A renowned diver who is known as a skilled ‘shark whisperer’ has been filmed putting her hand inside a shark’s mouth to remove a fishing hook lodged in its gullet.
As sharks swarm all around her and fellow divers in clear blue waters off the Bahamas, Italian-born Cristina Zenato fearlessly reaches into the predator’s mouth and pulls the hook out.
The fierce fish seems totally at ease with her, and even as she reaches deep into its throat it doesn’t attempt to bite. Nevertheless, in addition to her wetsuit she is dressed in chainlink body armour.
Brave: Fearless diver Cristina Zenato reaches elbox deep inside the mouth of a reef shark to remove a hook lodged in the creature’s gullet as she and colleagues swim in clear blue waters off the Bahamas
Shark whisperer: The shark wriggles in discomfort as Ms Zenato removes the hook, but does not try to bite her
Mission accomplished: The hook finally removed, she allows the shark to swim away
Ms Zenato was able to put the shark into a trance-like state using a little-known technique of rubbing the ampullae of Lorenzini – the name given to hundreds of jelly-filled pores around the creature’s nose and mouth.
This causes induces ‘tonic immobility’, where the shark enters a natural state of paralysis for up to 15 minutes and appears to be asleep in her hands.
The pores act as electroreceptors detecting prey moving in the electromagnetic field around the shark – but also for some reason rubbing them turns ‘Jaws’ into a sleeping baby.
Sensational moment diver reaches into mouth of shark to release hook
Ms Zenato uses her ability to put the sharks in a sleepy state to educate other divers, remove parasites and even – as in this case – take out fishing hooks caught in their mouths.
‘In my daily work and dives with sharks I am always removing their hooks,’ Ms Zenato was quoted as saying.
‘In this particular case it was harder than usual. After putting the shark in tonic I had to pull it from deep inside.’
Don’t try this at home: Ms Zenato was able to put the shark into a trance-like state by rubbing pores around its face and head, a trick which cause ‘tonic immobility’ – a state of paralysis that lasts up to 15 minutes
Ms Zenato has been working with sharks for nearly 20 years, but still wears a chain link suit in case one of the animals is tempted to bite.
Her remarkable talents have made her much sought-after by filmmakers, documentary and TV producers worldwide and she has worked with organisations including BBC, Discovery, Nat Geo, ABC, Science and Nature.
She is the dive team manager at the Underwater Explorers Society (UNEXSO) on Grand Bahama Island.