This forced the Frenchman to swim to shore entirely unprotected in an area heavily populated by sharks. The incident took place during the filming of ‘Shark: Mind of a Demon’, a documentary for CBS, in 2004.
To get close to the apex predators Mr Cousteau used a mini submarine, shaped like a shark, called Troy.
However he was exposed to danger after it stopped working and the explorer was forced to swim to shore through shark infested waters in the dark.
Speaking to the Mail on Sunday Mr Cousteau commented: “I stated the deck against me.
“It was pretty frightening.”
On June 28 2006 ‘Shark: Mind of a Demon’ first aired on CBS.
It was largely filmed around the Guadalupe Island, a Mexican territory.
Whilst inside Troy Mr Cousteau appeared to be another shark, allowing him to get very close to the powerful predators.
However he also emphasised that shark attacks on humans are extremely rare.
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“Low visibility in a known feeding zone, people making a lot of noise, splashing, possibly someone fishing in the area and bringing a scent into the water.
“These create a perfect storm of bad circumstances.”
In October two British tourists were attacked by what was believed to have been a tiger shark whilst snorkelling off Australia.
The horrifying incident took place near the Whitsunday Islands, located off the coast of Queensland.
Both Alistair Raddon and Danny Maggs were badly injured in the assault.
Mr Raddon, aged 28, lost a foot to the shark.
The two men were reported to be splashing about in the water when the attack took place.
Speaking to the Mail on Sunday Mr Cousteau suggested this could partially explain why the incident happened.
He suggested the shark may have mistaken the splashing for the desperate efforts of a seriously injured animal, making it easy pray.
The explorer commented: “The reality is animals make mistakes too.”