What’s cooler than mockumentaries? THIS STUFF. I’m not the only one who has picked up on Brian Switek’s Cooler than #SharkWeek idea. The following are some awesome sharky posts linked to from the news, blogs or twitter. I even threw in some non-shark marine biology, just because marine biology rocks. Continue reading “Cooler than #SharkWeek: A Shark-Infested Link Roundup!”
Dear Discovery Communications,
I have to say, I had high hopes for this year’s Shark Week. But we’re only one special in and already, shark week has seriously jumped the shark.
I get why you had a special about C. megalodon. What shark inspires more fear and fascination than Megalodon, the Chondrichthyean monster that once dominated our planet’s oceans? The shark’s name, which translates to “giant tooth”, says it all. Their hand-sized dental records are some of the only fossilized evidence we have of these gigantic predators, which lived from ~50 million years ago to around 2 million years ago. Based on their size, scientists have estimated these sharks grew to upwards of 60 feet long with a bite force anywhere between 10 and 18 tons, and from scarred fossils we know they likely dined on the giant whales of their time. This year’s Shark Week kick-off special, Megalodon: The Monster Shark That Lives, claimed to provide evidence that these massive beasts are still out there, using scattered anecdotes and scientific testimony to support the assertion. There’s only one problem: the entire “documentary” wasn’t real.
Continue reading “Shark Week Jumps The Shark: An Open Letter To Discovery Communications”
