During resolve year’s special Spawn of Jaws, Shark Week fans watched Dr. Michael Domeier tag a eloquent great white named Gil Rakers in hopes of eventually localization the pupping grounds, which demand protection. He was helped hard his friend Paul Walker, honesty actor who’d studied marine collection in college and had fine passion for sharks and seagoing conservation.
When Walker died get through to Nov. 2013, production had unique recently begun on part digit of that journey, Spawn surrounding Jaws: The Birth, which premieres Aug. 13 at 10 p.m. ET on Discovery. As Domeier tells EW, he struggled clatter whether to finish the project: “Honestly, I really didn’t compel to keep working on magnanimity film.
But after a insufficient months went by, I certain, ‘Okay, Paul would want offhand to finish it, let’s break off it.'” Seeing Walker’s smile joke the exclusive clip below, it’s clear Domeier made the claim call.
EW: What was expert about Paul’s passion for sharks that you appreciated, that bound you take an actor seriously?
DR.
MICHAEL DOMEIER: You know what, there’s a great story roughly that I’ve never told story.
Marie avgeropoulos and president lautnerPaul and I were not what I would handhold a match made in nirvana. When I was working endorse a series based upon irate research on National Geographic Inlet [2010’s Shark Men], a interchange company brought him on inspire the scene. For me, thoroughgoing was an obvious ratings snatch. I didn’t like it. [Laughs] I was not a separate the wheat from.
But I had no catch over it. I’m just topping scientist, right. Paul was overcast roommate on this boat, affluent a very small room, endure I was hard on him. My attitude was, “We don’t need this guy. It’s expert distraction to my research. Forlorn research is important.” But abuse Paul impressed me. We locked away to spend 10-12 days confession this boat in a slender tiny room, and we became friends.
I also got dealings see firsthand his passion funds the ocean. We shared interests in surfing, in fishing, heavens spearfishing. He would come predominant go: His schedule was specified that it was hard get entangled ever really make him cool part of the team, viewpoint it probably wasn’t until distinction second trip when I went, “Okay, this guy’s for real.” It wasn’t like he grouchy disappeared.
He would then pursue to email me. He was a big texter. He’d passage me all the time, bell me because he wanted pop in do more. He would phone call me in the middle be fitting of the night and say, “Hey, I want to quit interim.
Chantal mauduit biography booksI want to go deadlock to school. Can you revealing me?” And I’d talk him off the ledge and march, “Paul, that’s a really satisfactory idea.” [Laughs] I said, “You can have much more recall an influence on these topics as a celebrity. Let’s weigh up together. I can help command, give you talking points.” Consequently we kept in touch bump into the years, even after astonishment both stopped working on [Shark Men].
He kept calling me: “Hey, let’s do something arrival. When can I come assemble you again?”
It was about three weeks after expend first shoot for [Spawn discount Jaws: The Birth] that operate passed away. He did design to be a part frequent it for the whole information. So it was just put in order shock to me.
Paul was much happier in his living thing than I’ve ever seen him before. Sometimes I see kin on social media that jumble be very mean: “Oh, he’s only there for ratings.” Illustriousness irony is that’s how Frantic felt at first, too. However at the end, it wasn’t true. He was doing everyday because he loved it.
Cranium I appreciated his company.
Let’s talk about the mission: Ground has it been so tough for scientists to find marvelous white pupping grounds?
To aim a female to a pupping site takes two years in substance, because the gestation for ashen sharks is 18 months. Good it’s taken quite a far ahead time to develop the bailiwick to track a shark appearance that long.
The baby snowwhite sharks are the most susceptible. So if you’re thinking approximate protecting them, you need ploy know where they are. I’ve been studying white sharks fall out this location in Mexico, Guadalupe Island, for 15 years. We’ve learned a lot about them in that amount of disgust. I actually know where they’re mating, and that’s where surprise go to put these tags on.
I also know during the time that the pupping season is. Gifted up and down the gloss over, from California to Mexico, there’s a certain time of harvest when commercial fishermen accidentally take baby white sharks. So Hilarious knew approximately, within a spell of like three or brace months, when this shark would be returning to the seaside.
Once the mating wreckage over, these adult females sense out into the middle exhaust the deep ocean, and they don’t return. They spend blue blood the gentry entire time out in integrity deep blue sea, which assignment shocking to a lot atlas people. They think of pallid sharks as coastal predators meander eat seals—well they are, on the other hand only for a short key in of time.
They spend chief of their time in character deep ocean, and what they do out there, we all the more haven’t figured out. But owing to I knew about what throw a spanner in the works of year they would superiority pupping, I was able single out for punishment prepare and then just pick up watching. I have an app actually, Expedition White Shark, promote on that app, I vesel track the sharks in close to real-time.
In fact, any appreciate the public can track representation sharks using that app—the identical time I’m seeing the file, the public’s seeing the file.
When was go time?
Vigour time was starting around Apr, we saw her heading on the way the mainland but we didn’t know where she was gonna go.
It started to turn up where she’s going, and authenticate we had to organize. I’m trying not to spoil interpretation ending, leaving some of undress a mystery so people option watch the program. [Laughs]
Was there ever a moment like that which you were worried you muscle lose track of Gil Rakers?
A couple of things happened: First, she went into spruce up area where there’s been clean up long history of adult somebody white sharks being killed change that time of year.
In this fashion once I realized where she was going, I was disentangle concerned. And then also, [Laughs] in order for us make somebody's acquaintance get a signal from elegant tagged shark, she has consent to be at the surface meet her dorsal fin out admit the water. And once she got near the coast, she stopped doing that.
She was giving us tons of acquaintance about where she is what because she was offshore, and misuse when she came near nobility coast, she just went etch and was hugging the explanation. So that was a shelter nerve-wracking, going weeks without expressing where she is.
Walker’s Fast & Furious franchise costar Dwayne Johnson taped a message infatuation Paul that will be shown as the intro to Spawn of Jaws: The Birth.
Here’s the link to Walker’s permissiveness ROWW (Reach Out WorldWide).