I used to be a devotee of the Discovery Channel's "Shark Week" a long time ago.....back when they had reputable scientists discussing shark behavior, migration, anatomy, diet, etc.
A few years back they switched it over to the "thrill-seekers" and most of the films shown from that point concentrated on lunatics placing themselves directly in harm's way, thumping their chests, attempting to "prove" that sharks won't attack.
The fact is that sharks are (for the most part) carnivorous.....and we are (ahem) protein. Like all carnivores, sharks are attracted by certain things (noises, movements, colors, etc.) and they will place themselves at risk by attacking large prey items only when they are hungry, in need of food, and can attack without risk to themselves. When being fed from a harmless bait source that will
not fight back there is no reason whatsoever for a shark to turn away from that food to attack a human being, even though they are physically capable of doing so.
In a situation in which a shark is hungry....the shark is actively engaged in hunting.....and there is no easy, harmless prey to feed on, a diver would be making a huge mistake to enter the water, (I'm referring to the species known to attack humans in this discussion). You will note that in all of the "thrilling" shows shown on TV the sharks are being fed in a variety of ways, thereby making the divers in the water fairly secure from attack. Even then, the unexpected can occur.....I recall a show in which one of the afore-mentioned lunatics posing as a scientist used Zen techniques to lower his heart rate before swimming amongst Bull Sharks. The sharks were engorged by eating offal tossed into the water for several hours by fishermen. He did this on film for 2 seasons, if I remember correctly, and then in season 3 one of the Bulls turned and darn near bit his leg off for no really apparent reason.....some would probably say that he tempted fate once too often. Not willing to abandon his "principles", and probably sensing a means of making a profit, his next show was entitled, "Anatomy of a Shark Bite", in which they analyzed the bite from every angle and even used a set of robot shark jaws to simulate the actual "chomp".
May we be preserved from the theories of such "scientists".
I briefly turned on "Shark Week" this past Saturday afternoon. There was a show on called "Sharks - Are They Hunting Us?", in which a newly certified diver (certified less than 4 weeks prior to filming) traveled to Southern Africa to dive with the top man-eaters (Bull Shark, Tiger Shark, Great White Shark, etc.) on several different dives to "prove" that they don't hunt us. The show missed the point entirely....they do not hunt us in some situations....while in fact they
DO hunt us in other situations.
The sensationalism shown in the show reminded me of why I stopped watching a few years ago.....
Oh, and Valerie.....nothing
any of the Cousteaus does nowadays would surprise me anymore......
- John
If you read on, the story below mentions riding ON great whites, not just swimming with them... yikes!
I guess the acorn CAN fall far from the tree when it's a big nut! 
