Diving with sharks at Dubai Aquarium. We follow Gulf News reporter Emmanuelle Landais as she gets up close with the sea life at Dubai Aquarium. See more at: http://gulfnews.com/gntv
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00:00Next time you take a stroll at Divine Mall, you might think about taking a plunge in there
00:18with sharks.
00:19This is the world's biggest suspended tank, and with 80 different species of fish, will
00:24offer an experience of a lifetime.
00:26I'm feeling quite brave today, so I'm going to give it a shot.
00:31The reason why we've introduced the shark diving program here at Divine Mall is there's
00:36a lot of public perception that sharks are not friendly animals and that if you get in
00:41the water with a shark, you're going to have a negative experience.
00:43So what we're hoping is to change public perception about sharks, show people a positive experience
00:49with the animals, and let them come away with a new appreciation.
00:52So if you were a new diver and you wanted to get in the water with the sharks, we won't
00:56throw you straight in there.
00:57There's a little bit of training that you have to do first.
01:00If you've never dived before, it's still possible.
01:03We'll start from the very beginning and teach you to dive.
01:05If you're already a diver, then you're just going to learn things like how the sharks
01:09are going to react to you being in the water, what not to do around them to make them more
01:15comfortable, and some interesting facts, like they can actually feel your heartbeat.
01:20They can sense your heartbeat, you know, and so remaining calm will bring them in closer
01:23and you'll have a better experience.
01:26After viewing a short video on do's and don'ts, I suited up and headed for the tank.
01:31Getting into the aquarium was very easy, and I was eager to get my head underwater.
01:35I couldn't see the sharks right away, but I knew they were in there.
01:38Rays were passing me at the surface, and as Paul led me to the bottom, I could finally
01:42take in the sheer size of this man-made underwater world.
01:46Having seen sharks in the wild before, I felt calm when they came closer and eventually
01:50swam by.
01:56The fish didn't seem bothered by me and carried on their route in brightly coloured
02:22shoals.
02:23It feels weird seeing shops through the glass and people waving and taking photos, a strange
02:28world of fashion and fish.
02:30It was amazing, it was awesome.
02:34It's an incredible feeling to have so many fish and sharks and everything around you
02:41at the same time.
02:42And I don't know, I think I'm a bit, I'm too used to the, like the water's 24 degrees,
02:47but you don't move very fast.
02:50I got cold.
02:51While I prefer the big blue ocean, it certainly is the most surreal experience you can have
02:55in a mall.
02:56Emmanuele Landais, Gulf News.