Halle Berry is seen having close encounters with great white sharks in behind the scenes footage of her movie Dark Tide.
Halle Berry, 46, is pictured reaching out to the ocean predators while leaning over on the edge of a boat and she even got to touch one in the wild.
“Apparently, I’m one of the very few people who have done that,” she has said.
“How did I manage it? Very carefully.”
Halle Berry is seen having close encounters with great white sharks in behind the scenes footage of her movie Dark Tide
Halle Berry, who filmed the thriller in Seal Island, False Bay in South Africa, stars as diving instructor Sara, who faces the difficult decision of getting back into the water following a near-fatal great white shark attack.
She also swam with sharks for the part, but insists she never put herself in harm’s way.
“I got into the same water as the sharks. Was I scared? Yes. But I never put myself in harm’s way because I’m a mother and there are certain things I just would not do any more.
“I spent some time with a man known as the shark whisperer; my character is modeled on him.
“He has studied sharks for a couple of decades and swims with them – with nothing to protect him but a stick – so studying with him for a couple of weeks taught me how to interact with one.”
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A large section of coastline in South Africa has been closed after a 15-metre whale washed ashore following an attack by Great White sharks.
The giant whale was removed from the surf after its carcass attracted high numbers of great whites to the coast by Muizenberg beach, near Cape Town, on Sunday.
Authorities have since taken the southern right whale from the beach but have closed off a stretch of shore from Muizenberg to Monwabisi “as a precaution”.
Disaster response teams had moved swiftly to get the animal out of the water and onto a flat-bed truck – no easy task when dealing with a species of whale that can weigh up to 47 tons.
Wilfred Solomons-Johannes, a spokesman for Cape Town’s disaster risk management centre, said: “A decision was taken to begin the recovery operation immediately because of the increase of shark activity off beaches along the False Bay coastline.”
A large section of coastline in South Africa has been closed after a 15-metre whale washed ashore following an attack by Great White sharks
The warning did not stop curious onlookers streaming to the site.
Claire McKinnon, manager of the Cape Town cleansing and solid-waste management department, said samples were taken from the carcass to enable pathologists to establish the cause of death before it was disposed of at a landfill site.
Once the whale was out of the water, a bulldozer rolled it over the sand.
Wilfred Solomons-Johannes said it was not known whether the whale was alive when the sharks attacked it or had succumbed to an illness.
“Under normal circumstances predators such as sharks often sneak up on their prey from behind or underneath. Predators don’t usually face off in a fight,” he said.
“A predator goes in quickly and quietly attacks the prey. Predators choose the ill, injured, young or old animals to hunt because they are easier to catch.”
In 2005, local teen J.P. Andrews was attacked by a great white shark while surfing off Muizenberg beach.
Doctors pronounced him dead on the beach – but he survived, although he lost his right leg.
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Walter Szulc’s first experience in a kayak was enough to deter even the bravest as his quiet maiden voyage in the one-man canoe resulted in him being stalked by one of the sea’s most dangerous predators.
Shocked beachgoers on Nauset Beach near Cape Cod were lining the beach screaming “shark, shark” to attempt to warn Walter Szulc – but he failed to hear them.
The great white shark was estimated at 12-14 ft and was seen less than 100 ft out in the water when it appeared behind Walter Szulc.
Onlookers desperately tried to get his attention to get him back to the beach.
The great white shark was estimated at 12-14 ft and was seen less than 100 ft out in the water when it appeared behind Walter Szulc
One witness said: “There were hundreds of people on the beach, and they were all at the edge, yelling paddle, paddle, paddle!”
Safely on dry land Walter Szulc said he had not heard the warnings and had no idea there was a shark behind him until he was close to shore.
The moment he turns around to see the shark’s fin closing up on him was caught by a bystander.
“I looked behind me and that’s when I saw the shark, it was pretty much right there.
“I got a glimpse of it. It was a good size and it had a fin sticking out, so I just turned and paddled,” Walter Szulc said to local television station WHDH.
“I took a quick glance, it was probably seven to eight feet behind me.”
He added that he had teased his young daughter before going in the kayak.
The girl had refused to go in the water because she was afraid of sharks, but her father had laughed and assured her that there was nothing to be afraid of, the odds being very low.
“I found the odds, and they’re not exactly as good as I thought!”
No one came to harm in the incident but Nauset Beach immediately closed to swimmers. It was reopened on Sunday morning, according to beach officials.
Walter Szulc’s harrowing experience came amid a rash of shark sightings in areas like Cape Cod during its peak of Summer tourism.
Less than a week ago, July 3, two great white sharks were photographed swimming off the coast of Orleans and Chatham with the first sighting of the season having occurred a mere days before.
The sharks are drawn to the waters around Cape Cod as they are filling up with seals, a favorite food for the aquatic carnivore.
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