The Dorsal Fin

CBS News has a feature on Anderson Cooper’s most recent “swimming with sharks” endeavor, which took place in the waters off of Cuba. Cooper enjoys the company of reef sharks throughout the video footage.

Tomorrow night, CBS will be airing an episode of “CSI” with a plot revolving around a “shark attack” in a pool at a Las Vegas casino. That’s right, a shark attack in a swimming pool. No, seriously. At least, the effects in the scene above are a little bit of a step up from some of the efforts that SyFy has been airing, as of late. However, the idea of a shark maneuvering through a shallow swimming pool filled to the brim with people partying and then attacking a bather isn’t much less ridiculous than dinosharks or sharktopuses.

While the depiction of the shark, seen in the clip above, certainly does nothing to dispel the misconception of sharks as “mindless killers,” it’s hard to judge how the episode, as a whole, will portray sharks. The information about the episode provided by CBS notes that the investigators must determine if the “killer is human or shark.” Maybe, the shark was framed.

UPDATE: The quick overview that I refer to below was replaced by a transcript of the actual 60 Minutes segment, which is a total about-face of the quick overview and is an excellent pro-media example of how news outlets can cover shark stories without fear-mongering. I have since posted a follow-up on “The Sharkman” segment from 60 Minutes.

According to CBSnews.com, Sunday’s episode of 60 Minutes will include a feature on great white shark diving with Michael Rutzen, who is well-known for his cage-less interactions with white sharks in South Africa.

The quick overview at the CBS website can’t seem to distinguish reality from fiction as best detailed by the following excerpt…

How do you swim with the star of “Jaws?” With a paramedic on board and an ambulance on the shore…

Unless, the article is referring to swimming with Richard Dreyfuss, or the ghost of either Roy Scheider or Robert Shaw, one can only assume that the “star” they are referring to is the giant rubber-skinned mechanical shark prop that “starred” as the serial killer shark from the 1975 film. The video preview seems to indicate none of the above, rather Anderson Cooper and Mike Rutzen appear to be swimming with actual great white sharks, which, contrary to over-the-top sensational media outlets, are not the same as gigantic fictional sharks portrayed by a problematic movie prop.

Keep up that top-notch journalistic integrity CBS!

The Early Show on CBS ran the video segment below this morning in conjunction with Discovery Channel’s Shark Week. The segment is loaded with all the typical shark cliches that often accompany mainstream media reports, including Jaws theme music, the science and technology correspondent referring to himself as bait, and the entire morning crew getting a good laugh in about sharks having “a tough PR problem.” While the lead-in to the video mentions sharks being endangered, the focus of the segment doesn’t seem particularly rooted in conservation efforts, and the light-hearted attitude on the part of the crew back in the studio at the end of the segment really doesn’t convey to me that those involved with the show treated the declining shark population issue with much serious thought.

The segment is not completely without merit, in terms of shark conservation, Andy DeHart, of the National Aquarium, notes that 250,000 sharks are killed daily, and he discusses the impact that losing sharks would have on the marine ecosystem. Stuart Cove also brings up how the experience of diving with sharks can change opinions and attitudes about sharks. Although, with the controversy going on with shark diving in the Bahamas, this Tiger Beach footage in the segment might also drum up more criticism from those opposed to shark diving.

A text-based version titled, Making A Case For Saving The Shark, also appeared online today.