It’s that time of the year again… just when we thought it
was safe to go back in the water…Discovery Channel brings us Shark Week. This year, like every year, the hunt for the legendary water
monsters continues.
Headlining the week so far is the search for the ferocious
Megalodon, a huge prehistoric shark that is known as the deadliest killing
machine in the water. Megalodon is a 67
foot long specimen of a super shark who lives off the coast of South
Africa. The Discovery Channel kicked off
Shark Week by airing a documentary about the unfortunate fate of a fishing boat
that was on a fishing excursion just off the coast of Cape Town. The boat was
literally attacked by this thought to be extinct predator, leaving no survivors
in its wake. The poor souls on the boat never knew what hit them. Lucky for the curious viewers of gruesome
shark attacks, a video camera was discovered in the wreckage showing exactly
what attacked the poor vessel. Believe it or not, it was the cousin of
Megalodon known as Submarine! Hold up!
We didn’t actually see Submarine attack, we just heard the boaters cry
out while being attacked, in a fearsome scream, SHARK!
It turns out that what was thought to be a documentary on
the mythical Megalodon turned out to be nothing more than a mockumentary.
Unfortunately many probably missed this quick disclaimer that the station aired
Sunday:
“None of the institutions or agencies that appear in the
film are affiliated with it in any way, nor have approved its contents. Though
certain events and characters in this film have been dramatized, sightings of
‘Submarine’ continue to this day. Megalodon was a real shark. Legends of giant
sharks persist all over the world. There is still debate about what they might
be.”
Are real shark attacks getting harder to find these days?
Have we already explored all the gruesome details of shark attacks available to
us on previous seasons of shark week?
Perhaps this is the reason that Shark Week is taking the
lighter side of gruesome this year. A talk show series called “Shark after
Dark” has introduced us to a new character called Bob the Shark. Bob the Shark has over 36,000 Twitter
followers and climbing.
Shark Week also
aired a commercial featuring Snuffy the Seal, in another attempt at some shark
humor. It was a win.
Adding to the levity of the season is “Voodoo Sharks”, a
show that features bayou hillbillies in search of the deadly “Rookin”. The
Rookin is a salt water predator turned fresh water killer, as a result of an
old voodoo curse, who stalks wildlife and people along the bayous of
Louisiana. Captain Blimp leads the crew
in search of this mythological Bull Shark using his homemade gadgets to help
him on his quest.
Whatever turn Shark Week takes this year we will still be
curiously engaged, just in case it airs some poor beach goers chance encounter with
the sea demon itself. It’s like a car wreck; we just can’t seem to pass by
without looking.
This year though I'm watching Shark Week with The Forest Lab.
I just feel safer somehow.
