NARRATOR: Next day back in the
Polynesian town of Papetoai,
they visit an expert who
ID sharks by their fins.
So we were hoping to
see if you could look
through some of your databases.
NARRATOR: Shark
scientist Nicolas
Buray keeps a photo archive
of Tahitian tiger sharks.
That's cool.
NARRATOR: And it's been growing.
MAN: How many sharks do
you have in your database?
So in our database,
we have around 55
different tiger sharks.
This is new.
For 10 years, I
saw maybe two only.
Right now, since three,
four, five years,
we are more and
more tiger sharks.
NARRATOR: Local divers send
Nicolas dorsal fin shots.
He enters them into the archive
and identifies the individuals.
So you're looking at
the stripe patterns?
Yeah, the stripe.
When a shark's growing,
they keep the same stripe.
NARRATOR: All of the
newcomers are females.
Time to find out if
they have a match.
This one here is Kamakai.
And the dorsal is
pretty distinct.
She is mature, so
there's some scarring.
NARRATOR: During
mating, male sharks
bite the females, which
is why female shark skin
has evolved to be super thick.
Female tigers reach sexual
maturity at about 9 years.
There's no doubt
Kamakai has mated.
Clearly a big
female tiger shark.
But do you recognize her?
Or is she in your database?
I mean, no.
No.
Not in my database.
ANDY: OK.
No.
This one is, I'm
sure I don't know it.
NARRATOR: Now they
compare pictures
from the database with the big
females from the night dive.
This is the biggest one
that we've seen there.
We were thinking
possibly the same shark.
No.
For me, it's not the same.
So this one I think
is not the same.
NARRATOR: Andy
and Kori have just
added three new large females
to Nico's growing database.
Do have the other side?
No.
NARRATOR: That makes more
than 40 large sexually mature
female tiger sharks,
most with dorsal fins
chewed up and
scarred for mating.
Looks like just
a shredded fin.
NARRATOR: Everything points to
a tiger shark mating ground.
An area with males
must be nearby.
So that means those other hot
spots out there, other places
where these large tiger
sharks are hanging out
that haven't been studied yet.
NARRATOR: If they can find
it, perhaps Kamakai will
be there looking for a mate.
