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Wes
Pratt's studies of shark behavior are legendary, and to assist
him in tagging and getting DNA samples from thrashing, biting
subjects was more than the Discoverers crew were willing to pass
up. One question, How do you get a 10 ft shark to submit to a
DNA samlpling? Its not like on "CSI" where they just
open up and cooperate. Wes has to chum them to the surface, a
long patient excercise that can attract the beasts from miles
away. There's no way to tell who is going to bite the baited hook,
but fortunately the shark's healing powers are amazing and they
recover well from the hook. This is part of the reason they are
of such interesrt to science. After the shark is tired out, often
only a few minutes, Wes is dangles over the side to take a small
sample from the dorsal fin and place a tag on the creature before
letting it loose. Wes has been doing this for many years and the
health and safety of the shark is foremost. He has caught many
sharks year after year, still its amazing to watch him grab and
finesse a large shark, sometimes precariously close to that infamous
mouth!

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