A Great, Great Behind The Scenes OverTime

December 18, 2011 -- 6:50 PM

Anderson Cooper: Swimming with sharks


Swimming with sharks is perhaps something you never get used to, even though CNN's Anderson Cooper has done his share of it for 60 Minutes, including up close and personal with the fearsome Great White shark last year in South Africa.

But still, nothing could prepare Anderson or producers Andy Court and Anya Bourg for the sheer number of sharks they encountered off the coast of Cuba for this week's 60 Minutes story, "The Gardens of the Queen."

"You're on a boat. You're in the middle of nowhere, and you see these enormous sharks in the water," Andy tells Overtime producer David Rubin. "They're basically circling your boat. They say, you know, 'sharks do not consider humans food. You don't have to worry.' You're like, that's good, that's great. But did all the sharks get the memo?"

Clearly the sharks didn't get the memo about not stealing the scene from the correspondent, because as you'll see on Overtime, one swam between Anderson and the camera as they were shooting a stand-up - making it clear who the star was of that shot.

"The sharks were so close, you are tempted to reach out and touch them," Anderson says. "And I did reach out at one point . . . and then I think I thought better of it."

What does it take to get ready for an underwater, shark-infested, 60 Minutes shoot?

On Overtime you'll see what our team had to learn before heading off to Cuba. Anderson had to practice using new mask technology that allowed him to speak and record his voice underwater. Producer Anya Bourg was a skilled swimmer, but had never before gone scuba diving. And producer Andy Court not only had to learn scuba from scratch, but also had to endure a lot of ribbing from Anderson, who isn't quite ready to declare Andy the next Jacques Cousteau.

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