRATOR: The team hopes to deploy several acoustic transmitters on the mission.

An acoustic transmitter is a small device that is implanted into a shark.

And they can go about their whole rest of their life

without any bother.

And we can then trace their movements.

NARRATOR: It's the same technology used by Carl to track tiger sharks in 2014.

JULIA: Right off the bow.

Easy, easy.

Yeah, we got a shark already.

I can't say for certain that it's a female

but her body characteristic is definitely feminine.

NARRATOR: In order to implant the transmitter,

they need to do it the traditional way

JULIA: All right. Fishing gears ready.

and catch the shark.

We want to keep 'em interested but not like too full.

PAIGE: Yeah.

See, right here, Paige, coming to you. We got two sharks.

So let's, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Okay. Almost.

We're here, momma.

JULIA: We just want to give you a little workup.

Make sure you're okay.

Some extra bling.

(intense music playing)

-Yeah. -Yeah, yeah, yeah,

clear the pole, clear the pole.

-All right. Shark on, baby. -Whoo!

Hey, keep eyes on the buoy.

All right, Paige. Nice and easy.

Day one.

PAIGE: Once the shark is on the hook,

we need to be able to quickly restrain the animal

in a way that keeps the animal safe.

(intense music continues)

All right. Come on, momma.

CHLOE: Okay. Okay. I'm gonna pull her up.

Oh, another free-swimmer.

-PAIGE: Oh, my God. -JULIA: Uh-oh. Uh-oh.

-Okay. -Is that a tiger?

PAIGE: Oh, my gosh.

NARRATOR: While the arrival of the tiger could benefit Paige,

at the moment, the concern is for the Galapagos shark on the line.

The large tiger shark could make an easy meal of it.

Right here. Give it some snacks.

CHLOE: Give it some snacks.

(suspenseful music playing)

We're gonna get this shark up so that he's not dinner.

Okay. Great. Let's grab it, grab it.

Okay. Okay.

-Okay. No worries. No worries. -That's it.

PAIGE: We don't know its level of interest in this Galapagos shark,

but we do know that we need to get this job done

and release the animal.

Okay.

Go, Chloe, work your magic, Chloe.

There you go. Over and under.

-(groans) -You're okay.

Okay, rope on.

-Hey, quit it. -PAIGE: Woo-hoo! Woo-hoo!

NARRATOR: Rolling the shark over calms the frantic Galapagos

and puts her in what's called tonic immobility.

PAIGE: It's kind of like a natural sleep/comatose state for them.

-Beautiful. -Good job, girls.

NARRATOR: But it makes it even easier pickings for the tiger shark.

So, um, everyone, keep an eye on the big T.

We're looking for like an 11-footer.

Look up here, guys,

-tiger shark on the surface. -PAIGE: Tiger, tiger.

Don't get this Galapagos.

(intense music playing)

I can't believe we got a tiger.

'Tis the season.

NARRATOR: The tiger appears uninterested in the hooked Galapagos shark.

So Jules proceeds quickly with the surgery.

Okay, knife, please.

CHLOE: There we go.

Okay, beautiful.

-Okay. -JULIA: Thank you.

So it's ID number 9853.

(grunts)

Tag is in need. Needle, please.

You're all right. Relax.

JULIA: Thank you.

-All right. Tag is in. Suture's done. -Perfect.

JULIA: We're going to flip this animal over.

You're gonna live a long and healthy life.

-CHLOE: Oh. -JULIA: Yes, baby.

Go get them.

(women cheering)

Yeah!

JULIAL: Yes, girl.

(triumphant music playing)

Yeah, we're just gonna keep chumming, I think, and tee it up.

NARRATOR: Now, Paige has another chance to tag an O'ahu tiger shark

before they gather in Maui.

JULIA: As soon as I jumped in while she's prepping the camera,

"Paige, this is your shot. This is your shark."

(intense music playing)

PAIGE: I am really trying to just let the rest of the noise

that's going on in my head kind of fade away

and I am on a level of focus that I have not experienced

before in my life.

JULIA: It's here, Paige. It's here.

It's good?

(dramatic music playing)

JULIA: I looked over, and she's already swimming down.

She's literally like at that one point right behind the shark

where he can't quite see the back of his dorsal fin.

PAIGE: My heartbeat in that moment was so loud in my ears.

It was like I couldn't hear anything else.

And seeing it go on right where it needs to be,

the shark had no idea until boom, the clamp went on.

(screams) Yes!

(women laugh, cheer)

And I was just so relieved, like I was just like, "Yes!"

So I was like, "We did it."

(screaming, laughing)

JULIA: We didn't know what the shark was gonna do

after the tag was put on his dorsal fin.

And then he comes back.

Here comes this tiger shark with a bright orange little package

and we were just like, "Oh, no, we're on his camera,"

you know, it's so cool. Now the shark's filming us.

(triumphant music playing)

NARRATOR: For Paige, this is the culmination of years of preparation.

(triumphant music continues)

(laughter)

Oh, my God.

The sense of relief that I felt once I saw that the camera was on was--

it was huge.

(sniffles) I'm super proud of her.

JULIA: She has worked her butt off for the last few years

to make sure that this thing is deployed on a tiger shark and she nailed it.

NARRATOR: Paige has proven

that it doesn't disturb the shark's natural behavior

in the slightest.

I mean, the fact that he came back around validates the method of tagging.

PAIGE: It was exciting enough to see from the shark's point of view.

But then I see that he actually went and swam up to another tiger shark

(shark squeaking)

which is just insane.

It brings the proof of concept full circle.

It takes a uniquely-skilled team trained in the right way

with the right equipment, and we have that team.

I have no doubt that Paige has the ability to pull this off.

I'm definitely ready for Maui.

(suspenseful music playing)

NARRATOR: By January, the shark migration is in full swing.

Olowalu should be swarming with sharks from around Hawaii.

PAIGE: So this is the site that I'm really interested in looking at

for a tiger shark mating aggregation.

This is where I have the best chance of getting a tag on.

I need to start here.

(mystery music playing)

PAIGE: All right, what have we got?

All right, we've got some nice mahi carcasses today.

(bell jingles)

PAIGE: I don't know exactly what to expect from these Maui tiger sharks.

The tiger sharks on Maui, I expect to be a little bit more wild.

Mating can be very dangerous for female tiger sharks,

so I expect them to be very cautious.

And I kind of expect the opposite from the males, more unpredictability

jumpy.

It's just going to be a completely different game

than it was on O'ahu.

PAIGE: Let us know if you need more pieces of chum.

NARRATOR: Paige and Jules will have Kaylee,

another shark lab researcher to help them on Maui.

Chum in one hand, notes on the other.

NARRATOR: It isn't long before their captain, Cory,

sees the first visitor of the day.

PAIGE: Guys, guys?

We got a tiger shark in the water over here.

PAIGE: Hello. She's right there.

(intense music playing)

NARRATOR: It's a good omen for the mission.

You ready?

(breathes)

(intense music continues)

NARRATOR: The Maui tiger shark is wary of Jules.

CORY: Obviously a little shy.

PAIGE: Let's send the crate down deep again

-and then pull it up really slowly. -(rattles)

PAIGE: We're really just trying to entice her to come in a little closer.

Does anyone have eyes on her?

CORY: That's a negative.

NARRATOR: It's nothing like the O'ahu sharks.

I haven't seen the tiger shark approach our area in five to ten minutes.

NARRATOR: The drone will give Cory a better view.

(drone whirring)

(intense music continues)

CORY: Guys, we have a second tiger shark coming in.

-(screams) -NARRATOR: That's enough for Paige.

PAIGE: Having multiple tiger sharks around the boat was really exciting.

But then as soon as we get in the water,

they exhibit that really, really shy behavior.

KAYLEE: She's definitely not people-friendly.

She's like, "Hmm, yeah, no, swim away please, thanks."

(drone whirring)

CORY: And the tiger shark is gone.

PAIGE: This is catastrophic for the project.

This as it stands right now, if it doesn't change, is game over.

(somber music playing)

NARRATOR: The next morning, it's more of the same.

The tiger sharks are not giving Paige and Jules the time of day.

PAIGE: They're potentially looking for a mate

and then there's little us with our cooler,

trying to make ourselves as attractive as possible.

NARRATOR: Mating very well could be what's keeping the tiger sharks

at a distance.

NARRATOR: But as the days go on

(suspenseful music playing)

it becomes apparent that there may be a much bigger distraction here.

-(shark hissing) -(Paige gasps)

-JULIA: Yeah, baby. -PAIGE: Whoa!

-(hopeful music playing) -PAIGE: Whoo!

That scared me.

(screams)

Wow!

NARRATOR: Each winter, humpback whales

-descend on Maui -(sharks wailing)

by the thousands.

It's like every time I turn around, there's one breaching.

(hissing, wailing)

NARRATOR: They've come from the North Pacific

to mate, give birth,

and raise their young in the warm waters of Hawaii.

Tiger sharks are migrating to this area during mid-winter.

PAIGE: Yes, we think for mating.

(wailing)

Or are they coming to Maui to take advantage of humpback whale season.

NARRATOR: If there's a chance that Maui's humpback whales play a role

in this tiger shark mystery, Paige needs to get to the bottom of it.

She knows just the man to talk to.

(lively music playing)

ED: At the bow, over the rail.

NARRATOR: Ed Lyman has been working with Hawaiian humpbacks for 20 years.

(indistinct shout)

NARRATOR: Often coming to the rescue of whales

tangled in fishing lines.

(wailing)

NARRATOR: Paige hopes he can provide some insight into how their arrival

affects the tiger shark population.

Is there any kind of interactions that you see between tiger sharks

and humpback whales and if so, kind of what did those look like?

There's been times we've had compromised animals,

and it has drawn sharks.

ED: Sharks have shown up and we've actually seen

the animals basically kill the whale.

And another good example, Paige, would be carcasses.

It's food for them.

PAIGE: Tiger sharks that typically inhabit O'ahu coastlines or big island coastlines

will actually migrate to Maui during these mid-winter months.

It makes some sense

based again on what we know of the whale movement patterns,

their concentrations, the number of calves that are born here.

That's because we know they don't all make it.

I mean, some older data suggest that one in five are not gonna make it.

Oh, wow.

Humpback whale, blubber, muscle, visceral tissue,

all of that is very, very calorie-dense.

NARRATOR: The massive influx of potential food could be a large part

of why the Maui sharks are not hanging around for scraps of fish.

(intense music playing)

ED: One thing we can do is we're getting calls

on compromised animals,

especially entangled whales.

Some of those we know are not gonna make it.

We'll let your team know that there's potential case

where sharks might be looking for a meal.

-PAIGE: Yeah. That would be amazing. -(waves crashing)

NARRATOR: Another week goes by and Paige is running out of time.

Soon, the Maui tiger sharks will begin their migration back

to points all over Hawaii.

And the mystery of what they do here each winter

is no closer to being solved.

PAIGE: We are getting a shark around the boat every now and again.

Tiger at the surface.

JULIA: Right here. Right here. Right here.

PAIGE: But we're playing by their rules.

It's like as soon as you give up is when they show up.

It's like the running trend of the strip, just like,

"Don't stop, we're here, don't forget. We're-- We'll come around."

It's like, "Okay. Well, we've been just out here for like 36 hours."

My window is slowly closing, and maybe I can get something done

but not with the way things are right now.

(dramatic music playing)

NARRATOR: As time runs out on their Maui expedition,

Paige gets a call from Ed Lyman, the whale expert.

There's an injured humpback a few miles away.

PAIGE: The sharks have taken a couple bites out of it already.

I'm not sure if it's still alive or if it's kind of let go.

NARRATOR: It's the best lead yet.

(intense music playing)

When they arrive, the whale is clinging to life.

A second humpback circles,

watching helplessly as several tiger sharks line up to feast.

(wailing)

PAIGE: They're probably really fired up just from the prospect

of this whale that's going to die soon.

NARRATOR: Before long, an eight-foot male, the smallest of the group,

breaks away to check out the boat.

(suspenseful music playing)

That's a beautiful animal.

That's like exactly what I'm looking for right there.

NARRATOR: For a shark at the bottom of the pecking order,

the promise of a guaranteed meal is too much to resist.

PAIGE: Oh, how'd you that?

(wailing)

Then I go get in and say hi.

(intense music playing)

NARRATOR: The shark circles Paige,

dropping its pectoral fins and rolling its eyes.

A clear sign her presence is viewed as a threat.

PAIGE: His energy levels are very elevated.

He's coming in really hard, making these sharp fast turns.

NARRATOR: Then it goes for the boat.

(intense music continues)

PAIGE: He's like, "You are now other things in the water that are big.

I'm competing with you as well. You need to get out of this space."

NARRATOR: Paige calls off the dive.

PAIGE: This is not a safe situation for me to try

and do deployment.

And it's really unfortunate because I don't know

if I'll ever get another opportunity like this

or another interaction like this with sharks and a whale.

NARRATOR: The team is running out of hope

that they will get a tag on a shark this season.

Desperate to compete with lure of humpbacks,

the team upgrades their bait from mahi-mahi to ahi tuna.

PAIGE: The only thing we can do is wait and just keep chumming.

Right now we've got a bait crate down at depth,

and then we've got a float line with a carcass hanging off of it,

so we're kind of all guns blazing right now.

(intense music playing)

Guys, guys, there's a shark, there's a shark.

JULIA: Ooh! I'm gonna get my suit.

CORY: She's on it. She's on the bait.

JULIA: Oh, my gosh. Paige, this is huge. Yes.

He's coming at it.

-Slowly, slowly, slowly. -KAYLEE: Slowly bringing her in.

NARRATOR: It appears the bait change is just what they needed.

-Here we got two, we got two. -CORY: Tiger shark, tiger shark.

NARRATOR: The female checks out the bait, keeping an eye on the male.

It could be he's interested in her as a possible mate.

But the female overmatches him in size and confidence.

She closes ranks on the food

and the male swims off.

CORY: She's coming right under you.

NARRATOR: Jules keeps the female's attention

while Paige sizes her up.

PAIGE: As soon as I got in the water,

I could tell she was cautious but comfortable enough

to make close passes to me

which is really what I had been looking for the entire time.

(waves crashing)

CORY: I see her. She's coming back to the bow.

(intense music playing)

NARRATOR: The 11-foot female is the most interactive shark

they have encountered in Maui.

The shark circles at 25 feet below the surface,

interested in the bait box.

It's too deep.

Jules needs to lure it closer to the surface.

KAYLEE: Paige is going down.

(intense music playing)

CORY: She needs to wait for that perfect moment.

PAIGE: I get a close pass from this female.

It's honestly perfect.

She's moving very slowly just kind of right underneath me.

-CORY: I got it on my camera. -KAYLEE: She is going down.

She's approaching the shark.

PAIGE: I was kind of hanging back a little bit

just trying to be ready for any kind of reaction.

-(thuds) -PAIGE: I just get like booted

and it starts sinking.

NARRATOR: The startled shark beats its powerful tail to get away

and hits Paige hard,

sending the tag flying.

JULIA: It's a wild tiger shark,

so they're fully capable of telling us, "No."

Paige just ended up right in the line of fire.

NARRATOR: The shark hit Paige with what is called the peduncle.

The end of the shark's muscled body, just forward of the fleshy tail.

It's like getting hit with a baseball bat.

JULIA: That's a really hard hit, and it's got to hurt.

The clamp was over the dorsal fin

and the movement of the fin itself actually popped the tag off.

(suspenseful music playing)

NARRATOR: Jules grabs the tag just in time.

But Paige is shaken.

-CORY: Are you okay? -PAIGE: I think I need

to sit for a minute. (grunts)

JULIA: Take a deep breath. You got it.

I don't know, dude.

CORY: You're doing okay. -My arm hurts pretty bad.

JULIA: I can only imagine what Paige is feeling.

It definitely rattles you.

NARRATOR: If she dives again,

there's a chance she might not be able to secure the tag properly.

Jules, just give it a shot.

NARRATOR: Paige makes the tough call

for Jules to take them across the finish line.

PAIGE: It was literally like the last ten minutes of daylight

that we're trying to work with,

and I'm like, "Just go. If you see an opportunity,

just get after it."

Put on the left side.

PAIGE: Jules has the tag.

She's committed to the deployment at this point.

I'm right there next to her.

JULIA: I know that's a lot coming from her to put that responsibility

in my hands, but we're a team.

(intense music playing)

JULIA: She's on the bait. Let's go, let's go.

(wails)

PAIGE: I look at Jules and she's already diving down,

just taking advantage of that opportunity

of having the shark distracted and right in our space.

And she goes down and she just nails it.

-(screaming) -(laughter)

-We got it. -Yay.

(screaming, laughing continues)

I'm psyched. (chuckles) So.

PAIGE: I'm so proud of Jules for being able to pull it off.

It's been so grueling,

and so many ups and downs of trying to get this done in this area.

So to finally see a package on a tiger shark in Maui,

and watch it swim away, I mean, it's just so cool.

I couldn't ask for anything more.

(hopeful music playing)

NARRATOR: Paige Wernli and her team have made history.

They successfully deployed a camera tag

on a free-swimming tiger shark in Maui for the first time.

PAIGE: It proves that we can free-dive with these tiger sharks on Maui,

we can get successful deployments, we can get footage back,

we can get interactions with other tiger sharks.

-Two o'clock. -I see it.

NARRATOR: It means the mystery of what's bringing the tiger sharks here

is one step closer to being solved.

Got it.

PAIGE: We deployed on a female, but we see two other males in the footage,

kind of in that inshore habitat with her, sharing the same space.

NARRATOR: It's a breakthrough to the mystery that can't be overlooked.

PAIGE: Male tiger sharks are typically found

in more offshore habitats,

and so it's not the usual thing to see males

close in to coastal habitats.

It's amazing.

We can see a female being pursued by two males.

It makes the puzzle that much more exciting.

What we've seen so far is really just the tip of the iceberg.

So the work's not done. We're really just getting started.

(hopeful music playing)

There's never a time that I ever doubted that she could do anything.

CHLOE: And I think that now she is completely unstoppable.

PAIGE: I'm so proud of the effort that the whole team

has put in, really, to accomplish this.

It's not something that I could ever attempt to do by myself.

CHLOE: We have a lot of hardworking people, a lot of love.

And we have a kick-ass team of women out here and we're making it happen.

(music fading)