To SharkWeek or not to SharkWeek…
… that is the question!!
Last week, my buddies here at AwesomeOcean.com ran a great article on some of the silliness that the Discovery Channel has run in recent years. Did you read it? No? Seriously?!?? Oh for goodness sake, ok. Here is the link, go read it. I’ll wait right here for you, I’m very patient.
https://awesomeocean.com/2014/07/17/discovery-channel-science-is-hard/
Mermaid and megalodons? Snuffy the Seal?? Seriously, Discovery? Sigh.
Ok, so, the Discovery Channel has taken some fictional liberty lately. They’ve been exercising their creative writing muscles. I can respect that. Kind of. A little. Then again …
Here’s the thing. When SharkWeek first started so many years it ago, the folks over at Discovery Channel did something incredible! They showed that sharks aren’t the mindless killers Steven Spielburg taught us that they were! We learned that more than 300 species of shark roam our planet’s waters and actually do us some good. We learned that they are phenomenal animals that have lasted since the dinosaurs died out, we learned that countries butcher them for shark fin soup … and mostly? We learned that we need to save them.
Humans gained compassion for a creature that never had it before. Groups started forming, boycotts took place, and people started changing. So, why would Discovery Channel throw away all of this change? I could be an Armchair Judgey McJudgerson and speculate things like money from advertising, popularity, hype, etc, etc, etc. … and I wouldn’t necessarily be wrong per se. Really, only the execs over at Discovery know the truth anyway, and it isn’t like they’d tell us – can you imagine that statement? “Ahem. Why yes, we decided to trash years of educational and informative programming for the almighty dollar and decided that even though we couldn’t get the real Ariel to do a cameo, a fictional piece about mermaids was fine as long as it LOOKED like a documentary.”
I’ll give you a moment to facepalm. I know I just did.
So, all of that being said, is it time to abandon the Week of the Shark? I’m not so sure I’m ready to (although, obviously I can’t speak for all of you), and let me tell you why …
After you push aside all of the sensationalism and nonsense, there is still plenty of quality programming. They still run Air Jaws, with flying great whites, which is stinkin’ awesome. They also run programs that showcase the deadliest sharks, and endangered sharks, and weird sharks. The shark attack stories are both terrifying and helpful … shark bites can put out some serious blood and ick, let’s be honest, but I love how all of those shows are narrated so that you come away with knowing just how rare shark bites are and how the victim is almost always a survivor. They usually say something along the lines of the land is our home, the ocean belongs to the sharks and other sea life. If we’re going to enter it, we need to be prepared for what is there. Y’all, this is vital information.
Also, Myth Busters. Enough said.
This year, like every year, I’ll be programming my DVR, curling up on the couch with my specialty ice cream from that great ice cream shop, and watching approximately 147 hours of shark shows. I will roll my eyes at the mockumentaries, and probably write a note on the SharkWeek fan page about how annoying the stupidity is, but I will also be entranced by the hours of footage of my favorite animals doing what they do best, and they’ve done for millions of years: live. Live beautifully, swim effortlessly, and amaze us all.
