"Mythbusters" Seek Out Sharks

There are a lot of myths surrounding sharks, and who better to look at them than the Discovery Channel's resident "Mythbusters," Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman?

They focused on the majestic and sometimes deadly creatures in a special that's part of the cable network's Shark Week, and they told Early Show co-anchor Harry Smith what they learned, and how they learned it. The Early Show is doing a concurrent Shark Week of its own!

"Here's the thing about sharks," Hyneman remarked to Smith. "It's what I call 'The Boogie Man Under the Bed Syndrome.' They're there, but you can't really see them. They're under the water. They're these big things with sharp teeth ... but the reality is, when you're down there, it's a little different. You're not their normal lunch.

"We get into a lot of these different myths, all this mystery surrounding these animals. And, you know, some of it's true. They're dangerous. We were -- in this upcoming episode -- we were right there front-and-center in a swarm of sharks."

"We also try to look at everything from a slightly different angle," Savage said. "You hear that, if you're being bitten by a shark, you should jam your fingers in its eyes." So, Mythbusters built a lifelike electronic shark, Savage climbed into its mouth to see, as he put it, "If you're being thrashed about, can you even find its eyes?"

Hyneman told of being approached (while in a shark cage!) by a huge tiger shark: "They look at you. You look at them. ... You can just hear them go, 'I think I'll have the rump-roast today!' "



To see photos from behind-the-scenes of the "Mythbusters" sharks special, click here.