No shield required: ‘Captain America’ star Anthony Mackie’s own super power is swimming with sharks

When National Geographic approached Anthony Mackie with an opportunity to swim with sharks to kick off its SharkFest programming, it was an easy yes for the Marvel star who is the new Captain America. I swam with a blue whale off the coast of Cape Town.” For “Shark Beach with Anthony Mackie,” debuting Sunday, he wanted cameras to visit the waters near his home in New Orleans, where he is a regular boater and fisherman. They’re not predators, but they also need a substantial food source.” Mackie says he was in the water for about four hours and “it’s not that hard to find a multitude of sharks in the Atlantic Ocean.” Seeing the sharks up-close reminded him “how majestic and powerful they are, but also you just see how beautiful they are.” He was accompanied by marine biologist Jasmine Graham, whom Mackie says was his “security blanket” if it got too intense. “She really looked out for me and gave me a lot of information that really opened my eyes to the community that we’re in and explaining the sharks’ behavior.” Mackie, whose show will be followed soon by Discovery’s Shark Week programing, also hopes to highlight the effects of global climate change on the coastline of New Orleans where the sea level is rising at an accelerated rate. Whole oyster beds are gone.” For someone whose career has afforded him the opportunity to travel the globe both for work and pleasure, Mackie says there truly is no place like New Orleans.