>The Sharkman – Documentary on channel 5 this evening.

“Programme about South African diver Mike Rutzen (see interview here) who has become famous world wide as a man who swims with great white sharks outside a diving cage. The film follows Mike as he attempts to get under the skin of these fearsome beasts and show that they are not the mindless killers of popular imagination. Along the way, he investigates a remarkable condition called ‘tonic immobility’, whereby a shark can fall into a hypnotic trance if it is turned upside down”.

Was interesting to see how he interacted with the Sharks, managed to becalm Reef Sharks and then a 5oft descent with a female Tiger shark. The 8 Great whites were pretty full on, but to see a female great white show submissive behaviour and then allow him to hitch a lift on the back of her dorsal fin. Like all animals they can recognise whether you are in control or not he had spent six years working out how to understand sharks behaviour so he knew how to behave with the Sharks and minimise the risks. It will be interesting to see if we can get a better understanding of how these animals interact in the wild, do they act alone or in groups?