Emoting anchor Anderson Cooper will host a "Planet in Peril" special on CNN tonight spanning 11 countries on four continents that, among other things, will focus on shark tourism and cage diving off the coast of South Africa. To report the story, A-Coop went swimming with sharks himself--and dove in at least once without a cage.
After getting an OK for the stunt from CNN's president, Cooper's local shark experts gave him some advice:
They say to project confidence. I'm not sure how one does that through SCUBA gear.
They actually tell you to hold your breath when a shark comes toward you. But my heart was beating so fast I couldn't actually hold my breath.
He managed the dive without any incidents, which isn't to say going without a cage is completely safe: We didn't have any trouble swimming with sharks off Andros Island recently, but early this year a man was killed off the coast of Florida diving without protection in shark-infested--and chummed--waters.
Related Stories:
· Anderson Cooper Dives in for Shark Story [Hollywood Reporter]
· Cage-Free Swimming with Sharks [Jaunted]]]>