(dramatic orchestral music)
(splashing)
(dramatic orchestral music)
(splashing)
(water bubbles)
- My friend Josh hates sharks, arguably more
than the average person.
- Would I love to try surfing more?
Do I think twice about getting back into it nowadays?
Yes!
Sharks make me think twice about getting in the water.
Okay, I have a slight fear of sharks.
- (laughs) - Let's be real about it.
(splashing)
- I have come upon a fun and possibly helpful
game plan for how Josh can conquer
this shark fear.
And despite Josh not knowing many of the details,
lucky for me, he has agreed to the challenge.
Joshua's shark fear, like many,
isn't entirely logical.
- It's not an irrational fear.
- He knows the unlikeliness of a shark attack.
A big part of irrational fear is not feeling in control,
feeling like there's nothing you could do
in the case of the emergency.
You need to feel empowered.
The obvious conclusion?
He needs to learn to defend himself
and survive a shark attack.
But not a real shark, because then he might die,
and we obviously don't want that.
So, this brings me to the surprise that I have for Josh.
I reached out to Cody Malcolm.
Cody is from San Diego and studies
shark attacks and proper defense
with the hopes of educating the surfers in his community.
And Cody does these lessons by using
an animatronic shark that some may recognize
from a YouTube video last year
that has already garnered over three million views.
The pro?
It's not a real shark.
The cons, it's still pretty unsettling
and its teeth are actually sharp.
Regardless, this should be a fun surprise,
and tomorrow is the big day.
All right, it is the morning of the shark trip,
I told Josh we were going to a virtual reality center.
- This is where we're doing the virtual reality?
- Yes, so everything I told you up to this point is true
except for the virtual reality part was a lie.
Let's check it out, come on.
- Okay, but why is there a pool, though?
- Just walk.
This is the shark that you're gonna fight,
you're gonna wrestle that.
(ominous music)
And its teeth are actually sharp.
(ominous music)
Fins, and eyes - Wait, wait, wait, wait.
- That you've gotta hit. - It's teeth are sharp?
- Yeah, that's the one thing, but you had signed a waiver
earlier this week for the video.
- But you said...
- This thing could eat your head.
You'll meet him - Why couldn't you just tell
me this instead of lying to me about the virtual reality?
- You wouldn't have, you wouldn't have come out here.
- Yeah, that's true.
Guys, I don't have a swimsuit, so I can't do this.
I don't have a swimsuit.
- Boom.
I got, like, shorts or something, you're fine.
Let's suit up, let's meet the shark man,
it's gonna be great.
Cody, this is Joshua.
- Joshua! - How's it going, man?
- How are you?
- Nice to meet you.
- I hear you're afraid of sharks.
I can see it.
- (Becky) He's the man for this.
- I can see it in your eyes.
(Becky laughs)
My job is to place you in the thing
that you're most fearful of.
Surround you by it, teach you about it, remove it.
Sharks move with intention.
You need to start moving with intent.
- Got it.
- [Becky] All right, let's get him in the water!
- Yes.
(upbeat harmonica music)
- [Becky] Boom!
- I want Josh to focus on two things.
Not freezing up.
A lot of people say, play dead.
That works for bears, not sharks.
Because you kind of can't play dead underwater.
(ominous music)
(heavy breathing)
(video game music)
- That was freaky.
The shark was coming at me and I kind of panicked
and flinched a little bit, I wasn't supposed to,
and my leg was inside it, and it was like
being inside of its mouth,
luckily I didn't cut myself on the teeth.
- The second thing I want him to focus on is fight!
(tense music)
Fight, fight, fight.
(punches land)
(video game music)
- So, I, dude, I hit the nose,
I got him right on there.
- You hit the nose.
- Yeah.
- You hit the nose.
You've probably heard about punching a shark in the nose.
Well, there's a little bit of a debate about that
in the shark community.
Some say go for it.
I say, you've only got one shot.
You punch that shark in the nose, and you miss?
You're punching right into a mulcher.
So where you wanna go is the sensitive spots of a shark.
The eyes, the gills.
- [Becky] Cody is actually spot on with this.
Eric Nerhus, an Australian diver,
escaped a shark's mouth by attacking the eyes,
and then, Oregon surfer Joseph Tanner
had his leg fully engulfed in a shark's mouth
until he attacked the gills, so the gills and the eyes
do really seem to be one of the best ways
to defend yourself and fight against a shark.
- Eyes and gills, eyes and gills,
eyes and gills, eyes and gills.
Focused, calm, intent. - Okay.
(intense music)
(video game sound effect)
(punches land)
(electric guitar power chord)
- Yes, man, yes!
Bah, bah!
Come here, I'm so proud of you!
- You know it's a fake shark, but it messes with you!
- It's very scary.
- Yeah.
- It's very scary.
When it comes at you, and you're like,
- Yeah. - Your brain doesn't process
that it's fake.
You faced that fear!
He faced that fear!
- Boom.
(triumphant jazz music)