Shark Week: Promoting Sharks or a Fear of Sharks?

After two nights of watching Shark Week, Discovery Channel's annual, summer special, I must admit that I'm so far disappointed with the spectacle. Nearly every show has focused on shark attacks with daunting titles like "10 Deadliest Sharks," "Blood in the Water," and "Deadly Waters." The intense dramatizations are difficult to watch with the bloodied waters and and the screaming, flailing actors.

To be honest, I hate this, and "hate" isn't a word I use lightly. These shows are only breeding the fear of sharks that so many people already foster. The notorious "Jaws" series initiated this unnecessary fear, which has now carried over into peoples' obsessions with the negative aspects of sharks. Ironically, Peter Benchley, the creator of "Jaws," felt the burden of his creation, and spent the last years of his life dedicated to shark conservation. An article from the Florida Museum of Natural History discusses Benchley's outlook on the affects of his films: "Sharks had become the victim, he realized, and man had become the jaws of death." Wow.


Rather than focusing on people that sharks have (most likely unintentionally) harmed, let's focus on the importance of sharks to our ecosystem. Without them, the entire food chain would surely collapse. Or, how about emphasizing the fact that sharks have outlived dinosaurs? Even more fascinating is that female sharks have the ability to reproduce asexually.

There is much more to sharks than the blood and gore that Hollywood has decided to spotlight. I'm hopeful that Shark Week will change direction and focus on the issues that are more beneficial to its viewers.