Shark Week: Man Becomes Human Bait by Hiding in Decoy Whale as Great White Attacks

In one of the many stupefying spectacles viewers can tune in to when Shark Week kicks off on Discovery Channel this Sunday, Dr. Austin Gallagher goes inside a decoy that is built to look like a whale, pours blood into the water and then waits to see what happens when a Great White attacks.

"I was definitely scared when the big one showed up," Gallagher tells Inside Edition. "I would say that the first time I went in, I was like, 'OK. What is this going to be like? What am I doing?'"

His adventure is documented in the new special "Belly of the Beast: Feeding Frenzy."

Gallagher says that things got intense once the shark attacked the decoy.

"At one point, that huge shark came up and bit the pectoral fin and I could see right down his stomach," Gallagher says. "And my fight or flight system took over. I was dry heaving from the adrenaline."

He is not the only expert diving into harm's way.

"It was a little daunting I'm not going to lie. But it was also fun. I find so much fun in the nervousness in not knowing what is going to happen," says Paul de Gelder, who will be taking a swim in the shark-infested waters off the coast of Florida this year.

De Gelder survived a brutal shark attack back in 2009, losing both his right forearm and leg.

That did not stop him from heading back into the water, though, where this year he releases a red substance similar to blood and waits for the bull sharks to arrive. 

The murky red water riles up the sharks as expected, and they appear ready to go on the attack.

"They are definitely way more amped up," de Gelder notes.

But how can a man who was brutally attacked by a bull shark get back in the water with the predators?

"Most people would be pretty triggered by that," says de Gelder. "I'm not going to lie, the bull sharks are [the sharks] I am the least fond of, and whenever I'm in the water I keep my eyes on them."

Related Stories