Anyone who knows me knows that I adore all things Craig Ferguson and so I watched his Shark Week special on The Discovery Channel. I normally shy away from Shark Week and shows like it; I feel they sensationalize animal attacks and are far too forgiving of the humans who caused the trouble to begin with.
If you’re in a wild animal’s environment then respect the animal. I was pleased that this was the exact philosophy of Craig’s dive buddy - a lovely young man named Chang Sein Chin. I can’t find much info about him but you can check out the Dive Center they used HERE
I learned a few things – a Bull Shark has a testosterone level of 900. The average human male’s level is 40. Imagine a Bull Shark at a frat party!?
Sharks hold onto each other with their teeth when mating. This leaves bite scars. Been there – Done that.
Interwoven with scenes of Craig being adorable and funny and scared shitless at the notion of hand feeding sharks there was (for me) far too many scenes of hanging human flesh and blood in the water. There goes Discovery again – if it bleeds, it leads.
Yet – Craig and his dive buddies so clearly felt a sense of wonder while among the sharks and so I ignored the unnecessary shark attack footage.
The best part of the 60 minute show is the last 15 minutes. Craig is taught how to hand feed the sharks and they all descend to a prepared area and then later move onto a beautiful old wrecked ship. The warmth of the rusty colors beside the shimmer of sharks and men in metal mesh suits was beautiful.
The look of awe and enchantment on Craig’s face when he came up from the dive is one of his most endearing moments. “I fed them, I really fed them” he tells everyone on deck.
He goes on to describe the sharks as beautiful, magnificent, amazing, and my favorite – “they’re just like big dogs” - said with a giant grin.
You can view some great clips from the show HERE
I got the above photos from TMZ. Who knew there was paparazzi underwater!!
