My Strange Shark Addiction (2026)

[bunniefuu]

[Casey] I think about sharks

all the time.

[Emily] They really have such

a strength in them.

Ehh, I love you so much!

All right, it's time to go see where

my wife's gonna let me put this.

[Emily]

I have 106 shark tattoos.

[Dr. Mike] If you're really

obsessed with sharks,

the ultimate goal is

maybe to become one.

I actually made

a pair of dentures

that has real shark teeth in it.

[laughs]

I have a shark boyfriend,

named Alan.

I really have no idea

how much I've spent.

[woman] I would love to get

my face tattooed.

Should I get him a ring?

My wife's crazy.

We are going to put

a shark on your lap.

Worst case scenario for me,

I get eaten.

[Capt. Jerry] You ready.

Every Saturday, the best day

of the week for me,

I go diving, and we always go

to the same spots,

and we see the same sharks.

Typical sharks that we see here

around St. Thomas

are the Caribbean reef sharks,

nurse sharks, and then we also

have the occasional

lemon shark.

[Ashley] There's excitement.

You know, there's a little bit

of danger.

So...

it's amazing.

Oh!

[laughing]

[Capt. Jerry] All right.

Alan showed up.

Alan was there, and he still

loves me so much.

My name is Ashley.

I live in St. Thomas,

and I have a shark boyfriend,

named Alan.

I swear, Jerry,

he is so gorgeous.

One big, giant muscle.

It's a relationship.

-Yeah, yes, it is.

-I feel --

I feel quite confident.

It is a relationship.

It was -- it was a moment.

It was that -- it was

that picture right there.

You can see by my body position,

I'm like dumbfounded.

I don't -- I just love him,

and it makes me so happy.

He's so fun.

He's got a little just cute [bleep]

personality,

like, "Whoo, she's here!"

And he comes swimming around

and bumps into my camera

and he will do it more

than one time.

You know, I think

it's a game to him,

but I really do think

that we share kind of like

the same energy.

-Aren't we so cute together?

-[Capt. Jerry] Yes.

Our island is

a little bit crazy,

but this is very...

odd that someone has a shark

for a boyfriend.

We're going on 25 weeks

in a row.

It's a thing -- yes,

I know it's a thing!

Should I get him a ring?

I don't care what anybody's.

We have a relationship.

I've got to be honest, it's --

I love my wife dearly.

But, you know, she's got

this obsession with Alan,

the shark, and I'm like,

"Honey, I mean, it's an animal."

Oh, honey, I saw something

I'd never seen before.

Alan, he was laying

on the bottom of the boat,

just, like, hanging out.

And he was breathing.

It's called buccal breathing.

I swung around and I let

all the air out by BC,

so I could lay down right

beside him, with my shark!

Oh, dear God.

When did you first learn

about Alan?

It's probably been --

it's probably been

right at a year.

At first I supported it,

but you know what?

Sometimes it's just,

it freaks me out.

This might be getting a little

bit out of control because

our house is getting covered

in sharks, like, pictures --

You don't like

the shower curtains?

Could you even pick Alan out of

a, like, a shark lineup?

Absolutely!

Absolutely.

He's got a little mark right

behind his eye

on his left-hand side.

I know exactly who he is.

All right.

I -- maybe I -- maybe

it is a bit extreme,

but I love Alan.

I mean, he's such a big part

of my life.

I mean, when I go to sleep

at night, I think about,

I wonder what he's doing.

I wonder if he's thinking

about me.

[Erich] Honey, a shark is not

thinking about you.

My wife's crazy!

Absolutely crazy.

I know you're making it

sound stupid.

No, we have a thing.

Like, when he looks in my eyes,

he sees me.

He sees me.

I really don't know

how to describe it,

but just pure [bleep] bliss.

There's just

no feeling like it.

Honey, when you're out swimming,

you don't really try

to touch Alan, do you?

Well...

probably not my smartest move,

I've tried, but

I'm not going to.

I'm not going to.

-I just want you to be safe.

-I will be safe.

I'm always safe.

So, for our anniversary,

to make it so special,

we're going to go dive

and I can introduce you to Alan!

OK, so wait a minute.

This Saturday

is our anniversary,

and you're saying

that we're going to go

just so I can meet

your boyfriend?

Well, yeah.

I'm going to go regardless,

even though

it's our anniversary or not,

and since it's our anniversary,

I want you to come with me.

I wanted to have fun

on our anniversary.

I didn't want to spend it

with Alan.

You want me to be

happy, right?

You are not going

to steal my sunshine.

So whatever.

Hair flip.

-People are seeing our shark.

-Yeah.

They might be like,

"Everyone, look, I got that

shark on top of the car."

Yeah, you definitely get some

looks when you have a shark jaw

on the side of your minivan

and when you've got a nine-foot

fish on your roof.

I mean, it definitely

is an attention-getter.

But, you know, in our family,

it's just kind of

a normal weekday.

Everyone who comes

to our house is like,

"Wait, why are there

so many sharks?"

My first thought when I go

to their house is,

why aren't there any sharks?

I'm Dr. Mike Foley.

I'm a dentist, and

I'm obsessed with sharks.

I'm married to my beautiful

wife, Catherine.

I've got three kids,

and I'm trying to make them

shark experts too.

It's hard to put an exact date

on my love of sharks,

because it's been since

I can remember,

and it has spiraled

out of control.

I collect everything

related to sharks.

I collect teeth.

I collect artwork.

I collect jaws.

I collect movie props.

I've got a great white

shark bust.

I've got a ten-foot mako shark,

a five-foot mako shark,

an eight-foot tiger shark,

and then there's one more

hiding in my son's room,

a little four-foot

scalloped hammerhead.

My hand skills in dentistry

allowed me to set new teeth

in areas where broken

teeth existed.

I really have no idea

how much I've spent over the years

on these items,

but if I had to estimate,

I would imagine six figures.

Where do you think

it should go in the house?

In between Teddy's room

and Mommy and Daddy's bedroom.

OK, what about in Mommy

and Daddy's bedroom?

Um, no.

Mom's pretty accepting

of things.

All right, Charlie,

I'm gonna let you out.

Mommy!

All right, buddy,

you're almost free.

Join your friends inside.

The dentist, to me,

loves everything about sharks.

When you look

at a megalodon tooth,

for every inch

of diagonal length,

typically is thought

to translate

into ten-foot of shark length.

And so a tooth like this

came from a shark

that was 45 feet long.

I mean, they'd eat a person

without even having to chew.

I would love to be able to work

on a megalodon as a dentist.

They'd be so easy.

You could basically crawl

in their mouth,

you'd have the ultimate access

to their teeth and their jaws.

That would be incredible.

But sharks don't really have

to worry about trips to the dentist.

If you have a tooth problem

as a shark, just give it

two weeks, you'll probably

have a new tooth

in its location.

Problems solve themselves.

All right, it's time to go see where

my wife's gonna let me put this.

When you bring home 100-pound

shark jaws that you need

to turn sideways to fit through

a door, you know,

a nine-foot shark stops looking

strange to them.

Hey, Catherine.

I brought home another stray.

OK, where's this one gonna go?

Maybe here for now,

but maybe putting it

over the fireplace

or the bedroom.

Not in our bedroom, no.

You know, I've always known

that Mike was into sharks.

Our very first date was

in Gainesville, Florida.

Fossil hunting, looking

for shark teeth.

So I guess I've always known.

I just didn't know how many

sharks would end up

in our house.

We got to get her cleaned up.

This is, what,

number five, or...?

Yeah, it's five or six.

I don't like to count them.

It started as one enormous,

you know, ten-foot shark,

and then they just kind of

kept coming.

-Did we need more?

-Yeah.

We did? Oh, my God.

Yeah, see?

Teddy's always got my back.

It's only nine feet.

Yeah, she's beautiful.

I always tell my friends,

at least he doesn't play

video games.

Where'd you get this one from?

You know, my typical

internet marketplaces.

You know, it was a quick

two-hour drive.

-OK.

-White teeth.

It does have white teeth.

OK, remember people are coming

over soon, so I think you need

to figure out where

that's going to go.

Yeah, we'll tuck it up.

I don't know.

Maybe I'll clean up this table.

We'll set it underneath

the chandelier.

I think that looks great --

look at it.

-It already matches in here.

-It does.

It does match.

I'll give you that.

[Dr. Mike] Yeah.

But I don't think

the dining room table is

the permanent location.

We'll, I'll figure it out

before the party, no problem.

Teddy.

What is she doing out there?

There are definitely sharks

in that water.

The last time I was in the ocean

was over 15 years ago.

No way.

Not happening.

I don't even like

getting my feet wet.

Won't get ankle deep in it.

I panic, I freeze, I shut down,

and I try my best to avoid it.

No, no, no, you come to me.

I'm Casey, I'm from

Medford, Oregon,

and I have a dire shark-phobia.

I think about sharks

all the time.

It is very debilitating

to my life.

Get, no, get out of there.

I am afraid of all sharks.

I see sharks as just

man-hungry beasts,

like there is no chance for me,

they're out to get me,

essentially.

When I hear the word shark,

I think death.

What motivated you to come

and see me?

I'm 30 years old.

I've got two kids,

and I can't even read them

a book about sharks.

Can't watch shark movies.

My son loves sharks.

He points them out

all the time.

Like, this is something

I have to overcome.

-OK.

-I cannot let this eat me alive.

[Casey]

I came all the way to Florida

from Oregon to meet

Dr. D'Arienzo

because he helps people

overcome their shark phobias,

and I'm really hoping

he can help me.

The positive thing is you have

made a decision

to work through this.

-Absolutely.

And you're ready to do

something about it.

So typically when

you're treating somebody

for a shark-phobia, you start

with pictures and videos

because they know

that it's not real.

It's safe, even though

it's creating that same

physiological experience.

Oh, that shot right

there, actually.

I have this nightmare

where I'm sinking into

a vast blue ocean.

-OK.

And a shark kind of comes into

focus, and then just as

it gets right to me is usually

the point that I wake up.

Was that the triggering

beginning of this phobia?

Actually, when I was being

taught how to swim

when I was four years old,

I was always convinced

there were sharks,

whether freshwater, saltwater,

especially if I couldn't see

in the water.

People that have shark-phobias,

it's also known as galeophobia.

Some people,

their phobia is so strong

that even the word "shark"

triggers a panic attack.

I have not been in the ocean

in at least 15 years.

Do you even go into ankle-deep

water when you go to the beach?

-No.

-No?

Because I want you to tell me

rationally what could happen

in ankle-deep water?

In the ocean, tides are going

to trip me up, loose sand,

and I'm suddenly food

to the ocean

and what lies beneath.

-[Dr. D'Arienzo] OK.

If my girlfriend was

on her period,

I wouldn't want to go in

for the sake of

the smell of blood in the water.

Sharks can smell blood

miles away.

Being with somebody

who might be bleeding,

whether it's myself or somebody

else, that really concerns me.

I do notice that you are

shaking a little bit.

A little bit.

What I want to do is see

what your heart rate looks

like right now.

-OK.

-Here we go.

We're going to put that

on there.

See what your heart rate

looks like.

He was very tense, and I could

tell that he was engaged

in some shallow breathing,

and I could even see

his chest beating very quickly.

So you're at about a 95.

We're just gonna bring your

heart rate down a little bit.

What I want you to do,

I want you to focus

on some belly breathing.

-OK.

OK, I want you to inhale

through your nose,

and hold, and exhale

out of your mouth.

Pause, and let's just

do that a few times.

OK, it's coming down

a little bit.

We went down a couple

beats a minute.

How are you feeling right now?

A little more centered,

I'd say.

-A little more centered.

-Yeah, absolutely.

If we can control our body,

we can control our thoughts.

Absolutely.

We are going to immerse you

in different shark

and water experiences.

Gradual steps of things that

are more easy to things

that become more difficult.

Potentially swimming with them,

touching them...

to help you get better.

Worst case scenario for me,

I get eaten.

[Emily] We are at Venice Beach,

Florida, and that is known as

the Sharktooth capital

of the world.

I love sharks so much.

I live in Maine, but I travel

to Florida every single weekend

just to live my shark life.

It takes about six hours with

the flights to get down here,

but it's well worth it

for the sharks.

My preferred name is

Shark Lady Emily.

I will respond to Emily,

but my real name is

Shark Lady Emily.

And I have 106 shark tattoos.

After my divorce,

I started to really kind of

gravitate towards sharks.

They made me really happy,

and I was very passionate

about them.

They really have such

a strength in them.

I ended up getting

the whale sharks

when I had my two interactions

with those whale sharks.

And then I was like,

"Ooh, that's a great idea.

"Maybe I should have more

interactions with sharks

and get them tatted."

And that was where it rolled

into the obsession.

So I have two great whites,

one on my lower back

and one on behind my neck.

But then I also have a couple

of zebra sharks.

I have a couple of epaulettes,

lemon sharks,

sand tiger sharks.

I have a school of 13

hammerheads on my back.

I have two tiger sharks,

the famous Emma,

who is down in the Bahamas.

And then also Freckles,

I have them tattooed on

my thigh, along with a couple

of other deep water shark

species that are on my back.

I've spent well over $20,000

on my tattoos.

People started to be like,

"Wow, you're a crazy shark lady,

aren't you?"

And I'm like, "Yeah, I am.

I'm a crazy shark lady."

Clearly, it is.

How many different species

are on there?

Oh, I have 71 species

and 106 so far.

I'm getting two more to complete

the record, for the record.

-Wow.

-Yeah.

I submitted my application

for Guinness World

for the most individual shark

tattoos tatted on a female.

Right now, we are at 106,

and I have two more to tattoo

on me, so we'll go for

108 individual sharks.

Even after I get

the world record,

I will not stop getting

shark tattoos.

A lot of my tattoos

are actually personal.

So I do --

I worked with these guys.

I tagged these guys.

I like sharks.

I spent money on my tattoos,

so I might as well show them.

I have at least two more to go.

I'm not sure,

but I really want it on my face.

That's what she wants to do.

I personally wouldn't get any

on my face, but kudos to her.

Living my shark life,

I won't stop, so...

Yeah, absolutely.

I would love to get my face

tattooed, although everybody

I speak to is against it.

So, we'll see what happens.

-Hey, Doc, how you doing?

-[Dr. D'Arienzo] Hey, guys,

good to see you.

How you doing Casey?

-Great to see you again --

not too bad.

-You too, buddy.

-This is Hayleigh, by the way,

my lovely girlfriend.

-I'm Dr. D'Arienzo.

-Good to meet you.

-Nice to meet you.

Are you here to support him?

-Yeah.

-Yeah, she's my rock.

She helps me through

all these problems.

[Dr. D'Arienzo]

I love that.

We have a big day for you,

lots of shark

immersive experiences.

Do you think you can

handle that?

I'm a little anxious,

but I think, you know,

we're here for a reason,

so I'm going to do my best.

-All right, let's do it.

-Let's go.

Whenever we are resolving

a phobia, we start with things

that are easier to do,

to things that become more

and more difficult.

Welcome.

Welcome to Big Shark Bay.

Thanks for having us.

-Of course.

-I'm Casey.

-Kee.

-Nice to meet you, Kee.

-Hayleigh.

-And Hayleigh.

Very nice meeting you.

I'm the biologist here

at the aquarium.

-I've got five nurse sharks

in this habitat...

-Five?

...and I would love to

introduce you to some of them.

You know, they're a little

closer than what I'm used to.

When I see sharks,

I freeze most of the time.

I get very tense.

[Dr. D'Arienzo] Now, remember,

do your breathing.

And it helps to learn

about them, right?

I think so.

That's a big boy.

[Kee] Yeah.

One cool thing about

a nurse shark is that they have

a strong enough suction power

that they can pull an entire

conch out of its shell.

I can feel my heart

rate increase,

and I start to panic

a little bit.

Palpitations, shortness of

breath, and I will inevitably

start sweating.

This is the closest I've been

to a shark in my life.

How are you feeling?

I'm a little anxious, a little

panicking Skywalker, but...

On the outside,

I look cool as a cucumber.

On the inside, I've got

a tornado going in my heart,

a thousand thoughts

going in my brain.

What if I get too close

to the shark?

What if this?

What if that?

It's all just swirling

around me.

Do you need a tissue

for your sweat?

I might.

Oh, thanks.

-Are you feeling OK?

-You know, my heart rate's up.

I think that's part of

the I'm sweating so much,

but, you know.

You want to pet that one?

-Pass.

-We're both here to help you.

Just remember

your breathing, OK?

Nice and easy.

Which one do you want to pet?

You got this.

My anxiety's up there,

but you know what?

I will pet the biggest one.

That's what I'm here for,

so let's do it.

-The biggest shark?

-All right, I like it.

-Let's do it.

-All right.

I am feeling very anxious

knowing that, you know,

just a couple feet away from me

is something that could

swallow me whole without

thinking about it.

-Wow, look at that one.

-It's a big one.

[Kee] That's Miss Baby.

She's over seven foot right now.

-Yeah.

-[Hayleigh] You got this.

So we actually have these sharks

trained to a audible sound.

When the shark hears their cue,

they know to meet me at the gate.

We'll give her a little bit more

time, see if she's interested.

-Plot twist. She has a phobia of me.

-She might.

[Kee] They can definitely tell

some nervous energy.

-How are you feeling about this?

-A little...

I would say I'm about back up

to an eight at this point,

and try to remember why...

why I'm here.

-Look at that. There we go.

-[Kee] Look at them!

Have you had an incident

or experience of

any sort of ill variety?

So the nurse shark is

a fantastic species.

You shouldn't have any fear

about these beautiful animals.

And I make sure that this is

100% safe the entire time,

and I can move a hand faster

than you can blink.

So you want to give it a go?

I don't know.

I don't know if I can.

-[Dr. D'Arienzo] Casey.

-That's enormous.

I don't know.

-You can do this, man.

-You got it.

So I'm going to lift her up.

You'll be able to gently then

pet anywhere along on the back.

Just keep telling myself

this moment will pass

and try to get

through it that way.

All right.

All right.

[Hayleigh]

Wow.

-[Casey] She's got

a sandy feel to her.

-[Kee]Yeah.

[Kee] We can do her belly roll.

There we are.

[Casey] Oh, she got

a little red belly.

[Kee] There we go.

Yep, she's always had this mark,

and you can gently pat her

anywhere on the belly.

All right.

You know, the only way

to overcome a phobia

is through exposure.

This is exactly what he's doing,

and when we do that,

we reprogram, rewire our brain.

[Dr. D'Arienzo]

Casey, good job.

I mean, you just

touched a shark.

Yeah, I definitely haven't

done that at all.

-Was it exciting?

-Nerve-wracking, but yes.

I was, uh...

it wasn't as bad

as I expected.

-I think, I mean, that's --

-Yeah

-I think I'm doing all right.

-Uh-huh.

Are you ready for

the next experience?

I know that something more

extreme, something bigger

is coming next, so the anxiety

goes up a little higher.

I don't know what's coming

or if I'm gonna be

able to face it.

[knocking]

-Hey, how are you?

-David, thanks for joining us.

Jonah, how you doing?

Come on in.

Watch the shark.

He's a little bit sharp.

My family just moved

to Bethesda, Maryland,

and today we're hoping to have

some of our neighbors over

just to kind of say hi,

to let them kind of learn about

our family a little bit more.

This is our almost

10-foot mako shark.

He's got real teeth.

Guess what?

I brought home a new one

this week,

and we're still trying to figure

out where he's going to go.

Come take a look.

I think the sharks are such

a part of me at this point

that no one in the family even

thinks it's that strange,

but you never really know

what your neighbors think.

So, Jonah, I've got teeth

from megalodon sharks.

Do you know it had over 200

pounds of teeth in its mouth?

That's incredible.

I think they're less likely

to think it's normal.

And then I'm a dentist,

and so I actually made a pair

of dentures that has real shark

teeth in it.

If you're really obsessed

with sharks, the ultimate goal

is maybe to become one.

I wanted to do the Pretty Woman

thing where, you know,

you snap at it.

[laughs]

Isn't that scary?

First time getting to see

all of the shebang here.

This is quite something.

Mike likes sharks.

Hey, Charlie,

can I eat with you guys?

I've started a little bit down

the pathway of body modification.

A couple months ago, I made some

shark teeth for myself to wear.

[girl] Oh, my goodness!

[kids] Ew!

It's really fun to demonstrate

how these shark teeth function.

-Eww! Don't come close to me.

-No!

-Ew!

-[kid speaks indistinctly]

-They're so creepy.

-Mmm!

Why are you doing that?

It works really great.

You'll scratch your lip.

The kids' reaction to my teeth,

maybe not what I was expecting.

Out!

-Do you wanna touch them?

-No!

I thought maybe

they'd be more excited by it,

but I guess it does kind of turn

you into a little bit of a monster.

Take your teeth out.

-All right.

-[Charlie] OK.

Thank you for taking them out.

It's grossing me out.

All right, I'll put them away.

I'll put them away.

I think it became

a little bit more problematic,

especially my two-year-old.

He didn't like that at all.

I think maybe he was worried

I was becoming a shark.

-You don't want a pair?

-No.

I don't think they're great.

Do you think they're great?

-No.

-No? [laughs]

-Do not mess with him.

-No, not baby Teddy.

Do you know what

that shark's called?

That's a bull shark.

That's one of the sharks that

you do have to be kind of

careful about.

Charlie, that's a hammerhead.

That's like what

we brought home.

One of the parts of dentistry

that I enjoy the most is

that you become an educator.

And that passion for education

exists within my shark

hobby too.

Hammerheads use their heads

like metal detectors.

So, see how

he's sweeping the sand?

He's looking for like flounders

or stingrays.

He's feeling for little

electrical impulses

from the muscles of fish.

And his suit --

look at that, he's got something

stuck in his teeth.

He needs me.

Isn't that cool?

All right, so are you guys

tired of watching sharks?

-Yeah!

-Yeah!

-You wanna see the shark laser?

-Yeah!

I made a laser shark.

Three, two, one.

-[David] I wanna see the laser.

-[laughing]

No one's built a shark laser

and I thought,

I'm tripping over

sharks at my house.

This would be easy.

This is my shoulder-mounted,

high-powered laser shark.

It's a five-foot mako.

I think my favorite

species of shark

is probably the mako shark,

just because they look

like a military weapon.

When you see that laser shark

coming, you know exactly

what that thing is

and what it does.

Up here is the business end.

460-nanometer wavelength,

blue laser.

We'll be firing it

at our friend here.

All right, three, two, one.

Oh, there it goes.

-Oh, my God!

-Yes!

Oh, my God!

I think I've sort of...

jumped the shark a little bit.

[Jonah] I'm doing it.

[David] All right, well,

you gotta let Dr. Mike

show you how it's done, bud.

I was happy to see that some

of the kids wanted

to participate.

Three, two, one.

-Whoa!

-What? Jonah!

-[chuckling]

-[kids] Wow!

-We did it!

-Cool!

I had no idea what I was

getting myself into,

but I'm glad I'm here,

because this is amazing to see.

Go, Sabrina!

Oh!

[kids]

Wow!

Wow.

My passion for sharks is

in my DNA at this point,

and I just don't see

the passion ever...

ever going out.

I'm OK with it as long as

we don't end up with

a megalodon in our backyard,

because that would be

a little too much.

-[Ashley] Happy anniversary.

-Oh, man.

So today is our anniversary.

And Erich's gonna

meet my boyfriend.

It's a big day.

Because it's our anniversary.

Jerry!

Jerry!

[Capt. Jerry] Good morning.

How we doing?

-Fabulous.

-Let's go see Alan.

Oh.

[Erich]

What a way to spend

our anniversary, hun.

Just gonna drop it.

-That feels like it's hooked.

-[Erich] Yes, sir.

-[Capt. Jerry] All right.

-[Ashley] Oh, my God.

-This is going to be so cute.

-[Capt. Jerry] Looks good.

Brand new pink suit

just for Alan.

-He's going to love it.

-I hope so.

We're going to go down there.

We're going to see Alan

and his buddies,

all Caribbean reef sharks.

You're going to be wearing

comms today.

And we can talk

throughout the dive.

-Okie dokie.

-Sounds good?

And let's go have a good time.

-And a happy anniversary.

-Happy anniversary.

[Capt. Jerry] There you go.

[Ashley]

You hear me?

[Erich]

Hear you loud and clear.

When you drop down,

it's the best feeling

in the entire world.

It's [bleep] magic, right?

[Erich]

I don't see any sharks.

-Where are all the sharks?

-[Ashley] They will come.

I know they will come.

I don't know

why they're not here.

[Erich]

Wait, what's that?

[Ashley] Look!

You can see the shark

circling around.

Look!

[Erich] Is that him?

Is that Alan?

[Ashley] No.

That is a negative.

[Erich] Where's Alan?

[Erich] I have no idea.

I don't know where he is.

I don't think he's coming.

I swear he's here every week.

Alan, where are you?

-Oh, my God.

-Hi!

-Hi, how are ya?

-Good, how are you?

-Oh, it's been so long.

-[Emily] It has been a second.

-And is this the last?

-[Emily] It is the last of it.

We're finishing up the Guinness World

Record right now.

Today, I'm coming to see Emma

to add two more sharks.

We're gonna add

the black-mouthed cat shark

and the Atlantic big-eyed

six-gilled shark.

This guy had, like,

a weird hump to its back.

Yeah, well, because they're

deep-water, so they actually

lost their dorsal fin.

So we're thinking the leg.

Or maybe the face this time.

-Emily.

-Come on, Emma.

What will your mom think?

I know her.

I mean, anybody can do what

they want with their bodies,

but face tattoos are a whole

different ballgame.

I want her to be able to get

jobs in the future.

-All right, maybe just the leg.

-Well, let's get started.

[Emily] All right, great.

All right, we'll start

with the six-gilled.

[Emily] This shark

that you're tattooing now,

he's a living fossil.

They've been around for about

250 million years,

and they have six gill slits.

-That's wild.

Only seven species of sharks

have six or seven gill slits,

and all the rest have five.

So these guys are,

like, unchanged for millions

and millions of years.

Emily is definitely

obsessed with sharks.

The oceanic whitetip.

They're very, very fast

and extremely kind of scary.

They will swim away from you.

You will blink and they will

already be in your face.

That's how quick they are

and how curious.

-Sounds like horror movie stuff.

-Yeah.

I'd be more scared of those

than I would great whites.

Apparently them and the tiger sharks

were responsible

for the USS Indianapolis.

That stuff freaks me out.

I'm still kind of nervous

for you to go to Australia.

Are you? Oh, I'm so excited.

So in two weeks,

I'll be heading down to Australia

to cage-dive with great whites.

You know that it's one of

my favorite species,

even though it's a little

cliche, but...

-Are you nervous?

-No, not even a little bit.

-I'm more excited. Only...

-When I saw the videos, I'm just...

It's... I would piss myself.

It's bad.

The great white is something,

a species I will not ask you

to put on my face.

-So don't worry about that.

-Oh! Yeah.

I think that would just be

a little too basic for you, you know?

-All right, on to the next.

-[Emily] All right.

[Emma] But this one has,

like, fun patterns.

Why is this one --

Yeah, so the blackmouth catshark

is actually a pretty deep

water shark, but it has a lot

of pattern on it because it is

on the muddy bottom floor.

There's so much information

being looked at,

learned about these sharks.

-[Emma] Right.

They've been on the earth for

over 400 million years,

and so it's just

constant adaptations.

-I think we are all set.

-OK.

[Emma] Check it out.

[Emily] I love it!

[Emma] Oh, that is

perfect placement.

And the eye on that one!

-[Emily] Holy cow!

-[Emma] Yeah, it's perfect.

The big-eyed

and the six-gilled.

One, two, three, four,

five, six.

-Nailed it!

-You nailed it!

-[Erich] Let's go up.

-[Ashley] We haven't

found Alan yet.

-[Erich] I'm almost out of air.

-I put this all together.

Supposed to meet husband.

Maybe he didn't get the memo.

I'm going to check over here.

I love my wife and do anything

in the world for her,

and I'm just hoping

to see her world.

But we'll see what happens.

[Ashley]

Alan? Alan? Alan?

Are you in here?

Honey, look.

Look!

-[Erich] Is that him?

-[Ashley] It's Alan!

Look how beautiful

he is from below.

He's going right over me.

[Erich] Make sure it's him.

[Ashley] Ah! Eh!

It is totally him.

Alan, I have someone

special for you to meet.

This is Erich.

[Erich] I can take him.

I think he knew. I think he knew

it was a big day.

And he knew it was going

to meet my husband.

And he couldn't handle it

without his friends.

So he went and he brought

a bunch of his friends.

And Erich got to meet Alan.

You had fun, didn't you?

It was a great

anniversary dive.

-I love you so much.

-[Erich] Beautiful shark, hon.

-This is amazing.

-[Ashley] Alan, come back.

[Erich] I'm pretty sure

he's jealous of me.

I think he understands that

I do feelings for another,

but I don't think he feels

threatened because,

you know, you blow bubbles

and he doesn't.

I love you, honey.

Happy anniversary.

[Erich]

Happy anniversary, honey.

Love you too.

I see it now, hon.

You guys hold fins and swim off

into the sunset.

Ashley doesn't know this,

Alan's a girl.

I'm g*y?

[laughing]

Who knew?

Male sharks have claspers

on the underside.

That is their reproductive

organ.

Alan has no claspers.

I don't care.

I'm in love with her.

That's OK.

Doesn't change the love.

[Dr. D'Arienzo] Today, I brought

Casey to the Theater of the Sea

in Islamorada, Florida,

for his final test.

This is his last step in

exposure therapy,

and the sharks are no longer

behind the glass.

Hey, Taylor.

How you doing?

-Hi, guys. Good to see you.

-Good, how about you.

I have no idea what

we're doing today.

I'm actually very

anxious about it.

My legs, I can't stop shaking.

I have no idea what's going on

or really what to expect.

-Hayleigh.

-Hayleigh.

-Casey.

-Casey.

-Awesome. Nice to meet you..

-Nice to meet you.

Again, my name is Taylor,

and I'm the fish and reptile

supervisor here.

Are we all ready to meet some

nurse sharks?

-We'll see -- yeah.

-Yeah?

People do come in

fearful of sharks.

I never blame anybody for

misunderstanding sharks,

and I think of it as my job

to help them understand them.

They're awesome.

They're gentle giants,

if I do say so myself.

We do have seven nurse

sharks here.

We have five smaller ones

and then two of our big ones.

They're actually

bottom dwellers,

and they are

nocturnal.

One of the coolest things about

nurse sharks, they actually use

their suction to suction up

food in the wild,

so it's actually one of

the experiences that you will

get to feel.

And we are actually going to

have you on that bench right

there in the water.

We are going to put

a shark on your lap.

Yeah, do you feel

comfortable doing so?

Everything in me is telling me

to walk away right now.

Casey, what are you

feeling right now?

I don't know. I don't know.

-I don't know if I can do it.

-[Dr. D'Arienzo] Let's talk

about this, OK?

[Casey] I don't want to be here.

This feels insane. Feel stupid.

I don't think I could do it.

[Casey]

I don't think I could do it.

Let's take a little walk, OK?

Can we do that?

What is the concern?

Uh, I mean, this is as

up-close and personal

as they could get.

It's a little much.

OK.

For somebody that was petrified

of sharks, this has been

an intense sequence of exposure,

so I did anticipate

at some point there'd be

a breaking point.

What is the worst thing that

you're thinking about right now?

I think just being submerged

within the proximity.

Danger feels more real, I guess,

more three-dimensional.

You've learned that they're not

a dangerous creature

generally, right?

I mean, especially

these nurse sharks...

Yeah.

...right, are the least aggressive

type of shark.

-So we've heard.

-[Dr. D'Arienzo] Uh-huh.

All those skills that

we've reviewed, right?

We gotta focus on the breathing,

be here in the moment, right?

If we control the body,

control the mind.

This is going to rewire you

so you and Hayleigh

can take the kids on vacation

at the beach, too.

I mean, your kids would love to

see something like this, right?

-They're going to be

so proud of you.

-Yeah.

Definitely.

I mean, this is as hands-on

as it can get, and I...

Ugh, yeah.

[Dr. D'Arienzo] This is

the natural progression.

It just feels like

a whole new game.

-OK, I know this is intense.

-My heart is racing.

I know it is.

Let's be in the moment.

I want you to focus

on the birds.

OK, focus on Hayleigh.

Give Hayleigh a hug.

It'll be OK.

And Casey, remember too that,

you know, you don't have

to do this either, right?

It's a choice to do it.

Yeah, I mean, I don't,

but for me, I have to.

OK.

And if you're able

to accomplish this,

that fear is going to be

extinguished.

-OK.

-OK?

-You ready?

-Yeah, yeah, I think so.

-All right. Let's do this.

-[Hayleigh] Yeah?

I'm nervous for Casey because

he's going to be submerged

in the water with a shark.

And I already know that

he's going to be very tense,

going through a lot of emotions,

and hopefully Doc and I can

help him through this.

I'm gonna be guiding you

straight down to this bench.

You'll sit about halfway down

the bench, keeping your hands

out of the water.

Are you ready to get in?

-Yeah.

-[Annie] All right, perfect.

You're doing great. Perfect.

[Dr. D'Arienzo]

Casey, good job, buddy.

And then right about there,

you can take a seat for me.

You got it.

Perfect.

Awesome job.

Getting in the water

and being that close,

I completely shut down.

I started freezing

and panicking.

[Dr. D'Arienzo] Relax.

You're doing great.

It felt like walking into

an armed stranger's house,

not knowing what to expect

or how I was going to come out

of it, or if I would.

And I'm going to have you put

your hands straight up

in the air like you're riding

a roller coaster.

-All right.

-[Annie] Perfect.

Now, Maria is just going

to rest right in your lap.

[Dr. D'Arienzo]

Oh, look at that.

-[Hayleigh] Good job.

-[Dr. D'Arienzo] Casey.

-Perfect.

-[Dr. D'Arienzo] Just keep

breathing, Casey.

You're going to put your hands

straight down.

That hand right there

is perfect.

This hand, you're going

to wrap around her

like you're giving

her a big hug.

Now you might feel little

wiggles, just like that.

That is totally OK.

That's just her

getting comfortable.

Bigger wiggles.

I'll let you know to put

your hands straight up

in the air again.

All right?

How you feeling?

There's a pool of diarrhea

forming inside of me.

[Dr. D'Arienzo]

Casey, relax all that tension.

Relax.

-You're doing great.

-[Dr. D'Arienzo] Easy does it.

I want you to focus on just

being in the moment,

feeling the shark.

How does that feel?

Like she might be

as anxious as I am.

[Dr. D'Arienzo] She may be.

This how we extinguish this

fear, and you're doing it, man.

Casey's doing quite well,

given the extreme fear

and phobia that he presented.

-Good?

-Yeah.

So we were ready to move into

a more intense experience,

actually feeding a shark.

So you're going to feel

a really big pop in a second.

-All right?

That's just her eating.

-Yeah.

She eats with a suction.

So here it goes.

-Two, one.

-Three, two, one.

Nice.

Very nice job.

Nice job, Casey.

You're doing great.

Did you ever think you'd be

able to do this?

No, not a chance.

Wow.

What is your anxiety

level right now?

It's about down to a six, I'd say.

[Hayleigh] That's good.

[Dr. D'Arienzo] I mean,

that's amazing.

-[Casey] She's incredible.

-[Dr. D'Arienzo] Right?

You look like you're really

in the moment.

Doing my best.

You're doing such a great job.

All right, hands straight up

in the air.

Perfect. Good job.

[Dr. D'Arienzo] Wow.

-Nice job.

-All right, thank you.

I feel immensely

proud of myself.

I didn't think I had it

in me to even try.

I thought it was just going

to be a little pocket of shame

that I kept hidden from

everybody else for ever, really.

But now I've made the step

to immerse myself

and really get through it.

[Dr. D'Arienzo] My man.

Thank you so much

for being here.

-I think you need

to hug Hayleigh.

-You did it!

You did it!

Look at you.

Sorry if I got you wet.

It's OK.

I don't care.

I think Casey is

going to do great.

He's going to be able to get

into the water.

Him and Hayleigh are going to be

able to take a honeymoon

in Hawaii.

You know, all these things that

he could have never done before

if he wouldn't have

faced this fear.

I'm still shaking, but I think

it's because --

it's like the accomplishment.

-I did do it.

-[Dr. D'Arienzo] Yes.

So do you still have the same

fear of sharks?

I think they're still

in an apprehension,

but it's appropriate now.

-[Dr. D'Arienzo] OK.

It doesn't feel as debilitating

as it once did.

[Dr. D'Arienzo] OK, perfect.

You're doing so amazing.

It's been six weeks since

we got back from Florida,

and I no longer feel like sharks

are out to get humans.

I got to enter the ocean for

the first time in 15 years.

And we are even planning a beach

vacation with the kids

and I'm really excited about it.

-How do you feel?

-I feel much better.

Aw.