Capturing the Shark. White (Eco-)Masculinity and the Pursuit of Science in the Docuseries Expedition Great White

Abstract

Expedition Great White is a docuseries that follows a crew composed of professional fishermen and scientists who conduct studies about great white sharks. This article explores three interrelated dimensions of the series. First, while the series repeatedly suggests that the actions performed in front of the cameras ultimately aim to study and protect great whites and that for both the fishermen and scientists, the well-being of sharks is of the highest priority, this masculine care is not only subjected to the pursuit of new scientific insights about sharks but also embedded in a discourse of competition. Second, this pursuit of new knowledge is coded in masculine terms, as traditional notions of masculinity (i.e., confronting and catching the dangerous animal as well as making scientific progress) become re-negotiated in view of the animals’ well-being and, ultimately, their protection. Finally, while the first two dimensions bespeak the desire for human control of the natural world, the digital lives of tagged sharks challenge this human control.