Cousteau's great white shark shaped submarine sinks

THE grandson of legendary ocean explorer Jacques Cousteau has escaped the "Jaws" of death.
Fabien Cousteau almost lost his life when he set out for a close encounter with great white sharks off the coast of Mexico.

But it wasn't one of the monsters from the deep that nearly killed him.

It was a wonky shark-shaped submarine he constructed to glide among the huge creatures in safety.

Fabien said: "I decided to build a sub that looked, moved and was exactly like a great white - and, of course, I got to be the pilot." But plans went pear-shaped when he sank to the bottom.

Fabien added: "It started plummeting to the bottom - it crashed and I was pinned there and communications weren't working."


His sister Celine was part of a team of divers in a boat above the sub who were eventually able to free him and pull him to safety.

Celine said: "You imagine the worst. As his sister, I was extremely worried, as there was an edge he could have plummeted over - he would have been too deep to rescue."

The shark sub, which sank off Isla Guadalupe, was being used as part of a TV documentary.
Shark: Mind Of A Demon, with Fabien Cousteau, is first set to be shown in the US on Wednesday.
Fabien said the one-hour special was made to dispel the image of sharks as violent.

He said: "White sharks have been given a bad rap for many years but we don't know anything about them.

"When I saw my first, I was ready to be torn to be pieces."
He certainly didn't expect to end up with that sinking feeling.