Jackass Shark Week had viewers' hearts in their mouths Sunday night as the lovable but reckless gang went swimming for the Discovery channel.
The special episode was particularly memorable as it almost proved fatal for one of the crew. Jackass newcomer Sean McInerney, aka Poopies, was bitten by a shark and rushed to the hospital during one of the many stunts performed.
Jackass 4 is coming to theaters soon and this special episode is a timely reminder for fans that these daredevils are up for anything.
Returning Jackass members Steve-O and Chris Pontius performed some of the stunts seen in Jackass Shark Week and they're joined by newcomers Poopies, and Jasper. Here's a rundown of the five crazy stunts seen in the show.
Warning: The following stunts were performed by professionals in the name of science. Do not attempt to reenact any activity performed in this show.
1. The Matador
A classic Jackass bit goes underwater in The Matador. Pontius, dressed in his best matador gear goes swimming with bull sharks to wave his red sheet towards them. Bull sharks are colorblind but they react to contrast and movement.
One of them seems aggravated by Pontius' presence and does bite at the structure holding his sheet.
The team have had plenty of run-ins with bulls in the past but a bull shark seems to be upping the stakes even more.
2. Jaws of Life
Here the team try to test the bite impact force of a sandbar shark. Jasper is the human bait here as he sits in an inflatable tube with the equipment dangling beneath him for the shark to chomp down on.
Luckily this was a successful experiment that educated the team and the audience as the 90lb shark was discovered to have a bite impact force the equivalent of its body weight, 90lb.
3. The Smell Test
It's known that sharks can smell blood but this experiment was designed to see if sharks can also smell human sweat.
Steve-O works up a sweat on an exercise bike on the back of the boat before jumping into the water to potentially lure a shark to him. Meanwhile Poopies eats a plate full of fish to test whether a shark can smell the fish sweat seeping out of his pores.
This test was ultimately a failure which meant that the daredevils were safe from the sharks' attention.
4. Ride or Die
This test involved a level of skill from newcomer Poopies as they tried to determine the maximum speed of Caribbean reef sharks.
Poopies rode a wakeboard with bait attached to him and had the sharks chase him as fast as they could. It was discovered that the sharks could move at 22 mph, much faster than any human could ever swim.
5. Jumping the Shark
The Jackass crew wanted to test the literal implications of the frequently used TV and film term "jumping the shark." Inspired by a Happy Days storyline when Fonzie jumped over a shark, Poopies put on his own leather jacket like Arthur Fonzarelli and attempted to emulate the stunt.
Back on his wakeboard, he rides over a ramp, jumps and crash-lands on the water but he's instantly attacked by a shark. The nearby medical team rush over to help and discover that he's been badly bitten on the hand by one of the sharks.
Poopies was rushed to the hospital and he's shown to be doing well but the image of his hand is quite frightening. His hand and wrist appear to have dozens of stitches in it and there's a large chunk of his hand missing below his thumb.
Poopies is interviewed at the end of the special episode with his hand in a cast. He tells Steve-O he expects a bonus for his troubles.
Steve-O shared the graphic image on his Instagram account.
Shark Week is a chance to highlight the shark and ray meat network which currently threatens shark and ray species with extinction. The following graphic from Statista shows the countries at the heart of the trade.
Jackass Shark Week is available to watch now on discovery+.
