Shark Week: 'Sharks - A Family Affair'

Were you wary of taking your kids through the shark exhibit at Sea World? Afraid that it might freak them out? You're just a big sissy, aren't you? And so are your kids! Buck up, man! Follow the example of South African shark expert Craig Ferreira, whose idea of a family vacation is to take his dad, wife and three sons under the age of 11 to observe great white sharks.

And none of this goofy observing them from afar stuff. You can't really get a sense of the grandeur of the sharks from the deck of a boat, after all. Ferreira built a teeny shark cage so his kids could experience the great whites underwater.

Yeah, that's pretty much the point where I almost turned off the TV.

So the run-of-the-mill Shark Week ploy of "will they or won't they get eaten?" has had the ante upped to the exciting new variant of "will the kids get eaten?" Yuck. First off, there's a lot of stupid people out there -- and even with the "don't try this at home" warning that appeared at the top of the hour, there is the distinct chance that some chucklehead is going to think that throwing his kids in the ocean to see the big toothy fishies is a fine idea.

Second, Ferreira did all of this in the name of conservation and in the hopes that his sons will be able to follow him as he studies sharks around the world. If his children learn to appreciate the sharks -- much as he learned to respect the animals from his father, a shark hunter turned conservationist -- they will then grow up with a sense of awe about the animals, he figured. Let me tell you, I have a sense of awe about the animals, and I haven't left the confines of my couch this entire week.

And what does Ferreira's wife, Jyette, think of all this? Well, she's a vegetarian and seemed overwhelmingly concerned with the fish being hooked for bait instead of the fact that her children could serve as a popcorn shrimp appetizer for a great white.

So what happened? The kids came through fine. A great white smashed against the cage, but it held together, and the Ferreira's safety team and checks were obviously sufficient. The youngest, 7-year-old Wilder, now has the title of youngest shark cage diver ever. Congrats. Jyette was far more excited about the record after Wilder was pulled from the water, noting that he seemed to be in a little bit of "shock." You think?   

-- Ann Donahue

(Photo courtesy Getty Images)