I have no idea how my love for Shark Week began, only that my dad used to watch it and then I would watch episodes with him until I looked forward to it each year. Somehow, Shark Week usually coincided with our vacation in Florida, making it even more important to watch. However, this year, Shark Week is staring June 26.
I love Shark Week. I love the old episodes with Craig Ferguson, Mike Rowe and other well-known individuals. I love learning and debunking myths about sharks. Like you are more likely to die by an elephant than by a shark attack. Or symbiotic relationships between remora fish and sharks allow for both animals to benefit with zero death. Or electroreception allows sharks to notice difference in saltwater electricity conduction, which allows sharks to smell blood, which changes conductivity. Or my favorite, the whale shark, which is the largest fish on the planet, but is a filter feeder, so it only eats plankton and small nektonic life, such as small squid or fish.
However, Shark Week has become a disappointment. And Shark Week 2013 was the foreshadowing for the decline of the best week of the year. The problem is that Discovery channel is starting to play into people’s fear about sharks by use of mockumentaries beginning with Megalodon—The Monster Shark Lives in 2013. Not only were the "scientists" actually actors, but images the film used had been fabricated. For more proof that the movie was more of a mockumentary check out IFLScience.
In 2014, Discovery released Darkness: Wrath of Submarine about a 35-foot great white shark whose existence was “controversial.” Again, actors were employed to play scientists, who described the shark with an “insatiable appetite for human blood.” Which is ridiculous because in past Shark Week episodes (and other reputable sources), have taught us that great white sharks very rarely attack humans and never seek them out.
However, Shark Week isn’t just hiring actors for everything. Kristine Stump is a Postdoc interviewed for Monster Hammerhead, but was misled in what she was interviewing about. And scientist Jonathon Davis was interviewed for his bull shark research but edited like he was talking about and actively searching for the “Voodoo Shark.”
Thankfully, Shark Week 2015 was an improvement. There were a lot more informative, accurate programs. Of course, there were still the entertainment pieces: Island of the Mega Shark, Return of the Great White Serial Killer and Super Predator. Super Predator came pretty close to the being as bad as the megalodon films and it was the most-watched show of the week. Audiences are attracted to entertainment, even if there aren’t facts to back it up. (Which reminds me of the current presidential race, but I digress.)
As an enthusiastic shark lover and cautious Shark Week lover, I truly hope Shark Week 2016 doesn’t let millions of viewers down by capitalizing on cheap adrenaline thrills caused by scary fictitious sharks. Instead, I want quality information on a majestic oceanic predator that will inform the public of the TRUE awesomeness of sharks.
