Mike Rutzen: The Sharkman | 60 Minutes Archive
In a Nutshell
Mike Rutzen, known as the Sharkman, free-dives with great white sharks in South Africa's nutrient-rich waters near Cape Town and Gansbaai, identifying "player" sharks that are calm and curious rather than aggressive man-eaters. He demonstrates their intelligence and inquisitive nature—comparable to outsmarting seals or children in a toy store—using techniques like staying small, maintaining eye contact, and wielding metal cameras as deterrents, while debunking myths amid shark finning threats. Despite rare human attacks (only ~5 deadly ones yearly worldwide), Rutzen promotes understanding through cage-free encounters to aid shark conservation, emphasizing they're not out to kill humans.
These notes were generated by AI and may contain inaccuracies.
There's no animal that we fear more and understand less than the great white shark. Studying great whites hasn't been easy because it's hard to get near them. Mike Rutzen has spent his life getting closer to great whites more often than anyone else. In South Africa, where he lives, he's known as the shark man. His discoveries about these predators: far from mindless killing machines, great whites are smart, curious, and not out to kill humans. He's willing to risk his life to prove it.
Mike Rutzen is looking for a great white shark he can swim with. Before getting in the water, he needs to find a great white that's both calm and curious—a shark he calls a player.
That's a player.
What's a player? Well, player is basically the shark that's so relaxed, has a nice personality, woke up on the right side of the reef. And the animal's willing to interact with us. It's so curious.
Rutzen says great whites have personalities. They may be the top predator in the sea, but they are not the man-eating killers of nightmares.
How can you tell that's a player? Look how she's moving. She's checking everything out. Check now. Slowly she's going to do this. See how she looks at everything.
The shark is moving very slowly around the boat, checking, coming in, watching the motor.
This is a curious shark. You can work with this shark. This is a player.
This shark and several others have been attracted to Rutzen's boat by chum, a mixture of bait and fish blood. Great whites can smell a single drop of blood from 100 yards away.
Sign in to read the full notes
Get access to AI-generated notes, topic timestamps, and more.