In 2018, Schuster and her colleague Miles Surrey published the “In most shark entertainment pieces, the sharks are actively attempting to hunt humans, which is just not realistic,” Schuster said. With more than 20 hours of shark programming throughout the week, SHARK WEEK 2020’s fin-credible lineup will bring brand-new, innovative shark research technology and compelling insight on some of the most unique shark species in the world. And like the Super Bowl, there’s a lot of marketing and hype, and some may care more about the treats they will be eating (see “recipes,” above) or the celebrity appearances than the actual science.But not everything “Shark Week” has done in its efforts to entertain and educate has gone over well. The earliest shark remains date back some 450 million years. “Ecosystems are all about balance. Scroll down to see what's on deck for this year's Shark Week, which kicks off on August 9th! Nothing can hide and the chase to feed the growing populations of humans never ends.
“That’s a new sort of shark phenomenon that I think ‘Shark Week’ helped with.”Start your day with the top stories you missed while you were sleeping. Here’s why some people will never be happy no matter how much money the rich give away.To play or not to play: Nation divided over whether to save 2020 college football seasonAs conferences announce cancellation of their college football seasons, others claim games should go forward and a growing surge of players demand it.Salt Lake Police Association pushes back on mayor’s policy reformsChurch announces these Utah temples are moving to Phase 2 of reopening planTen temples in Utah are among 17 worldwide that will expand their limited reopenings, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced on Monday.Forgoing a mask owes more to political theater than to ideology, experts say. If the top domino is tipped over, a systematic knock-on ripples through each trophic layer until most of the pieces are affected in some way or another.Sharks are one of the ocean’s top dominos. This year's 'Shark Week' celebrates the 20th anniversary of 'Air Jaws'.This year, the viewer will tag along with A-List stars including Mike Tyson, Will Smith and Shaquille O'Neil. “The entertainment value of shark movies comes from that fear.”But this isn’t 1975, and what we know about sharks isn’t limited to movies.
Efforts to fight this brutal, cruel and wasteful practice continue and “In the last 50 years, humans have advanced their capabilities to extract from the oceans to industrial scale levels,” Towner explains. They don’t want to see that,” he said. But what about shark movies? “It’s helped make nature documentaries mainstream.”When it comes to marketing, “Shark Week” isn’t afraid to embrace “the public’s fascination with the species — even if it means leaning into the more negative, fear-based aspects,” Schuster says. People love sharks. But “Shark Week” also stays on message: that sharks are critical to ocean health, that they are extremely vulnerable and nowhere near the threat to humans that they have been perceived to be. (Remember when a revenge-fueled great white followed a plane down to the Bahamas?) If that doesn’t support the notion that change needs to happen regarding our impacts on wildlife as humans nothing will. AsI have worked for several years as a freelance journalist covering breaking news with Reuters and the business of entertainment as a regular Contributor with Forbes. Shark Week is swimming back onto our TVs for its 32nd year.
Photo Courtesy of Discovery Channel/Jeff Kurr.