After coming under fire for its factual inaccuracies and increasingly hyperbolic portrayal of earth’s most misunderstood predator, Shark Week took a different approach to last night’s special. “Alien Sharks” took a look at the many bizarre and little-known sharks of the deep, including many that have only recently been identified.
These include bioflourescent sharks—yes, that’s literally sharks that glow-in-the-dark.
https://twitter.com/DanRichard/status/618431072771117056
Prof Gruber featured on @Discovery’s “Alien Sharks: Close Encounters”. Check out a clip: http://t.co/uuWhP9wX3t #SharkWeek #Baruchpride
— Baruch College (@BaruchCollege) July 7, 2015
And the megamouth shark, so named, because, well.
Then there’s this guy, the kind you don’t want to meet in a dark trench alone at night.
#Deepsea #AlienSharks are hugely diverse. Check out – hooktooth dogfish http://t.co/zKLbHqy9uH P:FishBase #SharkWeek pic.twitter.com/TYmbL1g7JK
— Shark Devocean (@SharkDevocean) July 7, 2015
This cute little sea predator.
Pocket shark makes debut on #AlienSharks! Squee! #SharkWeek http://t.co/woqZuMNgJt pic.twitter.com/EFm1kxnlYG
— Shark Advocates (@SharkAdvocates) July 7, 2015
And these guys.
Second of the Seven Sharks You Haven't Heard Of: the Viper Dogfish (Trigonognathus kabeyai): http://t.co/7AzyABPovN pic.twitter.com/K3yA6oCbLq
— Shark University (@SharkUniversity) July 7, 2015
#SharkWeek #GoblinShark gif. you're welcome. #AlienSharks #SharkInTheDark pic.twitter.com/HJHYdtnf0V
— Alisa Schwartz 🦈🤿🌊 (@divefinatic) July 7, 2015
In other words, ALIEN SHARKS.
FUCKING ALIEN SHARKS
— louise (@loooweeezz3) July 7, 2015
The best part of all is that Shark Week didn’t have to indulge in gimmicks or scare tactics to get viewers interested in these creatures. I mean, obviously.
In fact, the episode was a notable departure from recent Shark Weeks, in that it was filled with science, research, and a close-up look at teams:
That's 5, count 'em, 5, female shark researchers on Dean Grubbs' team! (More than all featured in the last 2 #SharkWeek s combined)
— Dr. David Shiffman 🦈 (@WhySharksMatter) July 7, 2015
For real #AlienSharks was awesome @SharkWeek. Great feature of real science. And thrilling! @SharkUniversity great job bud!
— Dr. Austin Gallagher (@DrAustinG) July 7, 2015
https://twitter.com/mcmsharksxx/status/618413724764884992
The #AlienSharks series is the best of #SharkWeek . Science, biodiversity, amazing footage of cool animals. MORE OF THIS PLEASE @SharkWeek
— Dr. David Shiffman 🦈 (@WhySharksMatter) July 7, 2015
https://twitter.com/WarrenSalem/status/618295770412793857
Above all, the Alien Shark episode emphasized conservation and protection of these valuable species—an all too often-overlooked message considering humans kill 100 million sharks each year, mainly due to the brutal and inhumane practice of shark finning.
Too grim for you? No worries, you can still enjoy your yearly round of fin-tertainment—just in time for tonight’s episode, “Bride of Jaws.” And if that’s not enough, tomorrow brings us “Ninja Sharks.”
I, for one, welcome our new alien ninja shark overlords.
Screengrab via NatGeo/YouTube