Stingray and Shark Tank Sword Swallower
January 17th, 2008 by Ghostfreehood!
If your not impressed by the idea of this masterpiece, I don’t think your thinking about it enough. Submerged 20 feet below we meet a Sword Swallower by the name of Dan Meyer. This freakin’ guy. Swallowing steel wasn’t good enough I guess. People have seen it before, he might say. So why not swallow it while being submerged in a water tank with 80 sharks and sting rays. Let’s look at some facts.
The Stingray
Their stingers are a razor sharp and serrated cartilaginous spine which grows from the ray’s whip-like tail similar to how the human hand grows nails. They can grow as long as fourteen and a half inches. On the underside of the spine are two grooves containing venom secreting glandular tissue. The entire spine is covered with a thin layer of skin called the integumentary sheath, in which venom is concentrated.
The Shark
OK. So there aren’t many threatening facts about sharks. Sure there are a few attacks here and there but if not for the media, you aren’t likely to hear about them. They are just not common. However, did you know that some sharks regrow up to 30,000 different teeth in a lifetime? Most sharks live about 20-30 years but there are some like the spiny dogfish that live longer then 100 years. That is a lot of teeth. Sharks are attracted to blood and guts, however. They can smell the scent quite well. So with that being said, do you still want to go swim with one? How about 40? Still, you might get a loose cannon. A random shark attack still could happen. See it’s still the doubt that lingers. I think the influence of Jaws pretty much ruined that for everyone. The author of Jaws, Peter Benchley, had in his later years attempted to dispel the image of sharks as man-eating monsters. Out of more than 360 species, only three have been involved in a significant number of fatal, unprovoked attacks on humans: the great white, tiger, and bull shark. The average number of fatalities per year between 2001 and 2006 from unprovoked shark attacks is 4.
Still, when it comes to swimming with Sharks, I think I’ll take a cage with me.
January 17th, 2008 at 4:13 pm
Thanks for posting this! Sure appreciate it!
Actually, the video clip you posted was a private attempt at about 2:00 am on April 12, 2007.
The actual real event for the general public was done on May 18, 2007 at the Ripley’s Aquarium in Myrtsle Beach, SC. Here’s a clip to the real deal, and a little behind the scenes info most people did not know:
I lived on a little island called LIttle Stirrup Cay in the Bery Islands of the Bahamas where I swam with sharks and stingrays almost daily for about 7 years.
On May 17, the day before the final attempt, I had been performing for Bike Week bikers trying to talk over the roar of their engines, and at the Bowery in Myrtle Beach until about midnight. When I went to bed that night, I had one of the worst sore throats I’ve ever had, and could barely talk. That is the absolute WORST time to attempt to swallow a sword on dry land… when your throat is tender and swollen and easy to piercie!
I expected the sharks and stingrays to be fairly well fed, but we did the feat early on the morning of May 18th, and they decided NOT to feed the sharks and stingrays the night before because it would cloud the water! That meant that the sharks and stingrays were hungry and very active when I got into the tank that morning. They are used to swarming and bumping into the divers when they want to get fed!
Unfortunately, what most people don’t know is that I had just eaten a full breakfast that morning, so I WAS quite full! Between the sharks and stingrays being hungry and me having a full stomach and a swollen throat, I almost called it off that morning! After a few prayers, I decided to give it a shot, and thankfully everything went off without a hitch!
Here’s the clip to the final public attempt on Friday, May 18, 2007:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UREZgz7_3k
Thanks again for posting this!
All the best,
Dan Meyer
Sword Swallower
Cutting Edge Innertainment
http://www.cuttingedgeinnertainment.com
January 17th, 2008 at 4:31 pm
Thanks for posting that! I sure appreciate it!
That clip is actually from a private attempt of the stunt on April 10, 2007 at about 2:00am.
Here’s some of the behind the scenes info on what really happened, as well as the clip of the actual final feat before the general public on May 18, 2007:
What most people don’t realize is that I had lived alone on a little island named “LIttle Stirrup Cay” in the Berry Islands of the Bahamas where I swam with sharks and stingrays almost daily for 7 years from 1980-87.
On May 17, 2007, the day before the final feat, I performed for about 300,000 bikers at the Myrtle Beach BIke Week and had to yell over the roar of the bike engines. Later that night I performed at the Bowery Club in Myrtle Beach and around midnight, I had one of the worst sore throats I have ever had!
The next morning, my throat was extremely sore, tender and swollen, and I almost called off the event. One of the worst times you can attempt to swallow a sword is after a minor injury when your throat is tender and swollen, as that is when the miost serious injuries occur.
I got up early the next morning, and after a few heartfelt prayers, I had a big breakfast to put something in my stomach (no fun swallowing on a hungry stomach early in the morning!)
I expected the sharks and stingrays to be well fed. However, I learned that the sharks and stingrays had NOT been fed the night before so as to NOT cloud up the water and the visibility in the tank. So the sharks and stingrays were very hungry and very active that morning!
Unfortunately, the sharks and stingrays also tend to swarm and bump the divers who bring them food, especially when they’re very hungry!
So what most people do not realize is that the sharks and stingrays were very hungry and very active that morning, and that I was very full and had a terrible “sword throat” and almost called off the stunt! But the Ripley’s folks were so great and accomodating, that after a few more prayers, I finally got into the tank, and gave it a stab, and thankfully everything worked out wihtout a problem!
Here’s the final clip of the publc event on Friday, May 18, 2007 at Ripley’s Aquarium in Myrtle Beach, SC:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UREZgz7_3k
Thanks again for posting this!
All the best,
Dan Meyer
Sword Swallower
Cutting Edge Innertainment
http://www.cuttingedgeinnertainment.com
May 29th, 2008 at 11:17 pm
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