PSA: Shark Week is this week on Discovery

[purbeast0]

i didn't catch monday's episodes but i did catch last nights and sundays. some good shows so far this week. the one last night had to do with how the movie Jaws changed the world, and was actually a really good show. they also had the story of the ww2 guys who were stranded for 47 days in shark infested water, which was interesting but a little too dramatic for my tastes. still enjoyable.

tonight is a show about how people are killing sharks because they are totally misinformed about them (which a lot started from Jaws), and how they are what keep the eco system in balance. seems like it should be a neat show.

i'm personally extremely fascinated with marine life and especially sharks, so i eat all this stuff up. caught my first shark a few weeks ago off the shore in north carolina. it was a small baby shark about 14 - 16 inches, but was still awesome to catch and see up close.

 

[AdamK47]

Do sharks really need a week? After a few shows and I'm like, "Yep, that's another shark". They really aren't all that fascinating to me.

 

[Pr0d1gy]

I've got several shows set to record today alone. While I can understand Adam's view, most of the shows deal with different aspects of the shark so they're worth checking out. Plus, my kids love cool animal shows and there isn't much cooler than a shark flying through the air while attacking it's prey.

 

[purbeast0]

Do sharks really need a week? After a few shows and I'm like, "Yep, that's another shark". They really aren't all that fascinating to me.

there is so much about sharks that is unknown to us.

they were talking last night on the show about how jaws changed the world, that until recent years scientists thought sharks only lived 20-30 years. now they've figured out they live double that and possibly more.

 

[SunnyD]

Do sharks really need a week? After a few shows and I'm like, "Yep, that's another shark". They really aren't all that fascinating to me.

Well, to be fair:

1. Do the Kardashians need another... episode?
2. Does Idol need another season?
3. Does TV really need yet another gay family dramady?
4. Do we really need another reality show about extreme cupcake baking?
5. Real housewives of... the Bermuda Triangle? Who gives a fuck.
6. Jersey Whore? Nuff said.
7. ...
8. Profit!

Sure, give the sharks their week. It ain't hurtin' nuthin'.

 

[dougp]

Do sharks really need a week? After a few shows and I'm like, "Yep, that's another shark". They really aren't all that fascinating to me.

Yes they need another week, because like most apex predators, they're grossly overexposed when they do something wrong and grossly underexposed when something wrong is done to them. This leads to a lot of uneducated opinions about the animals and the general public not really caring what happens with them.

There really needs to be more exposure during shark week about the illegal fishing - it's touched on every now and then, but very rarely is it incorporated into the programming every night.

i didn't catch monday's episodes but i did catch last nights and sundays. some good shows so far this week. the one last night had to do with how the movie Jaws changed the world, and was actually a really good show. they also had the story of the ww2 guys who were stranded for 47 days in shark infested water, which was interesting but a little too dramatic for my tastes. still enjoyable.

tonight is a show about how people are killing sharks because they are totally misinformed about them (which a lot started from Jaws), and how they are what keep the eco system in balance. seems like it should be a neat show.

i'm personally extremely fascinated with marine life and especially sharks, so i eat all this stuff up. caught my first shark a few weeks ago off the shore in north carolina. it was a small baby shark about 14 - 16 inches, but was still awesome to catch and see up close.

Was this the story about the Indianapolis? They cover this every year, and all it ever does is make people gloss over it. It's gone down as the worst shark attack in recorded history - terrible thing to keep covering.

One of the absolute coolest shark programs that they've had on during shark week was a few years ago when there was a team of researchers who decided to free dive with great whites. They really went in depth on what it takes to avoid looking like prey, reactions, etc. and then spent time diving in the cage to start learning about them. Probably one of the best documentaries I've seen on Discovery.

 

[Arcadio]

Sharks deserve their week on TV. The only problem is that sometimes the shows focus on the people and not the animal.

 

[purbeast0]

Was this the story about the Indianapolis? They cover this every year, and all it ever does is make people gloss over it. It's gone down as the worst shark attack in recorded history - terrible thing to keep covering.

no it wasn't about the indianapolis, but on the 'how jaws changed the world' show they mentioned the indianapolis and how it wasn't nearly as many shark attakcs that killed people as other causes of death, from first hand accounts.

it was about an airplane crash, i can't remember any of the names of the people.

here's a link i found about it though.

http://www.wjactv.com/videos/news/military/47-days-with-sharks-wwii-soldiers-struggle-to/vdP2g/

 

[purbeast0]

Yes they need another week, because like most apex predators, they're grossly overexposed when they do something wrong and grossly underexposed when something wrong is done to them. This leads to a lot of uneducated opinions about the animals and the general public not really caring what happens with them.

There really needs to be more exposure during shark week about the illegal fishing - it's touched on every now and then, but very rarely is it incorporated into the programming every night.

and i also agree with this.

tonight they are having a show about the hunting of sharks and how they cut fins off then dump them back in the water to die.

additionally, they had a guy on last night on the 'how jaws changed the world' who said he's been killing sharks since he was 10, and he has a boat down in florida (i believe) and takes people out shark hunting. they just catch and kill the sharks just because they can. he even talks about how some groups have killed over 20k sharks.

 

[Red Storm]

Shark Week fucking sucks. I used to love it as a kid, but this year it just seems terrible. They have so little actual content. The people behind Planet Earth should do Shark Week, it would actually be an enjoyable and educational experience (not to mention breath taking).

 

[purbeast0]

Shark Week fucking sucks. I used to love it as a kid, but this year it just seems terrible. They have so little actual content. The people behind Planet Earth should do Shark Week, it would actually be an enjoyable and educational experience (not to mention breath taking).

what do you think has been terrible so far?

i haven't watched anything from monday but last nights were decent, although the one about the ww2 guys coulda been about 15 minutes long.

 

[Red Storm]

what do you think has been terrible so far?

i haven't watched anything from monday but last nights were decent, although the one about the ww2 guys coulda been about 15 minutes long.

That's my gripe, all of their episodes could be 15 minutes long. They take very little actual, educational, enjoyable content and really stretch it out to fit in talking about people and reminding us that Volkswagon is the sponsor.

Planet Earth was really well done, that's a model that Discovery should have gone after.

 

[purbeast0]

That's my gripe, all of their episodes could be 15 minutes long. They take very little actual, educational, enjoyable content and really stretch it out to fit in talking about people and reminding us that Volkswagon is the sponsor.

Planet Earth was really well done, that's a model that Discovery should have gone after.

you still didn't answer my question.

and the VW sponsoring it is pretty badass with them driving a VW car underwater with the sharks. i thought that was pretty awesome and would love to be able to do that.

 

[D1gger]

I saw an episode last night that had a great white shitting on a couple of divers in a cage.

Funny as hell.

The youtube clip implies that it is fake, but the documentary last night certainly didn't portray it that way, and they had an ichthyologist talking about what they could learn about sharks from looking at their poo.