Shark Week is upon us. This Sunday night, June 26, the Discovery Channel will begin airing its 28th annual week dedicated to these carnivorous fish. (Scroll down for a detailed guide to watching.)
Shark Week 2016: what to watch (and what to avoid), according to a shark scientist
Brian Resnick was Vox’s science and health editor and is the co-creator of Unexplainable, Vox’s podcast about unanswered questions in science.
Shark Week has been a reliable pop culture phenomenon and ratings bonanza for Discovery through the years. Stephen Colbert once called it one of our holiest weeks. But it’s occasionally disappointed on scientific accuracy.
Okay, that’s a bit of an understatement: The Discovery Channel has, at times, completely made stuff up.
Remember “Megalodon: The Monster Shark Lives” and its sequel, “Megalodon: The New Evidence,” the so-called documentaries featuring “scientists” hunting for an enormous, long-extinct prehistoric shark?
These shows were pure fiction. The scientists were actors, and the events of the “documentaries” were scripted. Discovery, initially, did little to inform viewers that the programs were taking such creative liberties.
In January 2015, the network said it would do better — partly in response to the megalodon outrage, and because Discovery had a string of other suspect shows (like that the network tried to get a man devoured by a snake). It promised less hype and more science in Shark Week 2016.
This is a megalodon fossil. The species has been extinct for millions of years.
We wanted to know what shark scientists thought — in particular, the scientist who helped bring Shark Week’s pseudoscience to light.
David Shiffman, a PhD student studying shark biology and conservation at the University of Miami, has been one of Discovery’s most vocal critics. Every year, he fact-checks Shark Week programming live on Twitter. (Check out his feed from 2014; it’s pretty funny.) He’s exposed how Discovery producers have misinformed biologists in order to get them to appear on the shows. And he’s written thoughtfully on this website about his “love/ hate” relationship with Shark Week.
“Last year was better,” he writes, “more science and natural history, no fake documentaries, less fear mongering nonsense.”
And this year’s Shark Week lineup is — overall — looking solid as well, he says.
As a service to Shark Week viewers (and those merely curious about the scientific brouhaha), Shiffman has annotated the programming lineup, highlighting what to watch and what sounds dubious. He gave Vox permission to quote it at length.
He classifies the programming three ways:
- Watch: If he thinks the shows will be strong on science, natural history, or conservation issues. (He notes that he has not seen any of the shows beforehand.)
- Maybe watch: Shows he’s slightly less confident will be accurate.
- Do not watch: "Or watch and loudly criticize," he writes.
He notes that overall, the programming is extremely white, in two ways: The shows lean heavily on great white sharks, and they overwhelmingly feature white male researchers. Which is a shame. Even though great whites are the “scariest” for viewers, there are other fascinating sharks in the ocean — just like there are diverse people studying them.
Read on for Shiffman’s viewing guide.
How to watch Shark Week like a pro
What to watch:
“Tiger Beach” (Sunday 6/26 8 pm)
This one is all about our lab’s Shark Research at University of Miami tiger shark research in the Bahamas! I’ve participated in this research (though I’m not in this special) and I can tell you that it’s visually stunning stuff, beautiful animals in an incredible setting.
“Return of Monster Mako” (Sunday 6/26 9 pm)
Monster Mako last year focused on researchers studying mako shark behavior in the Gulf of Mexico, and the sequel looks like more good stuff.
“Jaws of the Deep” (Monday 6/27 9 pm)
This is the latest in Shark Week specials featuring Dr. Greg Skomal and his high-tech studies of great white shark behavior. This one uses ROVs and underwater cameras to observe deep water behavior.
“Air Jaws: Night Stalker” (Tuesday 6/28 10 pm)
The latest in the always visually stunning “Air Jaws” series documents nocturnal hunting behavior in great white sharks.
“Sharks vs. Dolphins: Face Off” (Wednesday 6/29 10 pm)
This special is about how sharks and dolphins interact with one another. It focuses on the research of my committee member Dr. Mike Heithaus.
“Shark Bait” (Friday 7/1 9 pm)
This is another special featuring Dr. Greg Skomal’s great white research, this time with a focus on seal hunting off Cape Cod.
“Blue Serengeti” (Friday 7/1 10 pm)
This one focuses on Dr. Barbara Block’s high tech tracking and videography research off California.
What to maybe watch
“Isle of Jaws” (Sunday 6/26 10 pm) , “Shallow Water Invasion” (Monday, 6/27 8 pm), and “The Killing Games” (Sunday 7/3 9 pm)
These [look] to be the latest in a long series of “here’s an interesting question about great white shark behavior, let’s go SCUBA diving with great whites and film it and not really answer that question” specials. The description for Isle of Jaws notes that they’re looking into where great whites mate and where they have their young. I do not expect this special to answer that question. Shallow Water Invasion and the Killing Games may show some previously unseen great white shark behavior.
“Sharks Among Us” (Monday 6/27 10 pm) and “Jungle Shark” (Thursday 6/30 10 pm)
[I’d] prefer that Shark Week not have specials about sharks hurting people at all (because in reality, shark bites are really, really uncommon. And these shows may instill an unnecessary fear of them)
But I suppose specials focusing on research into shark bite risk reduction may be okay, depending on the... focus. “Sharks Among Us” looks like it has an anti-culling message, and “Jungle Shark” promises some cool shots of American crocodiles in Costa Rica, so that could be good.
“Deadliest Shark” (Wednesday 6/29 9 pm)
While the title isn’t promising, this special focuses on marine biologists studying oceanic whitetip shark behavior. The quality of this special will depend on the relative focus on oceanic whitetip shark research vs. historical reenactments of why they’re considered so dangerous.
“Nuclear Sharks” (Thursday 6/30 9 pm)
This is about sharks that utilize the reefs around former nuclear test sites at Bikini atoll, and features a Cousteau grandchild. It also includes some research and conservation themes, particularly... illegal fishing.
This one is in the “iffy” category for me only because radiation is a tricky issue from a science communication standpoint. I’m just not sure if I trust Shark Week to discuss it in a non fear-mongering way yet. I’m happy to be wrong here. Of my “iffy” specials this one has the highest likelihood of actually being really good.
What to avoid
“Wrath of a Great White Serial Killer” (Tuesday 6/28 9 P.M.)
Here’s my review of the first “Great White Serial Killer” special, which aired in 2013:
“‘Two attacks at the same beach. Two years apart. Has a shark turned into a serial killer?’ (Um, maybe there’s more than one animal involved?) An interviewee on the show — who is not a scientist — observes ‘this can’t be a coincidence’ while the narrator notes ‘it isn’t a frivolous comparison to call a shark a serial killer.’ I’d encourage the producers of this show to look up the definitions of coincidence and frivolous.”
... I’m not really sure why they made a 3rd one. I wish they wouldn’t.
Further reading:
- Joseph Stromberg has a great piece for Vox on how sharks are surprisingly intelligent. “In experiments, scientists have learned that individual sharks have distinct personalities,” he writes. “They appear to develop closer relationships with certain sharks over others. They can be trained to recognize shapes and colors, remembering how to complete a task months or years later — and can even teach other sharks how to do things.”
- Shiffman’s 2015 essay on his love/hate relationship with Shark Week. “Although Shark Week content itself isn’t always great in terms of accuracy, it does provide ocean scientists and conservationists active on social media a great platform to amplify our message,” he notes. “By participating in social media conversations, experts can insert facts into them.”
