Experience real life shark attack rescues as we travel to some of the most popular, and most dangerous, beaches around the world. See actual video shot by locals, tourists, news crews and rescue units, as well as re-creations of some of the most difficult shark attack rescues ever
Built like torpedoes, sharks possess an extraordinary physiology that includes incredibly developed sensory organs and a set of jaws whose extensibility, power and teeth are unrivaled in the animal kingdom. This world premiere special exposes the truth about the world’s most efficient marine predator through an examination of shark attack case studies and first-hand accounts, including: a man who battled for his life in a struggle to free himself from the grasp of a bull shark’s razor-sharp teeth; a surfer who was attacked by a 20-foot great white; and a young boy who fought free from an attack. The program delivers real information on how to avoid or survive a shark encounter, and joins forces with shark experts to reveal the science and psychology behind shark behavior patterns, explaining how sharks select their prey and why shark attacks occur.
Through dramatic footage and interviews, explore why and how sharks bite. Scientists discuss what triggers a shark bite and how a shark bite differs from an attack. They also share how different breeds of sharks react to different situations.
The great white shark is the most dangerous and feared shark today. But earth's ancient oceans were rules by an even more menacing ancestor, nicknamed Megatooth - the most spectacular marine predator to ever roam the seas. This mega-shark was as large as a bus and enjoyed festing on whales!
The darkness, depth and vastness of the ocean have long hidden the real behaviour of sharks. Now, armed with the latest high-tech underwater equipment, marine biologists are able to observe the shark 24 hours a day, revealing startling new behaviours. This program offers a glimpse into this mysterious world as never seen before.
The bull shark: nine feet of pure brawn, one of the most aggressive animals on Earth. Bulls don't fear man at all and enjoy hunting in the shallows. They even pursue their prey in fresh water, bringing them in direct contact with people. Witness a thrashing bull ripping a large ray in half, and meet the fisherman who lost a leg to a bull shark and lived to tell the tale. Join zoologist Nigel Marven on a journey to learn more about these incredible predators, including a trip to the shark infested waters of the Bahamas.
Thanks to new technology, the great white shark once thought to prefer ony coastal waters, is now believed to make transoceanic crossings. For the first time, follow the great white shark on it's long migration across the Pacific... from the hunting grounds in Northern California to Mexico and on to Hawaii.
We travel to the waters off Mexico's western coastline, which hosts a diverse population of ocean creatures, including the whale shark, the white-tip reef shark and the Galapagos shark. Join us as we search for and swim with these magnificent creatures through some of the most beautiful seas in the world.
One of the most talked-about shark programs ever to air on SHARK WEEK. First-ever footage of great white sharks taking to the air – literally launching themselves some 10 or more feet above the water.
Does "Air Jaws" only live in one secluded bay in South Africa, or does he roam the world's oceans, waiting for the right opportunity to go airborne? Travel to Australia with an artificial seal created by one of Hollywood's top special effects experts in an attempt to encourage the sharks to fly!
The Brazilian city of Recife is a beautiful city with a big problem. For centuries a long strip of coral has protected this Brazilian port’s swimmers from sharks. Before 1992, only one attack was recorded in 75 years. However, in the past decade, there have been an astonishing 45 attacks, with 16 fatalities. For this world premiere special, acclaimed Brazilian filmmaker Lawrence Wahba set out to find out what may have changed, to cause this increase in attacks. Is it the sharks themselves, does it have something to do with the ocean’s depths or the reef, or could it be human encroachment? Wahba follows the trail of evidence — consulting witnesses, an international team of scientists (including Dan Huber of the University of South Florida), rescuers and victims — and dives into the water to witness the sharks in their natural territory.
If you want to find some of the world's biggest, fastest, scariest and weirdest sharks, you can find them in American waters. Take a journey to the country's best shark hot-spots from Maine to Alaska and spend time with people who have barely escaped fatal shark encounters.
This is the story of Frank "Monster Man" Mundus, a legendary great white shark hunter whose real life stories may have inspired Jaws' infamous Quint. Now Mundus comes out of retirment for a final shark adventure.
It's the stuff of nightmares...begin attacked by the most fearsome predator in the ocean. Catch up with actual shark attack survivors and discover how the encounters have affected their lives. Learn some surprising reasons why the attacks occured - challenging our assumptions about these man-eating predators.
This two-hour premiere special kicks off the primetime 9 PM hour of SHARK WEEK’s 20th Anniversary and is narrated by Richard Dreyfuss, who memorably played Matt Hooper in Jaws. The special tells the gripping story of the crew of the U.S.S. Indianapolis, sunk by two torpedoes in the Philippine Sea on the night of July 30, 1945. Eight hundred sailors, many maimed and burned, were plunged into the water … and floated helplessly for four days, having to deal with hunger, driven mad by thirst and menaced by hundreds of sharks. Assisted by George Burgess, America’s foremost investigator of shark attacks, Discovery Channel re-opens the official shark attack file on the Indianapolis – the first time this incident has ever been scientifically investigated. Ocean of Fear examines why the sharks attacked the way they did (and why they sometimes did not), and investigates the survival strategies of the men in the water, including those who fought the sharks. Survivors recall their ordeal on camera and remarkable reconstructions, filmed with real sharks, reveal the drama from both the sharks' and the humans' perspectives.
During more than 400 million years of evolution, over 400 species of shark have developed highly refined instincts and abilities to keep them the ocean’s top predator. This premiere program observes sharks in their environment in oceans around the globe, including tracking the migration of a baby shark in Bimini, attaching cameras to the social lemon shark to see how they relate to one another, and investigating a newly discovered great white behavior. Some great whites have been tracked migrating from the West Coast of the United States to a blank spot on the map in the mid-Pacific at the same time every year – but why? Also investigated are new scientific applications and technologies being developed using the unique properties of shark skin – from mimicking its barnacle-shedding properties on the outer side of ships, to its bacteria-resistant properties to coat medical applications such as operating tables and catheter tubes.
Animal behaviorist Dave Salmoni and South African shark scientist Ryan Johnson journey to the remote, tribal shores of New Guinea to unravel the mysterious secrets of the local shark whisperers who “call” in sharks from tiny canoes, without bait. As Dave and Ryan immerse themselves in this extraordinary ancient ritual, they gain knowledge that could help humans and sharks coexist.
This premiere program features five of the most amazing stories of shark attack survival, told by the victims themselves. Among the stories: An abalone diver’s head and arm are bitten by a great white … A young woman swimming in the deep ocean near Easter Island is caught in a tug-of-war between her rescue crew and a massive shark with her leg in its jaws … A shark scientist surrounded by a dozen predators in the Bahamas is bitten on the calf … A fisherman’s arm is bitten off, yet he has no memory of the attack … A woman vacationing on a yacht near a remote Pacific island is pulled underwater by a 9-foot tiger shark and fends it off with a punch to the nose, while her shipmates scramble to find help in the middle of nowhere.
It’s been said that a shark will eat anything from a license plate to a suit of armor, but the reality is that the menu of the so-called “eating machine” is complex, specific and so important that it determines everything about the shark -- including its size and where it lives. Hosted by Survivorman and SHARK WEEK host Les Stroud, this program takes a close look at the diets of seven species: great white, mako, tiger, bull, Caribbean reef, lemon and hammerhead sharks. A series of hands-on tests are conducted to learn more about the diet of these predators – and discover which shark has the strongest jaws, how often a shark needs to eat and why, and what senses incite a shark to attack.
Michael Rutzen is on an unbelievable quest -- to hypnotize, in open water, one of the most dangerous animals on the planet – the great white shark. Rutzen has been working with sharks for many years to study their body language. He believes if he can put sharks into a sleep-like state called tonic immobility, he could reveal a completely different side to their nature that might inspire people to want to protect, rather than destroy, these incredible apex predators.
