Shark attack survivor shares top 3 tips to help stay safe during an encounter

Shark attack survivor joins "Shark Week" special

Shark attack survivor Paul de Gelder teaches others how to stay alive if attacked 04:53

Shark sightings off the eastern coast of the United States this summer may have some people wondering what they could do if they encounter a shark.  

"People go in the ocean every single day against this natural common sense knowing there's sharks in there, knowing there's jellyfish, knowing there's all kinds of beastly aliens in there. We still do it because we love it," Paul de Gelder, who lost his hand and leg in a 2009 shark attack while working as a bomb disposal diver for the Australian Navy, said Monday on "CBS Mornings."

De Gelder shared some tips for surviving an attack.

"I don't want people to have to go through what I went through, it's no fun. It hurts. There's a lot of recovery," he said.

Here are his top tips: 

• Stay calm and don't splash: "I know it goes against all natural instincts of preservation, not to panic, but that's the most important thing you can do," he said. "You have to understand these sharks don't really know what you are, you're almost the same size as them, and they don't want to fight."
• Keep watch: Standing your ground and staring the shark down can also help you survive. "They know when you're watching, they don't want to attack you when you're watching — they want an easy target," he said. "That's why the tiger sharks always sneak up on us from behind."
• Push away: As a last resort, de Gelder says to push — not punch — the shark in the nose to drive it away. 

De Gelder is bringing his survival tips to a new Discovery Channel special, "How to Survive a Shark Attack," in which he tries to get attacked by the ocean animals in order to demonstrate how to survive.

"I want to show people by doing," he said of the show. "They get to see what happens when a shark bites someone. What do I do if someone next to me gets attacked by a shark? What do I do if I get attacked by a shark? Let's show them exactly what to do."

In July, officials in Maine warned beachgoers to exercise caution after multiple sightings of great white sharks, and a great white shark weighing more than 1,653 pounds was recently detected about 50 miles off the coast of Nantucket, Massachusetts. 

There have been some attacks this year, too. Earlier this month, an 18-year-old surf instructor was rushed to the hospital after he was attacked by a shark at a Florida beach. He was bitten on his foot while surfing off New Smyrna Beach, about 60 miles northeast of Orlando. In June, a 12-year-old girl was airlifted from South Carolina's Hilton Head Island after she was bitten by a shark. Just days prior, a 9-year-old nearly lost her hand after being bitten by a shark near Boca Grande on Florida's west coast.

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