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Les Stroud

Survivorman Takes a Bite Out of Shark Week
July 30 -- You've got to be a little bit nutty to dive into the ocean with a bunch of sharks for television, but that's just an average day at work for Les Stroud. The wilderness expert normally showcases his skills as the star of 'Survivorman,' where he's dropped off at some crazy destination, left to man his own cameras and live on minimal supplies.

Hosting shark week should have been a snap for this adrenaline junkie, but Stroud told AOL TV's Angel Cohn that he had a nasty run-in with a toothy predator filming 'Shark Feeding Frenzy.' He also gives his opinion of the recent controversy with fellow Discovery star Bear Grylls as well as some handy tips on shark encounters.

Is the myth about punching a shark in the nose to scare it off true?
Actually, I ended up having to do exactly that while I was shooting 'Shark Feeding Frenzy' and hand-feeding Caribbean reef sharks. I had a 9-foot reef shark bite my hand. I had a chain mail suit on, so I didn't lose my hand but I would have otherwise. I got away and then gave him a punch.

Why do you think people are so fascinated with sharks?
They are this big [ancient] mythical beast that on one hand is dangerous and deadly and scary and on the other hand beautiful and awe-inspiring and it lives in a place we aren't allowed to live.

Then there are all the shark attack movies too. Yeah, 'Jaws' did it all for us, didn't it?
It doesn't seem like much would scare you after everything that you've done. I'm really passionate about wild animals. So to get an opportunity to be diving with sharks, that's way up there with being in polar bear and grizzly territory during shooting 'Survivorman.'

Which other Shark Week special should we watch out for?
'Ocean of Fear' about the U.S.S. Indianapolis and the 900 men that went into the water and only 300 came out. That's a gripping tale of the most horrific shark attack in history.

What's worse, being stuck in the cold with grizzly bears or being trapped on a raft in the ocean?
Grizzly bears are OK, but if there is anything at all that makes me uneasy in the wild it is polar bears. For them we're just these big pink walking seals and they want to eat us. When I was floating in the life raft, I was out of my element there. It is not a pleasant experience to be floating on this little orange frying pan for four days. Give me that classic North American forest any day. I bounce between that and the jungles. You are going to see the Amazon jungle this year and I end up getting chased by a 250 pound jaguar.

Did you film it, or ditch the camera equipment and run?
I ditched most of it and just took enough to film what is happening. I'm pretty proud of that [episode]. It was a wild experience. I loved being down in the jungle.

What other wild situations are coming in the seven new episodes this season?
I went to Africa and I was in the plains. I did the Kalahari desert. It was the worst [time] of my life and I almost pulled the plug. It was 107 degrees in the shade and it was an intense experience.

I am amazed that you shoot all this footage by yourself. I would just leave the cameras instead of walking back.
[Laughs] If they could find a way to give me little mini-disposable cameras, I'd just leave them up everywhere. That's the part of me that is a passionate filmmaker. I never wanted the show to just be some little home video. I work really hard trying to create imagery that is beautiful and compelling.

Why is so important to do it yourself instead of bringing a cameraman with you?
If I am going to create a true survival situation and actually survive, the only way I can do that is to not have a camera crew. As soon as you have a camera crew you have camaraderie and joking around and say, "Can I have a bite of that Mars bar?" I'm weak. Who is not going to cheat if you have a camera crew? It would be very difficult.

I'm always a little worried you aren't going to make it. I guess that part of the drama is the terrifying aspect. I'm not terrified out there. I feel good out there and adapt really quick to it. I've always been really comfortable in the wild. There is no terrifying thing to me... except in polar bear territory.
I'd be dead in two days because I ate poison berries. When I was just in Alaska there was wild celery. Right beside it was poison hemlock. They almost look identical. You've got to be really careful.

I have to ask you about the recent Bear Grylls controversy about him supposedly staying in hotels. Do you think it casts a bad shadow on survival documentaries like yours?
It doesn't cast a shadow on mine, because his is completely different. I'm not there when he makes his show. I've never met Bear, I have nothing to do with that production, so I can't comment on the allegations. If they are true then, as any other viewer, I'm disappointed. I just continue to go out and do what I do and survive on my own and give truest representation of survival that I feel is possible as filmmaker. I don't let that other stuff worry me or get into my psyche.

So you aren't worried that people will be skeptical about how real your show is?
Worried? No. Are the lines going to get blurred? Yeah, that's the business. So I just keep my [goal] in sight and people that watch my show will go, "Stroud's the real deal man. He really does it." End of story. I have very strict orders to my production team. If something goes really wrong during the week, say all my cameras [stop working] ... they are under orders to come in and quarantine me from any and all food, water, aid and assistance. They straighten out the problem and get it over as quickly as possible so I can get back to my zone. I have a safety crew out there, but it is very strict. I tell them, 'I don't want to know you exist.' There are going to be technical issues along the way, but I've got to stay in my zone and stay true to my promise to survive a week alone.

Finally, on this 20th anniversary of shark week you'll be giving life-saving tips. What will we learn?
You are going to see some shots of me in the water surrounded by sharks with them bouncing off my shoulders. It was really something, but I was giving tips about if you are in this situation, what you can do.
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