When I was young, I went with my family to see the movie Jaws. Unfortuntely, I sat next to my mother who,in an attempt to protect me and shield me from the terrifying and bloody parts, covered my eyes whenever a “bad scene” came up. So instead of seeing what was going on, all I experienced was the screaming on the screen, the pounding music and the shrieks, ooohs and ahhhhs of my fellow movie goers. The rest I had to imagine.
Being an imaginative child, my imagination was worse, much worse, than what actually shown on the screen. The result of that event has been a life long, deeply held and irrational fear of sharks. And when I say irrational, I'm not kidding.
For example, when I was younger, if I was in a swimming pool, I would avoid the drain at the bottom of the pool, just in case a shark might pop out. Of course, I know that is not possible now... but still. To this day, even though I know there will be no shark jumping from a 4 inch pool drain, there really is no need for me to get too close to those drains. I mean, they're usually covered in slime and goo and such. Yeah... slime and goo.
Anyway, seeing this video of a real life shark, one they have named “Deep Blue” brought back some of those gut wrenching, reflexive fears of my youth.
Even so, I don't think it's irrational to say that the guy in the video is certifiably nuts. Total frootkaken. When you want to swim next to an animal, whose tail fin alone is bigger than you, and pull on it's fin to tease it, well... sometimes you get what you deserve. You may earn the nickname "Shark Bait", but posthumously.
Enjoy... if you dare!
Video and story credit: ABC Television Studios and Mauricio Hoyos Padilla