Kind: captions
Language: en
a lot of people would say you've got
reason more than most to hate sharks and
yet you
don't can you explain
it it uh was in a spear fishing
Championship that I was the reigning
Champion it was a 6-hour
competition after 4 hours many fishing
things speed and each one had bled into
the water the tide had gone out but
nobody had seen any Shar
and I went out a bit wider and deeper to
try and find fish that hadn't been
scared and as I died down I was just
about to spear a fish when this huge
thump and crash hit me in the chest
knocked the gun out of my hand the mask
off my face I was Hur through the
water then I realized it had to be a
shark and I thought what can I do to
protect myself so I gouged the shark's
head or with my fingers trying to get
its eyes it seemed to let go and as it I
fell away I pushed it that shark to try
and push it away but my hand went right
in his mouth ripping I ended up with
only one tendon left and 94 stitches in
my hand but I grabbed the shark around
the belly and still 30 40 ft underwater
holding on and then I realized I needed
air cuz I was snorkling and I was going
to
drown
I pushed up to the surface and on the
surface I yelled out shark shark and I
looked down and the shark was coming
back to attack
again I could see this great big head
and white teeth coming up through the
blood red water and I I thought I got
nothing at all to protect
myself I kicked at the shark but my Mir
happened the shark turned and swallowed
the float that I had attach two or three
fish to it dived and as it dived it
dragged me
underwater and it I'm on the rope and as
it dragged down I tried to find my belt
to get rid of it but I couldn't find it
I couldn't find the catch and I hadn't
breath deep breathed much and I was just
about to gas water and drown when
another miracle
happened the line
broke it was severed when the shark bit
me around the chest and it managed to
break as I came up to the surface
yelling out shark shark shark a boat
actually had seen the bright red water
my blood and was coming over to
investigate they quickly picked me up
rolled me into the boat and with really
great Precision I was in the hospital
within an hour given blood and uh
luckily did stuff the photographs that
were taken on the operating table and my
stories went around the world people
wondered whether I'd go back in the
water it was when I was at the Adelaide
Zoo looking at the lion cages that I
came up with the idea I'll make a cage
I'll lower it over the side of the boat
in an area where these great big great
white sharks habit and I'll have a look
for myself to see if I want to go diving
again because CU I loved diving but I
was really
scared we made the first cage and on
that first expedition about 48 years ago
we made the first great white shark
films ever that first time that you put
the cage in the water did that cure your
fear not really at all it helped the
first shark that came really looked like
a small submarine with a deadly front on
it like a what Torpedoes but teeth we
thought maybe the Sharks were interested
in the people inside but then we found
that they would come up and bite on the
cage even when there was no one in it
and what we ended up finding it was the
electrolysis that was set out by the
salt water on the steel that attracted
them so now that you've spent so much
time with sharks I mean how do you feel
about them they're a wonderful
interesting animal and even today they
still need help because people still
fear and dread them because they're the
last major Predator that will eat you
but with education I think people will
understand that we need them in our
oceans and of 400 varieties there's only
a handful that may bite people the more
I got interested in
sharks and the more I loved the sea I
was able to return and go Abalone diving
all the way along our coastline I spent
16 years and 5,000 hours or more
underwater and on those occasions I only
saw three
Shar normally they don't have humans on
their menu list they prefer to stick to
their own food thank goodness they
didn't because how long our Beaches they
could there'd be a real smus boort if
they wanted to
MH a lot of people would say you've got
reason more than most to hate sharks and
yet you don't
can you explain it it's the
anomaly of this fear that was generated
and shown to me after my Shark Attack
made me think going back into the
water was a a real relief and I found it
wasn't as bad as everybody thought so I
spent whole my life trying to put sharks
in a different
perspective because of that experience
you had because of my experience yeah