A running commentary by Ryan McInnis concerning the annual propagation of myths and sensation that is Discovery’s SHARK WEEK. This is strictly an opinion piece based on experience and education that is intended to help distinguish facts from the fiction that is major network marketing. I’ve spent the last 25 years of my life studying and swimming with the sharks of the world, including Great Whites, but I’m by no means an expert… I just have a biased affinity for the truth.
One thing I want to clear up before this saga begins is the use of the term “attack”… criminals with malicious intent attack people on dimly lit streets in bad neighborhoods; sharks occasionally BITE people when prey items are nearby or to investigate, generally by mistake. A shark ATTACK is a misnomer that needs to be struck from the world’s vocabulary!!
It’s no secret that I have distaste for the majority of these shows, but let it be known that there are a shining few that actually are made for positive impact on the general ignorance that exists in the world. I will give a grade to each production with a show of thumbs based on it’s educational, conservational and production value.
Thursday, August 4th
Shark City (1 Thumb Up, 1 Thumb Down)
- What do you get when you combine incredibly captured footage, a marvelously written story, the best narrator in the business (Mike Rowe) and one of the funniest on-screen personalities on television (Andy Samberg)? An almost awesome show is what.
- I don’t think Andy can swim, and I haven’t laughed yet at any of his vignettes. I love his comedy but he was a poor choice for MC of Shark Week. Whether he had any creative control or not is irrelevant… what matters is that his presence is trifling the opportunity Discovery had to educate the world… but I guess prudence doesn’t sell as well as indulgence, now does it?
- The show itself is gripping, a great combination of ingredients that remind me of West Side Story and the like. Unfortunately the storytelling came to an abrupt halt near the end at the “shark eats stingray” scene; it then lost all lustre with the creative cutting and convenient rock placement which attempted to convince me that it wasn’t just a piece of bait in the sand he was eating.
Air Jaws (No Thumbs, Cooking Dinner)
- Great series of shows, most are similar and visually entertaining but lack much science… almost like natural history soft porn. Creative use of new camera technology is what fuels the ongoing series, but how many times and angles and slo-mo’s can you watch Michael Jordan dunk a ball?
Wednesday, August 3rd
Into the Shark Bite (2 Thumbs Up)
- Total Satisfaction. Andy Casagrande (cameraman and co-host) is a personal friend of mine and I am not just proud of him for this show but green with envy. He’s a balls-out badass with a sly sense of humor that is one of very few that can operate a Phantom hi-speed camera underwater. Take a sec and learn more about him on his website, he does what we all grew up dreaming we could do…
- Anyway, enough with the man-crush. Thank goodness GoPro hooked him up with a bushel of cameras for this production because there are more than several decaying in a pile of shark poop as we speak. The footage is innovative and groundbreaking, the content is educational and positive… and there isn’t one instance of drama or sensation throughout… refreshing! A ‘must watch’ program.
How Sharks Hunt (1 Up 1 Down)
- I’ll start by stating that I’m a huge fan of Cody and Dave and their show Dual Survival (hence the 1 thumb up). They are like oil and water but they are entertaining and there is so much to learn from their insight and experience. However, it seemed that much of what they said in the show was scripted by someone without much depth of knowledge… too much “vicious attack” and “fearless predator” type of speak. White Sharks are neither vicious or fearless, they are specific and timid… a Mosquito, on the other hand, is vicious and fearless.
- The title itself is total BS. There was not one scene of a shark hunting in the show… they were scavenging!!! A dead tuna head is not something a shark “hunts” and the behavior associated with such a scenario is polar opposite of their true hunting technique. Therefore, the entire premise of this production is BOGUS! (earning the larger of the 2 thumbs down)
Tuesday, August 2nd (2 Thumbs Down, for all programs)
- Killing me… Killer Sharks and Summer of the Shark were so full of baloney I could’ve made sandwiches for an army!! In film there is something called Foley which in layman’s terms is the addition of natural sound effects. You know, like a power-saw when a dorsal fin cuts the water’s surface or a demon’s roar when a shark opens it’s mouth.
- The least they could do is have some continuity of species… if it’s a show about GWS incidents, don’t show Lemons and Tigers and Bulls thinking I (and plenty more of you) won’t know the difference! That assumes that we are all total idiots; it’s like splicing Leopards and Cheetahs into a show about Lions… offensive.
Monday, August 1st
Great White Shark: Uncaged (1 Thumb Down, 1 Hand on the Remote)
- Sensation and False Storyline at it’s ultimate. The only reason this didn’t get 2 Thumbs Down is for the sharks, I dove with the same ones for a month and they deserve some credit for having far more manners than as depicted in this pseudo-thriller. An opportunity to educate was wasted here, instead you have daredevils “cheating death”…
- Andre Hartman is the real deal, but this show bastardizes his depth of experience by casting him with water-fearing wanna-be’s. I almost changed the channel when the girl began screaming as a shark bumped the cage she was in… fear and ignorance, repeatedly, in the commentary and narration. “Scores of massive man-eaters… they sneak up from behind, and that’s when they get you!”
- Free-swimming with GWS is not a recommended activity, but with proper experience and for the right reasons much can be learned from such interactions. These fish exhibit complex social behaviors, like gill flaring and posture swimming, that are age, size and gender dependent and can indicate hierarchy. I’ve seen these things firsthand outside of the cage and documented them… without the drama, for science and for sharks… not sensation.
…I tried to watch the other shows but turned them off and watched The Bachelorette finale instead… that’s how bad it was! I could write volumes about it but I’ll spare you the pain 
Sunday, July 31st
Great White Invasion (2 Thumbs Down)
- Let’s start with the title of this show… where are they “invading”? Has anyone found a White Shark in their bathtub or community pool?!? A great example of sensational marketing…
- The take home from this show is that this species, the greatest of marine predators, is beginning to repopulate is original global range. Evidenced by greater documented densities of younger sharks in coastal areas, this production played it as “man-eaters crowding swimming beaches”.
- The shots used throughout the show were deplorable, splicing in 15′ fish chomping a hanging bait while the narrator discusses a juvenile that hangs out near Malibu Beach, just as an example. It’s inappropriate and intended to scare.
- Swimmers need to know this: Sharks are everywhere all the time. They’ve seen you way more than you’ve seen them, and even though we’re the “invaders”, they don’t eat people! Millions of years of evolution don’t change in the blink of an eye (geologically speaking).
Jaws Comes Home (2 Thumbs Up)
- FINALLY! An East Coast Great White Shark (GWS) show. Finishing my Marine Biology degree in 1997 at UNC-Wilmington I proposed a study for a seminar class to census the Western Atlantic GWS population, starting in North Carolina. My professor graded my preparation with an A and content with an F… why? Because “everyone knows there are no White Sharks on the East Coast”… Right.
- Annually more and more GWS of all ages and sizes are spotted off the Atlantic seaboard, sometimes right off the beach, from Florida up to Maine. I believe this to be attributed to the rebound in their numbers due to protection and awareness. If you see a GWS, always report it to your local Marine Fisheries office.
- This show used solid research techniques and technology to gain a clearer picture of who these sharks are, what they’re doing (feeding on a blossoming population of Gray Seals) and how local authorities (in Massachusetts) need to adjust public policy. It was filmed well and the storyline was based on fact as presented by an esteemed and well-centered scientist, Greg Skomal. A well made show.
