Discovery’s ‘Shark of Darkness: Wrath of Submarine’ draws criticism for being just awful

Much like last year’s mockumentary “Megalodon: The Monster Shark Lives”, Discovery Channel’s first episode of this year’s Shark Week has come under fire for it’s fictional account of “Submarine,” a giant man-eating great white shark with roots in a South African urban legend. “Shark of Darkness: Wrath of Submarine” plays out like a documentary, though it’s actually just an account of fictional events, plagued with less-than-convincing acting and special effects, in the eyes of many viewers.

Twitter was lit up with disgruntled viewers on Sunday night when the episode premiered, and numerous online media outlets have since voiced their distaste in Discovery’s decision to peddle out another faux “documentary.”

In Discovery’s defense, the show did contain the following vague disclaimer.

Events have been dramatized, but many believe Submarine exists to this day.

While most viewers realized from the get-go that this is a piece of fiction, others bought into it as a real-life account of a ‘monster shark’ with an appetite for humans. “Submarine” was noted to have an “insatiable taste for human blood,” and had adapted methods to attack humans more efficiently.

Is this really the kind of message Discovery Channel should be sending its viewers about sharks?


You can check some other opinions about Shark of Darkness by following the links below.

Atlantic White Shark Conservancy’s “We Need to Talk about Shark Week.”

Vox’s “Shark Week is once again making things up”

Gawker’s “Shark Week Returns With Its Lies”

PBS digital short: “What if There Were No Sharks?”

The latest episode of the PBS digital short series “It’s Okay To Be Smart” focuses on the important that sharks play in the environment and ponders the question of what would happen if there were no more sharks. During the video a counter representing an estimated number of sharks killed runs to give the viewer an idea of the rate at which sharks are being killed off. For a relatively quick watch, the video does a decent job at summarizing the value that sharks have in the world.

NatGeo Wild to provide alternative to Shark Week with Sharkfest

For viewers looking for an alternative to Discovery’s Shark Week, NatGeo Wild will be airing its own week of shark programming. Sharkfest promises “no fuss, no muss, just killer episodes.” Critics of some the programming of Discovery’s Shark Week, which include a follow-up to the faux documentary exploring the theory that the extinct C. Megalodon might still roam today’s ocean, might find Sharkfest’s programming choices to be a refreshing change of pace.

Sharkfest starts August 10 at 8PM on NatGeo Wild.

Video: great white shark encounter off Ocean City, MD

YouTube user Aaron Caplan documented an encounter with an adult white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) 6 miles off the coast of Ocean City, MD. According to the video description, the shark was estimated at 13′-15′ in length and remained around the boat for approximately an hour. The shark mouthed the boat and engine before eating a chum bag. Caplan and his boatmates fed the shark a yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares) carcass, and then it left the area.

United Arab Emirates bans shark finning

UAE bans shark finning

According to a report by Emirates 24/4, The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has issued a measure to ban shark finning. In addition to the ban on finning, the measure will also make it illegal to hunt sharks within 5 nautical miles of the UAE shores and 3 nautical miles of from the shores of UAE’s islands.

The measure was issued by UAE Minister of Environment and Water, Rashid bin Fahd. It will be enforced beginning September 1, 2014.

Nat Geo Channel’s ‘Die Trying’ to feature white shark tagging

“Great White Ambush,” this week’s episode of National Geographic Channel’s “Die Trying,” will follow a team of shark experts, along with wildlife filmmaker Andy Casagrande to Shark Alley off the coast of Gansbaai, South Africa. The team’s goal is to capture a white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) in hopes of mounting data loggers and camera tags on the back of the shark, in order to scientifically document the complete profile of a breaching great white for the first time ever.

The episode airs this Wednesday, July 30, at 10PM ET on the National Geographic Channel.

Great white shark spotted off St. Andrews, New Brunswick

Some lucky passengers aboard a Quoddy Link Marine whale-watching vessel were treated to a somewhat rare sighting of an adult white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) after heading out of St. Andrews harbor in New Brunswick, Canada. YouTube user Dave Hannett caught some brief footage of the shark, as seen in the video above. According to the video information, the shark was spotted about a mile out from the harbor.

White sharks are known to inhabit the Atlantic waters of coastal Canadian provinces, but sightings are fairly rare.

White shark found dead reportedly choked on sea lion

A 4m (13′) white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) that was found washed ashore in Western Australia had apparently died as the result of choking on a sea lion, according to Sky News. The 4m shark had no initial visible signs of injury or disease, according to the report. However, further examination revealed a sea lion lodged in the shark’s throat.

The shark was filmed off Coronation Beach by YouTube user CadMonkey two days before it washed ashore. As can be seen in the video, the shark appears to be in distress. Research scientist Rory McAuley told Sky News that the shark might have been trying to dislodge the obstruction.

Is there a shark in Lake Ontario? Umm, no.

A video purporting to showing some fishermen encountering a shark off Wolfe Island in Lake Ontario was recently posted to YouTube. The video has been making the social media rounds and drumming up all kinds of online arguing about the “shark” seen in the video. The video even drew concern from Canada’s Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry, Bill Mauro. However, it would seem all the hype was for naught, unless you count the publicity it has generated for Shark Week 2014.

According to Canada’s Global News, it turns out that the video is actually part of the marketing campaign for Discovery’s upcoming week of shark programming and is nothing more than a PR stunt. According to a press release from Discovery, a ‘life-like’ prosthetic shark was used for the video.

Video: Australian diver’s chance encounter with white shark

YouTube user Ian Banks had a chance encounter with a great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) on Wednesday while diving Kingscliff Reef off New South Wales, Australia. As you can see in the video, the shark didn’t stick around long upon Banks’ approach. The video just goes to show that, unlike what we often see in major media, sometimes white sharks are more afraid of humans than vice-versa.