Trying to explain a swim with the sharks

THE OTHER DAY, I read a news story about a man who stripped naked and jumped into the shark tank at Ripley’s Aquarium in Toronto. He pulled off this stunt smack dab in the middle of jazz night.

According to the story, this joker swam with the sharks, which is not what most people would call a good idea, especially when you are dangling something that could easily be mistaken for bait.

The good news is no one got hurt.

Better yet, an entertaining viral video was born.

Despite the reasonably good production value of the video, there has been much criticism regarding the man’s reckless behaviour. Critics are saying he clearly could have been killed by the sharks – though, in his defense, it was jazz night and many people, me included, would have considered a shark attack the lesser of two evils.

Having said that, I think we still need to answer the question: Is this weird?

And I’m not just talking about jazz night.

As for nudity in front of animals, I’m on the fence.

I’m a live-and-let-live kind of guy, so I’m not advising you or anyone else to refrain from stripping down in front of wild animals. That’s the job of animal rights organizations.

If you do decide to get naked in front of wild animals – and that’s entirely up to you – don’t strip down in front of people too – some of us are uncomfortable watching that unless it’s on YouTube. Also, consider the fact that there are trail cameras all over the place as well as people with cell phones who just live to record moments like these.

You should also know that this is the kind of thing that will stop you from getting invited to back to your favourite duck blind or deer camp. So, if that kind of thing matters to you, keep your clothes on. Or at least wear a mask.

Admittedly, getting naked in front of a charging grizzly bear might seem like a good idea at the time, if only to save on industrial strength spot remover. Even so, you have to ask yourself, is this really worth the public embarrassment that comes with being the star of a viral YouTube video?

It depends on how many hits you get.

As far as I can tell there is no upside to being naked and in a viral video. Plus, there’s that old adage about working with animals.

The worst part about being naked in front of animals is that you will eventually have to explain why you did this to someone – and if you are lucky it won’t be your mother or a conservation officer. As far as I can tell, there only two good reasons to give – the first is that you are a Lady Godiva re-enactor and the second is you lost a bet.

Having said that, I once saw a duck hunter strip down and swim to retrieve a duck that fell in a back pond. I’m still not sure if he had a justifiable reason for doing this. All I know is that his retriever and I averted our eyes.