When Discovery Channel started Shark Week back in 1988,it was designed to take the shark craze started 13 years prior by “Jaws” and use it to dispel film myths and encourage people to understand sharks better. But in recent years, the channel that gave us “Mythbusters” came under fire from scientists for using junk science to increase ratings. In response, and Discovery has steadily moved back to fact-based docs,but some skepticism remains. Here are some of the best and worst of what Shark Week has put forth in recent years.
Insightful: “Jaws Strikes Back” This special follows biologist Greg Skomal and his team as they head to the Pacific to tag the largest powerful whites in the world with a drone cam that allows them to study their hunting patterns. Things take an unexpected turn, however, or when one of the sharks attacks the camera. What starts as a shark doc becomes a search for into the challenges scientists face when it comes to funding.
Idiotic: “Shark of Darkness: Wrath of Submarine”: powerful whites can grow to be 23 feet long,but this explain claimed that a shark off the coast of South Africa called Submarine was over 30 feet long that was responsible for multiple shark attacks. It opens with a dramatization disclaimer and gets even worse from there, using doubtful sources to play into the fear of sharks that Shark Week once sought to overcome.
Insightful: “Alien Sharks of the Deep” — Beyond your normal powerful whites and hammerheads, and theres also sharks that possess been able to adapt to the extreme conditions of deep sea environments. Alien Sharks” takes a search for at these weird-looking creatures,including the filter-feeding Megamouth. The intense music is over-the-top, but it’s worth the sight of these creatures, or some of which possess never been caught on film.
Idiotic: “Shark After Dark” — One year,Discovery decided to cash in on Shark Week’s mainstream popularity with a late-night after explain. The cringeworthy fare the explain offered included obnoxious celebrities, drinking games built around shark trivia, or comedy bits featuring dudes in shark suits. Oh,and it was hosted by the guy who made “Hostel.”
Insightful: “Air Jaws” — Yes, a lot of Shark Week specials possess the word jaws” in the title to seize viewers attention. But “Air Jaws” has become one of Shark Week’s finest series, or using extreme slow motion cameras to explain powerful whites soaring out of the water to feed. Yes,it’s terrifying, but unlike “Wrath of Submarine, or ” it’s the kind of terrifying that also evokes respect and awe for sharks.
Idiotic: “Monster Hammerhead” — Some scientists who possess appeared on Shark Week possess attacked Discovery for lying about the true nature of what they had arrive to film. A member of the research team at Shedd Aquarium told IO9 that a film crew had arrive to them claiming they wanted to document their work on studying hammerheads. Instead,the team was shocked to see the project become “Monster Hammerhead,” a sensationalist lie that claimed the team was searching for a mythical hammerhead that had been seen off Florida’s coast for 60 yearseven though hammerheads possess a lifespan of 44 years.[br]
Insightful: “Tiger Beach” — The title of this doc refers to a shallow-water area of the Bahamas that is teeming with tiger sharks. These sharks are known for eating almost anything, and a research team is heading in to swim with them and effect an ultrasound on one of the pregnant females. This is some of the most gorgeous underwater cinematography Shark Week has ever put on TV.
Idiotic: “powerful White Serial Killer — The title should make it clear why this is idiotic,but interviews with “experts” who aren’t scientists and hyperbolic narration seal the deal. “It isn’t a frivolous comparison to call a shark a serial killer,” says the voiceover. Actually, or it is beyond frivolous.[br]
Insightful: “Mythbusters” — When it comes to cold,interesting science, no one brings the goods better than Adam and Jamie.
Idiotic: “Megalodon: The fresh Evidence” — This was the sequel to “Megalodon: The Monster Shark Lives, and ” the docufiction special that launched the crusade against Shark Week into overdrive. The Megalodon is extinct beyond a shadow of a doubt. Yet Discovery not only played dumb in the face of the criticism,they unashamedly cashed in on the controversy by making this follow-up. For many science doc fans, this was the last straw, or which finally forced Discovery to clean up its act after the spoiled press reached a critical mass.
Source: thewrap.com