Oh Z, I can relate to the anxiety factor. I have been in a car hit by a cell phone distracted driver and luckily all the occupants survived. I worry about this everyday, especially when people on the roads zing around, like driving around inside a pinball machine, On our street they drive right down the middle and move over only when they see an oncoming car. I think the thrill with sharks is the adrenline rush that people get from thinking that their life could end in an instant. The built in fear factor in humans seems to be overridden in some people who seek thrill. But, I can't explain it. Maybe it is like sky diving, the thrill. I don't get anything out of this kind of thing either really. Sharks are very interesting though and I think beautiful creatures. Thankfully we have someone who likes to get closer to them so we can understand them better. Did any of this help with the anxiety level or increase it???? It is a nice diversion to the Lou Dobbs story. I'm having a nervous breakdown about whether to watch Jon and Kate tonight. I guess if it is going to be kind of like being drawn to look at an accident site maybe at least we can look at it with empathy and learn from it.

http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence/sharkweek/sharkweek.html?sicontent=1&sicreative=3349465230&siclientid=1920&sitrackingid=79607800&campaign=GGL|dogfish+sharks|Content+Dogfish+Shark+-+Alone|GGL+Content+SW09+-+Shark+Species+-+Alone

The pictures on this site are pretty!

There is even a what kind of sharp are you quiz. I think that is great!! I definitely want to know what kind of shark I am.

I watch for several reasons.

First off, sharks are much more important to our ecosystem than most people understand. I'm willing to be that 100% of the people out there that you ask "What provides the most oxygen for our atmosphere?" would respond "The rain forest, or some other forest." That's incorrect. Green algae and other forms of algae provide over 70% of the oxygen in our atmosphere. The problem is, as sharks numbers dwindle, the amount of algae that's in the ocean is also going down, because there aren't enough predators to kill off the fish that eat the algae. So as we continue to destroy the sharks natural habitat, and continue to kill them for no good reason, we are also depleting the things that create most of the air that we breathe.

Second, sharks are beautiful, streamlined, majestic creatures. In fact, they are by very definition a perfect creature. They are immune to many diseases. They are camouflaged perfectly. They have adapted to whichever ocean they live in perfectly. They are nature's perfect predator. They are the top of the food chain, and they have every reason to be. They've been around since before the dinosaurs, and will more than likely be along well after we have killed ourselves off. They've been on the planet for 450 million years...since before most plants were on the land. That's saying something.

Third, they are one of the most misunderstood animals on the planet. Most people out there have a fear of sharks that comes from nothing other than a certain film that came out in 1975. That film consistently ranks highly on lists of "Top Horror Films" and with good reason. It single handedly made people scared to go in the water. The truth is, most sharks don't really want anything at all to do with people. Shows on "Shark Week" are trying to get the word out about these creatures, and about how most of the things they've seen in THAT movie aren't really accurate.

Fourth, and this to me is the most important reason...there are 90% less sharks in the ocean today than there were just 100 years ago. We are systematically destroying this creature for really no reason. Estimates put shark fishing at around 100 million animals per year. Most of them are fished for nothing more than their fins, then dumped back into the ocean so that they can slowly drown while not being able to swim. Watching "Shark Week" may be one of the only ways that people will be able to remember these creatures when they are gone.

Sharks are more important and more misunderstood than most other animals on the planet. If we don't do something to save them, they will be gone forever and we will begin to see the problems that will cause as our oxygen starts to deplete and then other changes occur in the climate and the atmosphere. "Shark Week" is a great way to get the word out about these beautiful creatures, and knowledge is power. Maybe with things like "Shark Week" going on we'll be able to ask our grandchildren if they saw any sharks while they were visiting the ocean...because at the rate it's going, they'll be gone before we know it.

Jeff

So find something else to watch...

The shark quiz in the link above is fun. I highly recommend it. My result: I am like a Hammerhead Shark! I may be goofy, I like to swim in schools, I have a sleek slender figure (that was my favorite part), normally calm unless provoked. I like tropical warm waters.

This was fun! Z, Thanks for this fun article, it really made my day!

Hi David Z.!

As to your query, I think part of the rationale and motivation for yet another Discovery Channel "Shark Week" is, in large part, to debunk the generally negative stigma that most folks hold for sharks, primarily the monstrous, legendary Great White, the most feared species by far, harking back to Spielberg's blockbuster film "JAWS", and further compounded by the annual media reports of isolated incidents of Great White attacks on humans off the coastal-waters of California, South Africa and Australia.

Most unfortunate victims of shark assaults, in the main, are lone surfers casually paddling along on their boards, whom the not-so-discerning (poor eyesight, great sense of smell) shark mistakes for a defenseless prey animal, such as a sea-lion, or seal.

The tragic aftermath of these Great White strikes is always traumatic and often fatal, and if the victim miraculously eludes death they are often disfigured, or maimed for life.

And this is where the shark, for the most part, gets its bad 'rep', w/ the entire range of shark species from Hammerhead, Nurse, to Tiger, being unfairly maligned and demonized across the board.

I believe, as do most shark-lovers, that these magnificent creatures are one of the great primordial wonders of the natural world, and to have survived, essentially unchanged, for millions of years as a species, means they must be doing something right.

Sharks are true masters of underwater locomotion, w/ their consummate grace, lightening speed, ability to turn on a dime, and their sheer power, and those of us who appreciate "all creatures great and small", we should all be seriously concerned that shark populations, worldwide, are currently plummeting at a most alarming rate, largely due to the continuing slaughter of these animals on an unrestricted and massive scale, solely for their prized fins.

These shark appendages end up mostly in shark-fin soup, a choice and expensive culinary delicacy eaten throughout south-east Asia.

I've been sickened to my core watching secretly-shot Green Peace documentary footage of these totally callous and brutal shark 'gatherers', who gaff the shark, hoisting it aboard ship, swiftly hacking off its fins w/ a sharp, slicing blade, and then tossing the finless
shark back into the briny, profusely bleeding from its wounds, still very much alive, yet
totally helpless, as it slowly sinks, in shock and pain, to the ocean floor, and certain death.

Oh. how most folk love those acrobatic orcas, the Shamoos of the (Sea) world, those cute, ever-grinning dolphins, who some marine biologists claim have the mental capacity of a pre-school human child. and last but not least, those leviathans of the deep, the mysterious, charismatic whales.

Yet, the short-shrifted sharks are labelled the baddest-boys of all the large denizens of the ocean depths, acquiring an (unfair) reputation, feared and loathed, through plain ignorance, media hysteria, pulp fiction, and exaggerating their danger to humans.

I believe the folks at the Discovery Channel just want to balance the ledger, a tad, and
showcase the innate wonders and beauty of the much-misunderstood shark, illustrating through film and narrative that these exquisitely-evolved 'eating machines' have their rightful place in the complex, ever evolving web of life on this whirling, blue orb we call Earth.

I hope many of my fellow bloggers on this site, make the effort, and take the time to
tune into Discovery's "Shark Week".

You will not be disappointed, and you might even admit to yourself, for the first time in your life, that "Wow, sharks are truly awesome and beautiful creatures.", and not the monsters and man-eaters that popular mythology has perpetuated.

ALEX

Hi ALEX, This is very thoughtful and convincing. I think you just might have succeeded in convincing me to give sharks on TV another try. I'm going to sleep on it first. I will re-post again tomorrow. I have to stick with Jon & Kate for another 25 minutes if my head doesn't explode (kidding). But thanks. This is very thought provoking. Z

We watch because you said it yourself, sharks are fascinating. There is something about these creatures and their massiveness that draw people in. You can watch the television up close: their strength, their size, their teeth, the way they launch their 6,000 lbs bodies out of the water and into the air all from the saftey and comfort of our own home.

I see your concern about drunk drivers, i fear that too, but are they fascinating? No, they just piss people off there for not making good television.

Answer me this... would you rather watch "Drunk Driver Week" or "Shark Week"?

This was a fun article, thanks! :)

ALEX, that was a great post! How do you write like that really? I think that maybe you should really write books or something!

I made it through Jon and Kate kind of, in between kids opening and closing doors and I was about to lose it, and my daughter's friend who wanted to show me the laceration he got yesterday, healng quite nicely. It was rather calming to see Kate manage the kids and I kind of liked it without Jon, which surprised me. This probably belongs on another blog page.

No, this is great. Just what I was thinking: lkate better without Jon. You just convinced me to go with it. Thanks. Z

Z, I'm glad I was able to convince someone of something today! Now I will sleep better tonight. I really kind of hope they don't bring Jon back on, but I am sure that is wishful thinking.

Have a nice siesta!

Hey Jeff!

Thanks so much for your thoughtful, intelligent, passionate and thoroughly informed posting this evening re/ the importance of high-caliber shows like "Shark Week", to provide a fair and informative window into the amazing under-sea domain of these truly , as you so eloquently encapsulated it, "majestic" creatures, the magnificent, and much-"misunderstood" sharks.

I read your astute commentary shortly after I had posted my comments on this site, and found it kind of ironic that we both touched on many of the same myths and misconceptions that both Hollywood and the popular, sensationalist-media have perpetrated and fueled over the years, especially the enormous negative impact of that 1975 shark -bashing movie, "JAWS", that still represents, for a huge segment of the general populace, the quintessential (false) view that all sharks are monstrous, good-for-nothing, viscious man-eaters.

I sense how much you must have, in retrospect, detested that film, Jeff, just by the mere fact that you refused to name it, outright, and referred to it as THAT movie. We all know what THAT movie was, of course, but you chose to NOT dignify it by using its name.... Bravo.

You also addressed the severe decline in overall shark numbers in recent years, as did I, and the inhumane, and senseless slaughter of hundreds-of-thousands of these glorious creatures to merely satiate the south-east Asian appetite for shark-fin soup.

We both pointed out the ancient lineage of sharks, as you say "they've been around since before the dinosaurs."

You are much more up on shark 'facts' than me, and I really appreciated your explanation of how crucial a role that sharks play in the grand ecological chain, and how the marked decline in oxygen-producing algae in our oceans negatively affects our entire planet, the shark being one of the key players in this crucial dynamic.

I've seen a few top-notch documentaries in the last year, or so, on the alarming, and precipitous decline in honey bee numbers from collapsed hive syndrome, or something to that effect.

I would love to have a blog discussion on this important topic, whose implications for our future sources of fresh produce, fruits, grains, and vegetables, could be drastically compromised if we as consumers continue to put our heads in the sand and ignore the plight of these essential, industrious little natural pollenators.

Giant, streamlined, magnificent sharks and tiny buzzing honey bees; perhaps today's canaries in the coal mine, harbingers of a possible very bleak future for all mankind; or, more positively, a wake-up call to the urgency of Mother Nature's warning signals, and a call to action to use our collective ingenuity and resolve to heal our ailing planet for future generations.

Food for thought.

Jeff, thanks again for your thoughtful-provoking, and cogent defense of the much-maligned
shark, and why it is important that we all watch "Shark Week", and appreciate the majesty and sheer awesomeness of these incredible creatures, and hopefully shed many of the old myths and horror stories surrounding these almost perfectly-evolved organisms.

I look forward to more of your postings, Jeff.

ALEX

Jeff did teach me something that I did not know, sharks are in decline. I hope we can reverse this trend, just like the polar bears ice is melting away and they will have no place to climb out of the water. I love polar bears! My kids and I think that they should build platforms in the ocean for the polar bears if the ice disappears, otherwise how will they survive? I agree with ALEX and Jeff sharks are probably misunderstood because of films like JAWS, which always make us stop and consider when we have been in the Outer Banks, do I want to go deeper into the water. Even though the danger is mostly hype.

I'm surprised to see the comments from people, who seem quite educated and open-minded about sharks, that actually support Discovery Channel's Shark Week. I think Shark Week started out as an educational and "shark-friendly" week of programming, but it seems, this year in particular, that the goal of much of the advertising campaign for Shark Week has been to sensationalize sharks and depict them as nothing more than man-eaters and mindless killers.

Discovery Channel president, John Ford, has even admitted to "playing on people's fears" of shark for marketing reasons. I am aware of at least 5 different commercials promoting Shark Week that depict fictitious shark attacks on humans (much like the film "Jaws" which was never put out under the guise of "educational programming" like Shark Week is). Discovery also hired Campfire Media to create a horror-based promotional website for Shark Week, http://www.frenziedwaters.com, which features more fictitious depictions of attacks on humans, as well as an attack on a dog.

There is a great emphasis on "blood" and "fear" in most of their advertising this year. If you have any doubts, check out Discovery's official YouTube page, http://www.youtube.com/DiscoveryNetworks (you can also find the five 15-second t.v. ads that I mentioned above on there). The background image features bloody water and articles of clothing from presumed shark attack victims.

Discovery Channel's ad campaign seems to be trying to raise the bar on what Jaws did for the public misconception of sharks.

I LOVE SHARK WEEK! I just find these creatures to be so powerful and simply amazing. You will notice that few of the victims blame the sharks themselves. If we invade their territory they will do what's natural for them. I think anything that is fun to watch and is informational should be applauded. Unlike all of the crap they are showing on MTV & VH1 these days. Im a senior at the University of Maryland and those people representing the women of today are horrible. Hmm... if I had it my way the sharks would be munching on the fake lips, boobs, and lashes of those people.

Hi George P.,

Thanks for bringing a whole lot of reality to the table w/ your very enlightening posting this morning.

I watched your youtube.com/DiscoveryNetworks attachment promoting this season's upcoming "Shark Week", and I was basically very disappointed and sickened by Discovery Channel's sell-out to the lowest-common-denominator, essentially setting back the whole effort to educate folks about these wonderful creatures by decades, reverting to, as you pointed out George, "blood and fear" tactics, just to lure in a bloodthirsty, a-thrill-a-minute audience.

Basically an audience like the hordes of sickos that bought, and drooled over those Time/ Life videos chronicling real-life action footage of preaditors in all their killing-glory, flogged incessantly on the tube back in the '90s.

Frankly, in viewing this sensationalized promo, I thought I was watching a teaser for "JAWS 4", as if Spielberg hadn't done enough sequels of his pet-fetish for 'beating a dead shark'.

Why don't they just recast the 60-something Richard Dreyfuss, now white-haired and slightly grizzled, and call it "JAWS 4/ The Old Man and the Sea"; kind of an homage to Hemingway..... but not. On second thought, maybe NOT.

But seriously folks, as you may have noticed, this made-in-Hollywood promo for "Shark Week"-'09 featured, almost exclusively, dramatic real and photo-shopped footage (the attack re-creations) of the much mythologized, sensationalized, and demonized Great White, w/ a token singular up-angle shot of a swirling school of some much smaller shark species.

There's an entire incredible range of varied shark species plying our ocean waters, yet the Discovery Channel honchos have obviously sold-out this time around, taking the blood-and-guts sensationalist, entertainment route w/ their "JAWS"-esque tack, solely for ratings-gains, and soft-peddling their former educative and informing role, a betrayal of their earlier pro-shark, enlightening mission.

Hopefully, this blood-and-mayhem, fear-based 'teaser' reflects only a marginal segment of the entire "Shark Week' episodes, and they present a fair and balanced, yet still entertaining, comprehensive picture of the wide-world of sharks.

I guess a long-running series engenders certain expectations of consistency, content, look and style for the loyal viewer. Hopefully Discovery hasn't deviated too drastically from their winning formula of both educating and entertaining its audience.

However the facts should never take a back seat to the entertainment element. Otherwise we get a distorted and false picture of our natural world, which only perpetuates the fear-mongering and wild myths that the shark, as just one of many , falls victim to.

Jeff, I hope you haven't put your foot thru your flat-screen yet, HA! HA!

And Chelsea, I had to chuckle at your confession that if you had your way "the sharks would be munching on fake lips, boobs, and lashes of those people (the MTV/ VH1 set)."

Being a cartoonist, i couldn't help visualizing that scenario you planted in my head, although it would be a real challenge to extract humor from such an eventuality.

I know your statement was partially tongue in cheek, but I could really sense your frustration and concern for what many feel is basically a lost, deluded, self-absorbed generation.

Thankfully there are leveled-headed young folk like yourself who are aware of peer pressures that abound, yet choose to walk your own path.

I'm glad you "LOVE SHARK WEEK".

Hopefully we'll be pleasantly surprised by this year's installment, and education, in the final reckoning, will have trumped cheap entertainment.

We shall see.

ALEX

Discovery Channel’s "Sharkweek" is a ridiculous attempt to boost ratings disguised as an educational program. Any serious biologist who is concerned about the declining shark populations, the lack of understanding, and the pointless killing of millions of sharks each year should look at the program lineup with disgust! Headlines like “blood in the water,” “deadly waters,” “day of the shark,” “sharkbite summer,” “Great white Appetite,” really Discovery Channel? Great Job! Maybe next year you can have sharkweek with titles like “where did all the sharks go?,” “World fisheries collapse!,” “no more sharks-no more coral reefs.” Way to play into public fear and continue to create images of blood thirsty daemons that everyone wants to go out and kill.

because I love them

I'm with you, George P.

Fear sells, plain and simple. Sharks are cool and dangerous. Most people will never see them in the wild, the visuals are really cool, etc.

The problem with Shark Week, is it claims to be educational. They are obviously after ratings like any network. Educating the public about how sharks DON'T EAT PEOPLE won't sell. So instead Discovery chooses to use fear for advertising, "terror" "frenzy" "deadly" etc. in their titles. Sharks who eat "everything in their paths" are "killers", not simply hunting for food like every other carnivorous animal , including birds in your backyard.

Unfortunately this is assisting in the demonization of an entire order of fish during a time when many shark species are on the brink of extinction due to over fishing. The public thinks it's OK to over fish sharks, since it will make them safer in the water. No sympathy for Discovery's "Cold Blooded Killers"

Bad work Discovery!

This years Shark Week has revealed a bacchanalia of man made shark horror well beyond any concerns the shark conservation community and commercial shark diving community could have fathomed.

Without a doubt Discovery Networks have reinvented Sea Monsters, erroneously establishing the shark as the most feared predator on the planet.

34 years after JAWS, and 34 years of conservation science discoveries, pro-shark media, and conservation themed initiatives have been swept away by the 2009 Discovery Channel anti-shark juggernaut. This year broadcast in gory, blood soaked HD, to an estimated 30 million domestic viewers.

Great for advertising revenues, lousy for the perception of sharks worldwide who have been thrown back to the stone age with last nights docu drama, “Blood in the water” and this weeks entire line up of gratuitous Shark Porn.

As a commercial shark diving operator I find over hyping one small facet of a sharks entire Raison d’etre to be patently dishonest and a disservice to animals that are suffering one of the highest rates of destruction on the planet.

Approximately 90 million sharks are killed each year. That’s a stunning statistic. And yet Discovery Networks feels compelled to bring back the 1970’s shark mythos, blood and fear, with absolutely no Sympathy for the Devil.

At the same time Discovery Networks have rolled out a simply draconian and somewhat East Bloc ham fisted media campaign showing conservation for sharks. An afterthought pushed out by Discovery and it’s hand selected group of “Shark Porn Programming Apologists” to mollify the growing push back from an appalled research, science, and commercial dive community.

To those who are supporting the very dark decision by Discovery Network executives to bring back, promote, and hype the fear of sharks, rethink your position.

At a critical time when sharks, as a measure of the health of our oceans, need as much support as we can give them, programming decisions that demonize these animals for ratings, ad sales, and corporate profits are wrong, dishonest, and bordering on fraudulent.

Discovery started Shark Week 20 years ago with programming that was fresh, alive and informative. Our company along with many others have been involved in some of that programming and happy with the results.

Early Shark Week programming started with unflinching production companies striving to produce they best they could, fully engaging local operators to introduce them to the full range of shark behaviors.

Discovery has officially lost it’s way. It can come back, hopefully this is the final year of Shark Porn. Hopefully those within the community who are currently in bed with Discovery Networks “will see the light”.

As both the alcohol and tobacco industries have discovered you cannot sell these toxic brands to minors and then ask them to “drink and smoke responsibly”.

Discovery Networks cannot sell fear and loathing of sharks…and then push for conservation.

Cheers,
Patric Douglas CEO
www.sharkdiver.com
www.sharkdivers.com
www.sharkdivers.blogspot.com
www.guadalupefund.org
www.islandofthegreatwhiteshark.com
415.235.9410

George P,

You know, you're right. I wrote that post before I had watched much of the episodes of "Shark Week" this year...darned work has made it difficult for me to find time, but tonight I caught up on all of the premieres, and I must say I'm a bit disappointed at the general direction that Discovery has seemed to go with this years shows.

They are in fact depicting these creatures in a negative light. I can only hope that over the next few nights Discovery can begin to redeem itself with some truly good programming that goes in depth about these creatures and what they do FOR the planet instead of what they do TO people.

I think that everyone out there could learn a thing or two from Dr. Erich Ritter. He was the guy that was attacked by the bull shark in "Anatomy of a Shark Bite" a few years ago and was on again tonight (Tuesday) in "Top 5 Eaten Alive." Erich Ritter had his left calf literally ripped from his leg by a bull shark, and what did he do?? He got right back into the water, in the same spot, with the same sharks. If a man that had his life changed forever by one of these animals can forgive and forget, and get back in the water, then maybe all of us can learn something from him.

Alex, if you want to see something that will truly make you wonder what's going on in the world, watch the documentary "Shark Water." Twenty-nine year old diver/director Rob Stewart will show you some things that you'll wish weren't happening...it's truly a great documentary that shows some things that other shows and documentaries probably would never even touch.

Unfortunately for these creatures, they might not have an awful lot of time left. In my research that I've been doing over the last several days, many scientists are suggesting that a majority of the species of sharks out there could be extinct within the next 10 years. That's a terrible tragedy for this planet, and mankind should be ashamed for allowing this to happen.

Only through education can we start to combat the misinformation and fear that surrounds these creatures. Start with this...ask everyone you know this question: "How many unprovoked shark attacks occur WORLDWIDE every year, and how many deaths result from them?" I asked this to several coworkers today and got answers ranging from "Several hundred deaths and 1,000 attacks to 1,000 attacks and a 'zillion' deaths."

In reality, the average number of YEARLY shark attacks WORLDWIDE is less than 70. That's right. Less than 70 humans get bit by sharks while just minding their own business. Of these 70, only 5 die. So sharks are getting a reputation as man eaters and killers while they are doing less damage to the human race than just about any other cause of death out there. Of the millions of people that swim in the ocean, only 70 every year get bit by a shark. That's a pretty small number...yet the shark is painted as a ruthless, mindless, heartless killer...it's just wrong.

It's 2009. It's time to start loving these creatures for what they are, not hating them for what they aren't.

Jeff

I AM A PERSON WHO LOVES NATURE, I´M ALSO A FAN OF ALL ANIMAL PROGRAMS, ENVIORMENTS,ECOSISTEMS, ETC.

IF WE HAVE A SHARK WEEK EACH SUMMER WHY PUTTING THIS BLOODY EPISODES AT ALL TIMES INSTEAD OF GIVING US ALL KIND OF INFORMATION ABOUT THIS INCREDIBLE ANIMALS LIKE WERE EACH SPECIE LIVE, HOW THEY REPRODUCE, THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN EACH OF THE DIFFERENT KINDS.

I KNOW THAT BLOODY THINGS CAPTURE AUDIENCE BUT I ALSO THINK DISCOVERY CHANNEL CAN GIVE US MORE THAN BLOOD, BIG BITES, TERROR, ETC.

I actually watched Shark Week last night. Very scary. Hard to watch the story about the father and son and the little boy did not make it after all the efforts to save his life. Interesting about the guy who shot the shark to retrieve the arm from the inside of the whale. Who would think of that? I think the flight paramedics had given up on saving the arm. I remember the TV news about the shark attacks from that time period. I think Larry King may have or just had this on. Z it just heightened my fear of the ocean. I think you are right I had a lot of anxiety watching this. I would like to see more about whales in a documentary sense where they show their beauty.

Check out the Discovery link on Shark Week, there is a cool mixer where you can mix the sharks you want to see with music etc. It was fun to play around with.

Z, oops. I said retrieve the arm from inside of the whale. I must have the story of Jonah on my mind. I really was watching Shark Week last night. Interesting there is a lot of opinion that other posts do not like Shark Week being portrayed as a blood bath.

A general comment on Discovery's Shark Week line-up:

The serious issue with Shark Week is that it panders to our fear of sharks and only anecdotaly mentions the real issues. The reality is that you are more likely to get hit on the head by a meteor than be attacked by a shark. Meanwhile, sharks are about to go extinct. In 2007, there was 1 human death caused by sharks worldwide. In the same year, over 100,000,000 sharks were killed by humans.

Shark populations are down 90% in the past 20 years. Portraying them as a serious killers prevents anyone from doing anything about their pending extinction. The shark is the apex predator of the ocean. Without sharks, the oceanic food chain is severely disrupted. People need to wake up and realize Shark Week is a cheap thrill that continues to perpetuate the lie that sharks present a real danger to humans. It’s simply not true.

Discovery Channel needs to dramatically change the focus of their Shark Week programming. Its a simple choice: cheap thrills that further the decline of the shark or the stark reality that sharks are about to disappear for good.

Education ? ..... DUH !