the over 60,000 people of siemens are ready to do it again. siemens. answers. captioning funded by cbs and ford-- built for the road ahead. >> pelley: i've got to tell you, this is not like any part of iraq i've ever seen before. but it is iraq, a magical part of iraq where many biblical scholars place the garden of eden. >> there. >> pelley: ah, look at that. we have entered another time. but saddam hussein saw this ancient civilization as the enemy and tried to wipe it out. saddam was using water as a weapon. >> you know, the world was looking for weapons of mass destruction, and it was... the

evidence was right under its nose. >> pitts: new orleans is a rich gumbo of french, spanish, and afro-caribbean culture that's been slow cooking for three centuries. ♪ ♪ buried deep in the music is an energy like no place else in america, and mayor mitch landrieu moves to it with his own rhythm of leadership. and while his city has well- documented problems, he's tired of depending it. i don't know if "defensive" is the right word, but you get riled up. >> "pissed" would be the better word. >> cooper: mike rutzen is one of just a few people in the world who would do this with a great white shark, and that's just for starters. oh, my god. whoa! >> that's what i'm talking about. >> cooper: with blood in the water and great whites swirling

around, he gets in with them-- no cage, no protection. how does he survive it, and what could possibly be his motivation? >> how do you feel? >> cooper: i feel good. we went in the water with him... to find out. >> i'm steve kroft. >> i'm lesley stahl. >> i'm morley safer. >> i'm byron pitts. >> i'm anderson cooper. >> i'm scott pelley. those stories and andy rooney tonight on "60 minutes." an everyday moment can turn romantic anytime. and when it does, men with erectile dysfunction can be more confident in their ability to be ready with cialis for daily use. ♪ cialis for daily use is a clinically proven low-dose tablet you take every day so you can be ready anytime the moment's right. ♪ tell your doctor about your medical condition and all medications, and ask if you're healthy enough for sexual activity.

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>> pelley: it turns out saddam hussein did possess a weapon of mass destruction, and he used it in a slaughter that few people have heard of until now. after the gulf war in 1991, saddam spent untold millions on a weapon designed to exterminate an ancient civilization called the ma'dan, also known as the marsh arabs. they lived in iraq between the tigris and euphrates rivers, where many biblical scholars place the garden of eden. but if this was the place where man fell from grace, saddam showed just how far man can fall. in a spectacular feat of engineering, he used water in a strike against his own people that not even an atom bomb could match. back in 2009, we journeyed there

with an american engineer who's resurrecting this magical land that was turned to dust by saddam's secret weapon. >> azzam alwash: we're now officially inside the marsh. and you can see the reeds getting denser and denser, taller and taller. >> pelley: azzam alwash grew up in the water world that the greeks named mesopotamia, "the land between two rivers." i've got to tell you, this is not like any part of iraq i've ever seen before. >> alwash: right? i mean, you... when you say "iraq," it's a desert, right? it's... it's burning oil. it's... it's magical is what it is. this is magic. >> pelley: it's been more than 30 years since he pushed through the reeds with his father, who ran the irrigation office here. >> alwash: so i have very warm memories of this place. >> pelley: in 1978, alwash left to study in america, and became a partner in an engineering firm. >> alwash: i achieved the american dream, scott. >> pelley: you'd been living in

the united states for 25 years. you're an american citizen, you married an american woman. your children are as american as they can be. >> alwash: and i'm as american as can be. >> pelley: why did you imagine going back to iraq after the life you had built? >> alwash: i realized, at some point in time, that money and success and the american dream is not everything. working on passion, on something that drives you is everything. >> pelley: his passion is a world where mother nature meets father time. it's the cradle of civilization outlined by the tigris and euphrates, the likely birthplace of agriculture, the written word, and the wheel. but once the ancients set civilization on its course, the ma'dan stayed behind. their villages are primitive. they weave a life out of the reeds of the marsh. they bind them into homes, feed

them to their water buffalo, and burn them to bake their bread. there's not much in the way of electricity, education, or health care. >> ( speaking in arabic ) >> pelley: but elders, like sahi salay, told us they did just fine until 1991, when they suffered their own kind of holocaust. that was when the u.s. and its allies invaded southern iraq to throw saddam out of kuwait. >> president george bush: but there's another way for the bloodshed to stop. >> pelley: the elder president bush urged iraqis to overthrow their dictator. >> bush: to take matters into their own hands... >> pelley: the ma'dan and other shiites in the south supported an uprising to topple saddam's regime. the marshes, known for ages as a smuggler's paradise, turned out to be a perfect place for the rebels to hide, with their endless maze of waterways, like these on the iranian border. but in 1991, when the allies withdrew, saddam turned eden

into hell. >> alwash: the united nations environmental program called it the biggest engineered environmental disaster of the last century. >> pelley: saddam tried to wipe out the marsh arabs by destroying their world. he built six canals to divert the waters of the tigris and euphrates out into the desert and the persian gulf. in a five-year project, he drained 90% of the marshes, an area of more than 3,000 square miles. >> alwash: as an engineer, i'm telling you, drying of the marshes is definitely not an easy task. it's a monumental engineering project. he put every piece of equipment available in iraq under his control at the services of the projects needed to dry the marshes. >> pelley: saddam was using water as a weapon? >> alwash: you know, the world was looking for weapons of mass destruction. and it was... the evidence was right under its nose. >> pelley: this is a ma'dan village shot by "national geographic" in the 1970s, when the marshes were the middle east's largest wetland.

and this is what most of the region looked like after the manmade drought. to get a sense of the scale of the engineering project, we went to have a look with the illinois national guard's 106th aviation wing. that's one of saddam's canals, designed to capture the water, carry it past the marshes, and dump it in the persian gulf. one embankment runs through the middle of the picture, but this manmade canal is so wide, you can hardly see the other side more than a mile away. in fact, its wider than the euphrates itself. it's an unbelievable engineering achievement. >> alwash: this is my first time seeing it from the air this close up, and it is... it is spectacular. >> pelley: no one will ever know how many lives were lost and how many families were left in misery by the genocide that followed. >> alwash: they didn't even wait for nature to... to die a

natural death. as soon as the embankments were finished, they put light to the reeds of the marshes. >> pelley: set fire to the reeds. >> alwash: set fire to the reeds. >> pelley: the cradle of civilization. >> alwash: where eden was. >> pelley: was desiccated. >> alwash: dead. >> pelley: we met some of the survivors, like sheikh hassan, returning to the rubble left by saddam's army. what happened to the village after everyone was ordered out? i mean, what happened to this house? >> sheikh hassan ( translated ): the government gave us three days to get out before the tanks came and crushed our houses. they destroyed about 180 houses in the area. >> pelley: hassan told us that many of his tribesmen were found in mass graves. across the region, thousands were killed; about 100,000 were forced from their homes. but then, 12 years later, when saddam fell, azzam alwash helped launch a counterattack on the fortress of drought.

>> alwash: we're coming to it right there. >> pelley: oh, this is where you knocked a hole in the... >> alwash: that's right. >> pelley: ... in the dike. so, you brought heavy earth- moving equipment in and... and knocked a hole in what saddam's engineers had built? >> alwash: indeed. i got the last laugh. ( laughs ) >> pelley: it was the beginning of his group called nature iraq, that has developed a plan to restore the marshes. >> alwash: the thing is, it was... it was a small hole. as the water started flowing, it started digging its own passageway. >> pelley: you just had to break it. >> alwash: just... just let the water start going. >> pelley: so, the... the euphrates just pushed its way through there once you broke it? >> alwash: yes. once... once you let the water go in, it just makes its own way. >> pelley: alwash's travels can be dangerous. this is still a war zone. we traveled with a security team lent by the italian ministry of foreign affairs and with a squad of iraqi police. >> alwash: oh, the i.p. is following us. >> pelley: they found us, yes. alwash wasn't sure that just re- flooding the barren earth would resurrect what was lost, but

when we traveled deeper into the marshes, we saw what's sprung up since the waters returned in 2003. >> alwash: there. >> pelley: ah, look at that. look at that. we have entered another time. >> alwash: this is the water world in the middle of the desert. >> pelley: wow. all these houses built with nothing but reeds. >> alwash: without reeds, you can't have this way of life. reeds are the skeleton of these people's lives. >> pelley: the house of reeds is called a mudhif. alwash wanted one as a meeting hall for his project, and we were there to watch the construction. it's made of nothing but reeds bound by reeds. the arches are planted in the ground and pulled into shape. then, woven mats cover the top. alwash's mudhif is 15 feet tall and 70 feet long. it's where we did our interview, and where one of the village elders came to entertain us.

♪ ♪ have a look at the mudhif, and compare it to this 5,000-year- old carving. turns out, they do build them like they used to. near the marshes, the sumerians erected this temple at the city of ur. the sumerians thought the marshes were so important, they wrote a story about them. the story goes that the gods grew angry at man, so they sent a deluge to cover the earth. one of the gods thought that was a terrible idea, so he warned one man to build a boat and save all the animals. the people of this region came up with that story hundreds of years before the old testament gave us noah. the city of ur is said to be the birthplace of abraham, the father of judaism, christianity

and islam. now, his descendants are returning to a life that he might have recognized. >> alwash: this cluster behind us is a cluster of about three islands built by generations, over generations-- dirt, reed, dirt, reed. every time it settles, they add a new layer. >> pelley: and that's how they make their islands? >> alwash: yes. >> pelley: that's the sumerian creation story, that god laid down reed mats and created man, and created the world. >> alwash: indeed, indeed, exactly. it was... they took it from their lives, and you know, of course the gods lived the way they do, you know. and this is eden. ( laughs ) >> pelley: what's happening now is sort of a second creation story. thousands of marsh arabs have returned to this land since the re-flooding began, and the ma'dan are rebuilding their

islands, with a few changes that abraham would not have imagined. >> alwash: these people are restoring the marshes, not because they're tree huggers, like i am. they're restoring the marshes because they are trying to live. it's not because they love the birds flying or... or the reeds look nice. it's about... it's about livelihood. >> pelley: we saw that when we came up on a reed market. families were bringing their harvest to a place where the new waters spelled the end of saddam's road. what is your hope for this place? >> alwash: my hopes? i see the marshes as a destination for eco-tourism. i see the marshes as a destination for archeological tourism. >> pelley: but, you know, that's a very nice picture, but this is a country at war. >> alwash: yeah, okay. so? the war is not going to last

forever. if you're going dream, dream big. it's free. >> pelley: alwash is lobbying parliament to make his boyhood home iraq's first national park. but no matter how big the dream, the marshes will never be what they once were. upstream, as far as turkey and syria, there are more than 30 dams diverting water. there's a serious drought right now. and oil has been discovered here; exploration will surely follow. still, about 50% of the marshes have been re-flooded. the land of civilizations past has a future again. since our story first aired, alwash has been working to build an eco-tourism camp in the marshes, and is planning to welcome his first visitors next march. >> cbs money watch update sponsored by: >> good evening. a funding dispute in congress has partially shut down the f.a.a. it furloughed thousands of non-essential workers and stopped collecting airline ticket taxes. gas held steady at $3.70 a gallon, up 7 cents in two weeks. and "captain america" toppled

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and at many of the places their summer plans take them. it pays to switch, it pays to discover. >> pitts: new orleans is one of the oldest cities in america. it's rich with culture, and legendary for its indulgences and its disasters. almost six years after katrina, and one year after the b.p. oil spill, new orleans has a new mayor with a new plan on how to run the city. mitch landrieu says it's time to rebuild this place, not into what it was, but into what it can be. as we first told you in may, he brings his own brand of intensity to the big easy. and like many people who live there, landrieu is in the middle of a love affair with his troubled city, as we discovered when we caught up with him during mardi gras. ♪ ♪ new orleans is a rich gumbo of french, spanish, and afro- caribbean culture that's been slow cooking for three

centuries. tourism here is a $5 billion a year industry, and the biggest draw is mardi gras. ♪ ♪ beneath the mardi gras masks and the makeup, buried deep in the music, is an energy in new orleans like no place else in america, and mayor mitch landrieu moves to it with his own rhythm of leadership. i get the impression that you're having as much fun as the people are. >> mitch landrieu: i love mardi gras. i'm a street rat. i told you, i really, really enjoy it. >> pitts: yeah? >> landrieu: it's a lot of fun. >> pitts: mardi gras is a two-

week-long party where even the high and mighty can get down and dirty. >> is everybody ready? you've been described, by people i've talked to, as... as very much a modern-day mayor, someone who was into statistics and analysis of things. but what we see is also an old- school mayor who likes to press the flesh and kiss babies and, in new orleans' case, dance with babies. which are you? which... which world are you more comfortable? >> landrieu: i'm both. i'm both. i mean, it's... you... you... in order to be... >> pitts: which one's more natural for you? which one is more... >> landrieu: both, they're both. i love them both. i mean, i love people. i really... i mean, i'm in... i'm in this business because i really love people. man, how you doing? >> i'm terrific. how are you? >> landrieu: nice to see you. how you doing? >> good to see you, too. >> landrieu: i'm mitch landrieu, i'm the mayor. >> pitts: landrieu's election in february 2010 held an omen of positive changes from the start. the very next day, the saints won the super bowl. >> landrieu: in a crazy way, it

was a spiritual moment for the people of the city. people here so desperately needed something good to happen, and to believe that you could go from worst to... to best. you see that beginning to happen on the streets of the city of new orleans. >> pitts: but many of those streets are filled with reminders of the destructive power and emotional trauma inflicted by katrina. today, there are about 45,000 abandoned homes and buildings in new orleans, making it one of the most blighted cities in america. but landrieu says the city's making a comeback. >> landrieu: our unemployment rate is lower than the national average. our housing values have gone up 9% in the last year. for the first time in, i don't know, years, all of a sudden, more people are moving back into the city. the people of new orleans not only are resilient and not only are rebuilding back, but they're examples that, in many areas, we're doing better than we were before. and people just didn't fold their tent and go away. because the things that we learned in katrina is that the value of life does not come from

the size of the home that you live in, that your church is not the building that you go to-- it's the community that you have grown up and lived with. >> pitts: landrieu grew up here on prieur street in a middle- class integrated neighborhood. >> landrieu: this is where i learned everything that i know. really, everything that i know is a result of the values that i learned on this particular spot- - learned how to live with other people that are not like you, learned how to compete, learned how to share, learned how to be part of a community. >> pitts: and what is the saying, "if it doesn't play here..." >> landrieu: if it don't play on prieur street, it don't play. this is what it is. >> pitts: his father "moon," the former mayor, and mother verna still live in the house where they raised him with his eight brothers and sisters. >> verna landrieu: i'd put him out here on this play... in his playpen out... and he's talking to everybody walking the streets. i mean, and he... then he... one day, he climbed... >> mitch landrieu: put me out to play? tell him the truth-- you put me in a harness. ( laughter ) >> verna landrieu: well... well... >> mitch landrieu: you tied me to the porch, and put me in a harness out there. >> verna landrieu: well, i tied you down there in the harness, because you... he kept running

into the street. but he was just one... you know, he was just constantly moving and-- and friendly. and so, i mean, he's got his hands full, but he loves it. >> pitts: he's always been that way? >> verna landrieu: always, since the day he's born, absolutely. >> pitts: after katrina, the landrieu home, like so many others, stood in nearly seven feet of floodwaters. >> mitch landrieu: the damage that was caused down here was not caused by a natural disaster; it was caused because the levees broke. and the levees were owned, engineered, and operated by the federal government. >> pitts: but this year, new orleans has added protection for the hurricane season. the u.s. army corps of engineers is nearly finished building 120 miles of walls and levees that will circle the city, at a cost of nearly $15 billion. it's supposed to withstand a so- called "hundred year storm," much like katrina.

the centerpiece is this 1.8-mile long concrete wall that rises 26 feet above the water. where's the city from here? >> mitch landrieu: the city is eight miles away. you know, you got the coast, then you've got this wall, and now you have the city, which is why they can comfortably say we are a lot safer than we were before katrina. >> pitts: but inside the storm walls, landrieu has plenty of other problems. >> mitch landrieu: nobody here is naive. i mean, this... what we're doing is hard. nobody else in the country has ever done this. people have had struggles in their communities with one thing or another; we're struggling with everything. >> pitts: and "everything" is what? what's "everything"? >> mitch landrieu: "everything" is everything. everything is "i don't have a house." everything is "i don't have a car." everything is "i don't have a doctor." everything is "i don't have a road." everything is "i don't have a school." and we have to repatch all that stuff. >> pitts: when landrieu took office, he faced the same problems other mayors do-- budget deficits, high unemployment and crime. but he also took over a city government described as suffering from incompetent leadership and widespread corruption. >> mitch landrieu: that's... that's accurate.

>> pitts: it sounds like you have your hands full just fixing city government before you can fix the city. >> mitch landrieu: that... well, that... that's an excellent question. and the answer is, "yes." and the answer is also, "we have to do both." >> pitts: you've been very up- front about the problems in new orleans. why the blunt honesty? is it to lower expectations? >> mitch landrieu: the people of new orleans have gotten to rock bottom. and the only way out, in my mind, is for them to really understand it, and then to really choose to get better. >> pitts: the one problem most people want to see solved quickly is violent crime. new orleans has the highest per capita murder rate in the country. the neighborhood of st. roch looks quaint on the surface. but there have been at least ten murders since last november in an area just over one square mile. crime is your biggest obstacle. >> landrieu: absolutely. >> pitts: you've got to fix that first. >> landrieu: well, let me say this. you have to fix everything all at the same time. you can't... you can't concentrate on one thing to the exclusion of others. >> pitts: landrieu and the top brass from the new orleans police department walked through st. roch during our visit. it's something they do every month in tough neighborhoods. >> landrieu: give me one second. hey, you guys, how y'all doing? nice to see you. y'all well? >> pitts: the mayor says it makes people feel safer and more connected to him and the police.

do you fully appreciate how much people expect from you? i mean, there are people in the city who are genuinely counting on you, mitch landrieu, to make their city, make their life better. >> mitch landrieu: well, that's good. i'm counting on them. i mean, so back at you. i mean, we're all in this together. they had enough of people pulling us apart. we're going to try to figure it out. they also know intuitively that they have to do it themselves. >> pitts: part of the crime problem is the new orleans police department itself. last year, landrieu took the unusual step of asking the u.s. department of justice to investigate. in march, it issued a scathing report describing a corrupt and dysfunctional police force. >> mitch landrieu: political corruption is endemic all over this country; in some places, worse than others, right? on crime, you have other major

american cities where the crime rates, at different points in their histories, have spiked dramatically. so this is not something that we... that we get just because we drank it in the water down here. it's not something that... that you don't find in other places. but for some reason, we seem to kind of get, you know, the microscope. >> pitts: i don't know if... if "defensive" is the right word, but you get riled up. >> mitch landrieu: well, "pissed" would be the better word. ( laughter ) okay? because it's... it's... you get to these things where you go to places and people say things to you. they just say, "well, gee, i... i didn't realize that we were the only ones that were like that. by the way, you know, people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones. take care of your business and we'll take care of ours." so, confronting corruption, confronting crime, making sure the people of america know that we know we've got it and we're going to do something about it is a healthy thing. >> father tony ricard: it's actually a pretty exciting time, i think, the fact that we have a hands-on mayor. >> pitts: on the mayor's walk through st. roch, we met the neighborhood priest, father tony ricard. it seems to me, in new orleans, your problems have problems, that everything that can be wrong with an urban environment is wrong in new orleans. >> ricard: exactly. >> pitts: so can one mayor fix them? >> ricard: i think that... that the... you always need a catalyst to start something. you know, when god created the

world, there was the big bang. somebody had to make the boom. and i think this mayor has the ability to be that bang, to be that one that will give us that start. >> pitts: many believe landrieu at least has the pedigree. his sister mary has been a u.s. senator from louisiana since 1997. and the last white mayor of new orleans was their father, "moon." he ran the city in the 1970s, when it was bitterly divided by race and class. his most important step was integrating city government, and setting the stage for a succession of four black mayors. mitch landrieu's election broke the streak. as you well know, new orleans has been dominated by white business elite, black political elite. but you're neither one of those. so, do you represent a new way, a third way of doing business in new orleans? >> mitch landrieu: well, yeah, i think so. you can't hide behind race anymore. you can't hide behind class structure anymore. you can't hide behind family.

you need to produce. i have to be honest with you, i get a little frustrated that things don't move more quickly. sometimes, i think i was born in the northeast because i have a couple of, you know, not-so-good things about me. i'm impatient, i'm hot tempered, i want to go faster rather than slower. i don't understand why things take so long. at the same time, i have to admit to you that you don't want to lose the richness of what it is that we do down here. and sometimes, richness takes time. ♪ ♪ >> pitts: during the pageantry of mardi gras, landrieu presides over the parades with their elaborate floats, marching bands, and whatever this is. i've talked to a lot of politicians who certainly love and respect their city, but you seem to have a unique affection for new orleans. >> mitch landrieu: i... i think that you know now that i'm like every other new orleanian. you've talked to a lot of people on the streets, and every one of them will tell you that they are

desperately in love with this troubled yet beautiful city, this place that is just so spectacular that it just, as i like to say, gets all up in them all the time. >> pitts: this year's mardi gras was the largest since katrina, a $350 million money maker for new orleans. it's one more sign, he says, that this american original is starting to thrive again. >> mitch landrieu: i think that you know that people here are going to fight for what it is that we have because we love it so much. we just... we just adore it. >> pitts: it sounds romantic, the way you describe it, but i'm thinking now about mitch landrieu... >> mitch landrieu: it is. it is romantic. it's one of the things that people like about the place. it's romantic. >> welcome to the cbs sports update fred by viagra. in vancouver, sean o'hare beat chris blank to win the rbc canadian open. it was sean's first win since

'09. in, in paris, cadel evans became the first aussie to win the tour de france. he took the jell-oier si. for more sports news and information, go to cbssports.com. ♪ [ male announcer ] you've reached the age where you don't back down from a challenge. this is the age of knowing how to make things happen. so, why would you let something like erectile dysfunction get in your way? isn't it time you talked to your doctor about viagra? 20 million men already have. with every age comes responsibility. ask your doctor if your heart is healthy enough for sex. do not take viagra if you take nitrates for chest pain, as it may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. side effects may include headache, flushing, upset stomach, and abnormal vision. to avoid long-term injury, seek immediate medical help for an erection lasting more than four hours.

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>> pelley: now, cnn's anderson cooper on assignment for "60 minutes." >> cooper: there is no animal we fear more and understand less than the great white shark. in part, because it's so hard to get near to them, studying great whites has not been easy. but there is one man who has spent his life getting closer to great whites more often than anyone else. his name is mike rutzen, and in south africa, where he lives, he's known simply as "the sharkman." what he's discovered about these predators will surprise you. far from being mindless killing machines, rutzen believes great whites are smart, curious, and not out to kill humans. and as we reported back in 2009, he's willing to risk his life to prove it. mike rutzen is looking for a great white shark he can swim with-- that's right, swim with.

before he gets in the water, he needs to find a great white that is both calm and curious, a shark he refers to as a "player." >> mike rutzen: that's a player. >> cooper: what's a player? >> rutzen: well, a player is basically the shark that's so relaxed, has a nice personality, woke up on the right side of the reef, and it's... >> cooper: "on the right side of the reef." >> rutzen: yeah. ( laughs ) and the animal's willing to interact with us, it's so curious. >> cooper: rutzen says great whites have personalities. they may be the top predator in the sea, but he says they are not the man-eating killers of our nightmares. now, how can you tell that's a player? >> rutzen: look how she's moving? she's checking everything out. check now how slowly she's going to do this. see how she looks at everything? >> cooper: wow, yeah, yeah. moving very slowly around the boat. >> rutzen: she's moving very slowly roundabout, move...

moving slowly. check, she's going to come and watch the motor now. >> cooper: that's what you want? so this is a curious shark. you... you can work with this shark. >> rutzen: this is a player. >> cooper: this shark and several others have been attracted to rutzen's boat by chum, a mixture of bait and fish blood. it's believed great whites can smell a single drop of blood from a hundred yards away. now that he's found a player, rutzen and his cameraman, morne hardenberg, suit up and prepare to do the unthinkable-- plunge into bloody water with great white sharks all around. >> rutzen: there's no universities to teach you what these animals' social dynamics are and social behavior is. and the only way to find that out is by getting into the water. >> cooper: immediately, a curious great white comes straight at rutzen, his only protection-- his camera. rutzen has figured out that great whites don't like the feel of metal. good visibility is crucial. the sharks are constantly circling, and rutzen has to continually turn around so they don't sneak up on him. >> rutzen: they are extremely

inquisitive creatures. i like to say they're like little kids in a toy store, and you just tell them, "don't touch; observe." they all touch. >> cooper: problem is, when... when they get curious, they sometimes bite. >> rutzen: yes. the animals are not trying to actively kill you; they're trying to outwit you. i mean, there's a difference. and you're trying to outwit them again. >> cooper: so there's a mental battle going on, or a mental game being played between you and the shark? >> rutzen: i believe so, yes. >> cooper: that seems like the ultimate test of putting your life on the line. >> rutzen: i would like to think that it's the ultimate trust between the animal and myself. >> cooper: rutzen is not a scientist. he was born on a farm and knew nothing about sharks until 20 years ago, when he began working as a fisherman along this rugged coast near cape town. these waters are home to the world's highest concentration of great whites. >> rutzen: this is the hotspot in the world for great whites. >> cooper: a perfect hotspot

because it's an ideal feeding ground for great whites. it's not far from the southern tip of africa, where the atlantic and indian oceans meet. the water is rich in nutrients, which attract whales, huge shoals of fish, and seals, some 60,000 of them. seals are a prime target for great whites. early one morning, rutzen takes us to an area called "shark alley". the seals pass through here searching for food. there are plenty of fish in the sea. why... why are sharks so interested in the seal? >> rutzen: the reason for that is the blubber. marine mammals have a blubber layer, and their blubber... whoa! big shark. their blubber layer is extremely energy-rich. >> cooper: oh, my god. whoa! >> rutzen: that's what i'm talking about. >> cooper: the sharks leap straight out of the water, stunning the seals before devouring them. seals are mammals-- they're quick, agile, and smart. but as rutzen has learned, they are no match for the power, speed, and intelligence of the great whites. they have to outsmart the seal.

>> rutzen: they... if they weren't as smart or smarter than the seal, they wouldn't have eaten them. >> cooper: watching great whites hunt has become a big business in this part of south africa. each year, tens of thousands of tourists flock to the town of gaans baai, where they are offered a close encounter with great whites from the safety of an underwater cage. >> that was really something! >> cooper: rutzen started his own dive operation 15 years ago. it began as a business, but has become a mission, an effort to learn about great whites and dispel the myths surrounding them. >> rutzen: i think humans like to fear these animals and not understand these animals. >> cooper: each year, as many as 70 million sharks are slaughtered to make shark fin soup, a delicacy in asia. this undercover footage shows how fins are cut off while the sharks are still alive, their bodies thrown back into the sea. >> rutzen: if people can just see these animals for what they

really are, i'll be happy, because then they'll have a chance of survival. >> cooper: by diving without a cage with the sharks, rutzen is trying to show that they are a lot more complex animals than previously thought. after every dive, he spends hours reviewing his material, trying to make sense of how the sharks interact with him. what are you doing with your body here? >> rutzen: the smaller you make your body, the less a threat you are. and then, the animals should come closer. the bigger you are, the more threatening you are. >> cooper: rutzen believes that the great white is extremely selective about what it eats, and insists he is not on their menu as long as he stays calm and shows the shark that he has no fear. so, it's important to stand your ground? >> rutzen: the most important

thing is don't chase the animals. don't run away from the animals. stand your ground and keep eye contact with the animal. >> cooper: make eye contact with them. >> rutzen: make eye contact. it's not like a primate. if you're looking at it, it's already lost the element of surprise. >> cooper: wow, look at this. >> rutzen: now, see, that you don't see every day. there you see the eye. >> cooper: my god. >> rutzen: well, people like to think it's this evil, black eye of the great whites. their eyes are actually the color of the bluest sea. it's beautiful. you like... you like blue-eyed blondes? there's a blue eye that you can't match. ( laughter ) >> cooper: i hope you've never complimented a woman by telling her she had eyes as pretty as a great white shark. >> rutzen: no, not yet. >> cooper: great whites have been around for millions of years. but they've never been seen mating or giving birth. their senses are highly developed, but when it comes to touch, rutzen believes they often rely on their mouths. so, just uses its mouth to feel you. >> rutzen: yes. >> cooper: but that ends up being... could be a deadly bite.

>> rutzen: yes. touch is a very important sense for a living animal. so why shouldn't they use that sense? >> cooper: rutzen believes most attacks by great whites on humans have been the result of curiosity, not deliberate acts of aggression. worldwide, there are only about five deadly shark attacks each year-- a tiny amount, considering the millions of people who swim in the ocean. rutzen says many of us have likely had a positive encounter with a shark without even knowing it. what do you mean by a "positive encounter"? >> rutzen: it's where the animal comes to look at you, sees you're not food. it's not really hunting. may be very curious in what you're doing, look at you for a while, and then move off again. you'll never know the animal's there. but the animal knows you're there. >> cooper: and that should tell people what? >> rutzen: it will tell the people that these animals are not out to get us. they're not in our oceans to kill humans. >> cooper: rutzen doesn't take tourists diving with sharks without a cage. but we've dived together before, and he offers to take me for an up-close look at the great

whites-- no cage, no protection. on a perfect calm morning, we head to shark alley. we drop anchor, and the chumming begins. it doesn't take long for the sharks to arrive. i'm reminded of a line in the movie "jaws"-- "i think we're going to need a bigger boat." the fact that we have a paramedic on board and an ambulance waiting onshore isn't exactly reassuring. they have been chumming the water for about 40 minutes now, and there's about four or five great whites circling the boat, searching for food. there is one in the water right there, as we speak. so it's time to start the dive. mike rutzen says the most important thing to remember when you're actually underwater with a great white is to remain calm. it's easier said than done. project confidence-- that's what mike rutzen recommends. i'm not exactly sure how to do that underwater with a wet suit. rutzen and cameraman morne hardenberg have been doing this for so long, they're relaxed.

my pulse is already high. >> rutzen: how do you feel? >> cooper: i feel good. "good" may be an overstatement. just remember, if i get eaten, just keep rolling, because the only thing more stupid than being eaten would be to be eaten and not having videotaped. rutzen believes the sharks circling the boat are players-- curious, and not too aggressive. it is an odd sensation, knowing that you're about to jump into blood-filled, shark-infested water. rutzen goes first. then, i take the plunge. immediately, a 15-foot great white swims straight toward us. >> rutzen: that's a big boy. >> cooper: their size and power is awesome. they don't attack, but they want to see what we are, and circle us constantly. it's coming right towards us. up close, you see their razor- sharp teeth and the strength of their bodies. it's terrifying, but thrilling, to be so close to such a massive predator.

seeing them in their own environment, not grabbing at bait or lunging at seals, gives me a new impression of them, a more complex picture. and that is exactly what mike rutzen is hoping for. the current is getting stronger and visibility is deteriorating. >> it's getting dangerous down their. >> cooper: so we decide it is time to surface. it's incredible, unbelievable. it's terrifying, and at the same time, exhilarating. it's unlike anything else. and i am so happy i am back up. it was great. thank you. that's incredible. i'm glad i did it, but i'm not sure i'd do it again. as for mike rutzen, he continues to push the boundaries.

he sometimes even hitches rides on the dorsal fins of great whites. these interactions are stunning, but rutzen insists he is not being reckless. >> rutzen: the more we work with them, the more careful we are, because of the knowledge. it's not that we're getting complacent because we have done it so many times, we're getting... >> cooper: you're more careful with them now than you were when you started. >> rutzen: yes, because we are learning small things of what makes them tick. so we are so careful not to do the wrong thing. >> cooper: you did say before, though, when we talked that, you know, you expect to die at a young age. >> rutzen: yeah. but look at my lifestyle-- i smoke too much, i drink too much, and i drive my car very fast. ( laughter ) >> cooper: but you... so you don't expect to die from a great white? >> rutzen: no. no. >> go to 60minutesovertime.com to watch the next in our summer series of correspondent favorites. sponsored by pfizer.

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>> stahl: now, andy rooney. >> rooney: i have a lot of gadgets here in my office. i don't really like gadgets. i don't even like the word "gadget". i read, though, where auto makers have plans to install even more electronic gadgets in their cars soon. do we really need more of them? i knew i was out of the loop when i read recently that the ford motor company is allowing smart phone apps on android phones to link directly to sync- equipped cars. i not only don't have an "android equipped" phone in my car, i don't know what one is, wouldn't know what one was if i saw one.

i mean, do drivers really need to log onto the internet while they speak to friends, while the kids watch a movie on the video screen in the backseat? and at the same time, have the g.p.s. help locate the best italian restaurant in the area? i have mixed feelings about the things that will keep me from getting lost. too often, the best time i have is when i am lost before i get where i'm going. i can remember when henry ford said, "you can have any color car you want, as long as it's black". now, people have green cars-- that means environmentally friendly cars-- like hybrids, electric cars, cars with fuel cells, and even cars that run on used cooking oil. of course, i don't want a car that smells like bacon grease or french fries. i just want a car that i can drive to the store in, pick up a bottle of milk and a loaf of bread, and go home. >> stahl: i'm lesley stahl.

we'll be back next week with another edition of "60 minutes." cc finally, there's a choice for my patients with an irregular heartbeat

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if you have afib not caused by a heart valve problem, ask your doctor if pradaxa can reduce your risk of a stroke. [ laughs ] this is it! [ all ] 10...9...8... a new school year has so much potential! any resolutions? my resolution is the same as always; keep her full and focused with my fiber. [ all ] 3...2...1... happy school year!

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