Get ready for Shark Week, which begins in a few weeks. It’s a full week just dedicated to sharks, and it all begins August 12 at 9 p.m. EST. The program by Discovery Channel, which first aired on July 17, 1988, was developed to help the average person have a greater respect for sharks. Shark Week is now broadcast in over 72 countries. This year, the week-long series will be celebrating its 25th anniversary, and Discovery promises to be its shark-iest ever with “specials that get you so close to the action, if you were any closer you’d be bait.”
Among the programming is the search for the great white sharks of Seal Island, South Africa, with a separate focus on one specifically, the 14-foot shark Colossus, who dominates all other sharks in the area. That segment, called “Air Jaws Apocalypse,” will premiere Sunday, August 12 at 9 p.m. ET. Seal Island is a tiny island in False Bay just off the Southern tip of Africa, where tourists can often view, from their hotel rooms, Great White Sharks as they hunt for Sea Lions. Photographer, author and shark expert Chris Fallows and legendary natural history producer Jeff Kurr team up once again to film new exciting footage of Great White Sharks breaching in False Bay.
Other segments include:
SHARK WEEK’S 25 BEST BITES
Premieres Sunday, August 12 at 10 p.m. ET
In celebration of Shark Week’s silver anniversary, it’s a countdown of the 25 scariest and funniest moments from past Shark Week awesomeness.
MYTHBUSTERS’ JAWSOME SHARK SPECIAL
Premieres Monday, August 13 at 9 p.m. ET
The MythBusters, Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman, count down their top 25 shark myths of all time. They also show never-seen-before footage and reveal the No. 1 shark myth that will “literally blow people away.”
SHARKZILLA
Premieres Monday, August 13 at 10 p.m. ET
Discovery will revisit the “chomping capabilities” of the biggest shark ever to swim in our oceans: the megalodon, which was 52 feet long, weighed 100,000 pounds and had 250 teeth, each six inches long, set in jaws six feet wide and eight feet tall.
HOW JAWS CHANGED THE WORLD
Premieres Tuesday, August 14 at 9 p.m. ET
Go behind the scenes of the biggest shark movie ever, and the impact “Jaws” had on the oceans and their inhabitants.
SHARK FIGHT
Premieres Tuesday, August 14 at 10 p.m. ET
Shark attack victims around the world discuss the terrifying moments of their confrontations, and now have devoted their lives to saving their attackers and have become some of the most powerful shark advocates on the planet.
GREAT WHITE HIGHWAY
Premieres Wednesday, August 15 at 9 p.m. ET
Discovery Channel partnered with Dr. Barbara Block, professor of marine sciences at Stanford University, to track the world’s biggest great whites in real time. They’re looking to learn more about the sharks’ mating rituals and, in particular, where they go to give birth, which still remains a mystery to scientists.
ADRIFT: 47 DAYS WITH SHARKS
Premieres Thursday, August 16 at 9 p.m. ET
This is the true story of a routine search mission over the Pacific in WWII gone awry. Two war heroes tell the story of their 47 days in shark-infested waters… and how they lived to tell the tale.
Da-Dum…Da-Dum…Da-Dum-Da-Dum-Da-Dum!
