Time to head back to Australia with the terrific Sasha Grey – for an underwater adventure like no other!
Let’s Swim With The Sharks!
Yes, this is Sasha Grey inside a shark tank. No partitions, nothing between her and the sharks. Here is how she got there: as you may have read on this blog before, I had the chance to film some stories in Australia with Sasha Grey. Here we are at Bondi Beach:
This was the day that Sasha agreed to surf for the first time – always up for a challenge:
Sasha Surfs Bondi Beach!
You can see some of Sasha’s great behind-the-scenes surfing videos here:
And Now, Time For Sharks!
Along with learning to surf, Sasha agreed to go with us to the Manly Beach Aquarium – where they have a huge tank full of sharks and stingrays – and you are allowed to climb in there with them!
Swimming With Sharks!
I also posted about Sasha’s adventures inside a shark tank, and I got a ton of feedback from her fans – everyone wanted to see more pictures of Sasha among the sharks…so here goes – and this time with video!
Sasha Gets Instructed!
The first thing that happened was Sasha’s dive prep – she had to learn how to breathe underwater – this was her first time with scuba gear…but even though she had never done it before, she was a real trooper…doing a “speed” version of training in a side pool so we could film the segment with the sharks, who were hovering nearby…
And Here’s Some Video!
I filmed some of the instructions as well…here you go:
Sasha soaked up the instruction, knowing we had a limited amount of time to film at the Aquarium before it opened to the public. So, even though she had NEVER been scuba diving before, she focused on what needed to be done and did it. Then, it was time to go meet some sharks! First, the trainer and Sasha walked very slowly into the large part of the tank…
Talk About Your Super-Sized Stingray!
Here is what it looked like for us – we were all safely protected in a tunnel with the tank all around us – with the glass protection it didn’t seem like that big a deal…until we saw the size of the stingrays and sharks that were inside with Sasha….and yes, that is one BIG Stingray…
Sasha’s Tanked!
While we were in the shadow of the stingray, Sasha was INSIDE the tank with them…focused on moving slowly and always walking, never swimming in the water – as that would attract the wrong type of attention….I mean, look at how close they were to her!
As it turns out, the Stingray was a bit of a ham…showing up in shot after shot with Sasha, like this photo bomb:
Sasha’s Shark Encounter!
Once Sasha acclimated herself to the water, adjusted to wearing the scuba gear AND getting used to the curious Stingray, she began to walk around. Note: as I said before, they WALKED through the tank – Sasha was told that any other type of movement could make the Sharks see her as FOOD…
It only took a moment for the sharks to see her – check out these pictures as the sharks become more and more curious:
LOOK HOW CLOSE THEY ARE!
Sasha never flinched – even though the sharks swirled around her and, at one point, a very feisty shark flicked his tail at her head – but she remained cool, calm and amazingly collected considering that!
Sasha’s CLOSE ENCOUNTER!
Remember, there are no partitions or screens in the water – look at how close Sasha is to these sharks! This is no joke – there is NOTHING between her and the sharks…and while the Instructor was nearby, and there was a camera man inside the tank as well, this is a VERY BRAVE Sasha Grey in this tank…remember, she had NEVER been scuba diving before this moment…and here she was standing alone among Sharks!
A Shark Photo Bomb!
This next picture is really amazing: as Sasha is posing for me through the glass, TWO Sharks line up for a hilarious photo bomb! Or, as Sasha said later, “they were deciding which one was going to eat me first!”
I LOVE how well-behaved these two Sharks are: mugging it up for the camera…I also got a shot of one of them giving me the evil eye…
Sasha stayed in the water for almost a half hour, and after awhile the sharks lost interest – they got used to her and she got used to them – and so the smaller fish stopped by for a look at her as well:
Congrats Sasha!
Even though she had never scuba’s before, Sasha was unafraid – she walked right in there and hung out with the stingrays, fish and sharks inside that tank…kudos to Sasha!
For more on the story of Sasha’s Manly Beach shark dive, go to this blog entry as well:
Would You Rather…
And support Sasha’s latest effort – the great new movie “Would You Rather”…here is the terrific trailer!
