Discovery Channel’s Annual Television Event Airs in all 220 Countries and Territories
This year, Shark Week celebrates its 28th anniversary in the US and remains television’s longest running and most anticipated event. Discovery’s shark-programming sensation will swim into more living rooms and onto more screens than ever before, expanding to all of its networks in more than 220 countries and territories this year. Making a huge splash, Discovery Channel will bring the most fantastic event for the Indian viewers from August 8th to 12th at 7 pm.
Shark Week will keep viewers on the edge of their seat with all-new jaw-dropping and compelling shark stories. Working with nearly two dozen of the most respected marine biologists and science institutions, Shark Week will also highlight some of the most recent breakthroughs and developments to reveal remarkable new insights into these magnificent creatures.
This year, SharkCam dives deeper than ever before and follows giant great whites into the dark ocean to record never-before-seen behaviors. For the first time ever, sharks will face off with dolphins, seals, crocodiles and even humans, as one science team finds themselves surrounded by a gang of large tiger sharks.
It is estimated that as many as 70 million sharks are killed annually, either for sport, caught as by-catch, or hunted for their fins in a wasteful practice called shark finning, in which the shark’s fins are cut off at sea and the rest of the (live) shark is often tossed overboard where it ultimately drowns.
Discovery Channel has teamed with non-profit Oceana, the largest international organization focused solely on ocean conservation, since 2010. In partnership with Oceana, Discovery’s Saving Sharks programme will be woven into experiences available on SharkWeek.com, enabling visitors to take action on behalf of sharks everywhere. Fans can also keep up on all things sharks by following #Shark Week on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr and Pinterest.
Amazing Shark Facts
1. Sharks live in every ocean on Earth, including the Arctic.
2. Sharks don’t have any bones. Their body is supported by cartilage.
3. Without any hands, sharks rely on bumping up against objects and their teeth and gums to examine new things. Their teeth and gums are actually much more sensitive than their skin.
4. #Sharks can hear low frequency sounds, like those emitted from a dying fish, from a kilometer away.
5. Sharks have amazing eyesight. They can see up to 100 feet away.
6. All living things give off electrical currents. Humans can’t seem them, but #sharks can.
7. Sharks can smell tiny particles of blood up to half a mile away.
8. #Sharks have more to fear from us than we do of them. Sharks only kill about 6 people per year while humans kill up to 100 million sharks per year.
The Shark Week programming line-up includes:
Blue Serengeti
Famed marine biologist and shark expert Barbara Block has been studying the white sharks off of California for more than 27 years. Now, with breakthrough camera technology and tracking technology, she’s giving scientists and viewers a portrait of a formerly unseen domain. She calls it the Blue Serengeti it’s a vast, rich, and hidden world, now more visible thanks to new camera tags deployed on both predator and prey.
Bride of Jaws
Andy Casagrande discovered that great white sharks had strangely and completely disappeared from the Neptune Islands off South Australia. Where did the sharks go? Searching west along the known great white migration route, he stumbles upon an incredible discovery a concentration of all male great white sharks off an uncharted island. Andy calls in marine biologist Dr. Jonathan Werry, and together they get up close and personal with a dozen large great whites in the hopes of solving two of the most closely guarded of all the great white’s secrets where they mate, and where they have their young.
Deadliest Shark
Using cutting-edge research and thrilling historical evidence, Dr. Michael Domeier and Dr. Barry Bruce go looking for rare oceanic white tip sharks, to see if the species deserves the reputation as the ‘World’s Deadliest Shark’. History says they are – and when the scientists dive in the Bahamas and off Hawaii, they’re spooked by this very dangerous shark.
Shallow Water Invasion
Using a self-propelled shark cage called ‘The Explorer’, marine biologists Mauricio Hoyos and Grant Johnson will investigate a recent discovery at Guadalupe Island – great whites moving into shallow waters at night. This movement shows that the sharks entering shallow water is actually normal behaviour – which would account for some of the shark encounters happening with greater frequency in the shallows along coastlines.
The Killing Games
Dr. Jonathan Werry and shark cinematographer Andy Casagrande travel to a special location in South Australia to research a new great white hunting strategy, where they no longer wait for seals to enter the ocean – they come out of the water and snatch them from the shore! But is this unique to Australia? Sharks are smarter than we thought and can learn new things when there’s food involved.