Swimming With Sharks

(CBS)  This story was first published on Dec. 11, 2005. It was updated on Aug. 6, 2009.

There may be no single fear as intense and as widespread as the fear of meeting up with a shark. Sharks even inhabit the nightmares of people who don't swim. What a surprise, then, to learn that these days, more and more people are seeking them out, spending millions of dollars to get as close as they can to sharks.

But here's the rub: right where sharks are most visible, they're becoming more dangerous.

As we first reported a few years ago, shark attacks are on the rise. And many blame these attacks on shark tourism, in a place which is called "Shark Central."

Correspondent Bob Simon traveled to South Africa to get a first-hand look at the growing trend of shark tourism and the controversy that surrounds it.

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More than 35,000 tourists, Americans and Europeans mainly, come to the tip of South Africa every year. It's where two oceans meet, and many come with the hope of seeing a great white going after a seal, exploding out of the ocean like a cruise missile.

"This is the best place in the world to learn about the secret lives of these animals. So that's what attracts me here," says Aidan Martin, an Australian scientist.

Their lives are so secret, says Martin, that very little is known about great white sharks. We don't know how many there are or how long they live, and we've never seen them mate, or give birth.

How do these enormous sharks manage to propel themselves above the waterline?

"It's essentially projectile, and it has sacrificed maneuverability for speed. So it's a little bit like having a truck trying to run down one of those bicycle couriers. I know we've all had fantasies about that," says Martin.

And then there are the seals. They are a remarkable sight for humans but for sharks they're breakfast; seals are their favorite food.

And the sharks linger around Seal Island, population 50,000.

When shark tourism operator Chris Fallows sees a shark going for a seal, he says he actually roots for the seal. "It's a Catch 22. Unfortunately for the seals, they need to go out and feed, and at this island, they've got a very good chance of being eaten by a white shark."

After watching a shark have a meal, a lot of tourists feel the same way and go back to shore. But some stick around, tempted to leave our world, if ever so briefly, and go underwater. It's the thing to do these days for seekers of adventure and adrenaline. You do it, of course, from the safety of a cage.

But a safety cage is not a 100 percent guarantee. Not far from where 60 Minutes shot this story, a shark actually got into the cage. If the shark hadn't lost his bearings and turned upside down, the tourists would have been toast.

But Chris Fallows assured us that this hardly ever happens and that thousands have gone down in cages here and lived to talk about it.

So Simon decided to give it a try.

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[samanthagreen09]

I would love to "swim" with sharks. The only problem I would have with it is the great white shark. I would never get in the water with those things even if I was in a shark cage. They are big and really powerful fish. I'm sure if they wanted to, they could break through those shark cages.

[sharkprotect]

The first line of this article: "There may be no single fear as intense....as the fear of meeting up with a shark", is pure nonsense. I have been in the water with tiger sharks, bull sharks, lemon sharks and all kinds of reef sharks. I have never been threatened by a single one of them. Another thing that does not make sense is the Chinese assertion that eating shark fin soup is part of their culture and tradition. That soup used to be served to emperors and high nobility in the old days. Why would the communists in China suddenly express a desire to maintain the traditions of the same people who they slaughtered by the thousands during their revolution? Is it because they are now also enjoying wealth and want to live like nobility? It does not make any sense to me.

[sharksmatter]

Killing sharks for shark fin soup is another example of man''s inhumanity to lifeforms other than their own. If people aren''t destroying the environment, they are destroying land and sea creatures. Sharks are vulnerable to overfishing and people should respect their lives.

[ckfire]

I was absolutely sick to my stomach watching a shark get his fins cut off and left to drown. It is barbaric! How can we help to end this horrible human practice?

[daisey22]

I totally agree with you. They are so elusive about mating, giving birth, yet they are slaughterd wholesale. Sooner or later they will run out. The natural order of things in the ocean will be changed irrrevocably. It is so sad to spectate what man's inhumanity really lies beneath

[sofladiver]

This was a wonderful story. Please provide more information about the film clip/public service announcement that was broadcast during the story (with the evil toaster floating menacingly in the ocean) -- where can we find the producer so that we can ask our local stations to carry it? Also, check out www.sharks.org for more information about shark conservation and the real story about white sharks.

[sharkpix]

The ads were a project of the Save our Seas Foundation called "Rethink the Shark." Lesley Rochat helped create the campaign.

[fayettenash]

Thank you, Our family love''s the ocean and are facinated by sharks. My oldest son Bodie who is only 3 1/2 has an obsession with sharks. Whale Sharks, Great White, Thresher Shark, and Mako Sharks. They are either killed for sport fishing or fin soup. You see horrific video''s on YouTube of these beautiful creature''s being slaughtered. Thank You again for raising the awarness and trying to help make a diffrence.
Adrienne, Dave,
Bodie, Luke and Quinn Nash

[laurab51]

Can anyone tell me where to find more information on Mr. Bovim''s organized group to deter shark feeding tourism?

thank you