Shark Trek: William Shatner is boldly going to swim with predators

The 90-year-old actor who played James T Kirk has another mission: to overcome his fear of sharks. James Rampton on the man who knows how to live long and prosper

William Shatner and co-host Josh Gates travelled to the Bahamas to film the documentary (Discovery)

William Shatner is boldly going where no nonagenarian has gone before: swimming with sharks. The Canadian actor, who turned 90 on 22 March, is terrified of sharks. How did he set about conquering that fear, then? By leaping into the ocean with them, of course. Best known for playing Captain James T Kirk in Star Trek, Shatner travelled to the Bahamas a few weeks ago. His mission? To present a documentary with the borderline-cheesy title of Expedition Unknown: Shark Trek and overcome his phobia of the undersea apex predators.

The actor, who portrayed Kirk in 95 episodes of the TV show and seven movies, recollects his utter terror when he first jumped into the water with a shiver (isn’t that a brilliant collective noun?) of deadly 15-feet-long tiger sharks. “There were all these grey bodies thrashing around. It’s like going to a drive-in movie. You’re looking at the screen – then you walk closer and closer to the screen and you suddenly realise that's not the screen, it’s real! Oh my God, it was overwhelming!” Now he describes the experience as, “unbelievable. One of the great moments of my life.”

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