A team of shark experts ventured to a remote island off Nova Scotia in search of a mysterious population of enormous great whites measuring up to 20 feet long.
Their ultimate target was ‘Big Rose,’ an elusive three-ton female believed to be one of the largest great white sharks ever encountered in the North Atlantic.
Shark researcher Dr Neil Hammerschlag first spotted the colossal predator last year and returned for the Discovery’s Shark Week special Invasion of the Mega Sharks, airing on Sunday at 10pm ET, determined to find and tag her.
The expedition unfolded as great white encounters between Cape Cod and Nova Scotia have reportedly surged by 1,000 percent over the past decade, with researchers increasingly observing what Hammerschlag described as ‘very large, massive great whites.’
The hunt took the team to Mud Island, the last place Big Rose had been seen and an emerging hotspot for sharks far larger than the eight- to 10-foot great whites commonly documented around North America.
Researchers suspended a cage beside their boat and dropped bait into the water, hoping to lure the predators close enough to identify, measure and tag them.
Several giants soon emerged from the depths, including three measuring more than 14 feet and a 16-foot female the team named Sweetheart.
But as darkness closed in, there was still no sign of the 20-foot monster they had traveled hundreds of miles to find.