Monday October 5, 2009
Swimming with sharks
By RIZAL JOHAN
Find out the facts and myths about sharks in Discovery Channel’s Shark Week.
IT’S the most feared underwater sea creature and also the most misunderstood. The shark has always had a bad reputation but Discovery Channel is about to clear the air about these predators in a week-long series starting today. The aptly titled Shark Week features six programmes which will intrigue and educate viewers on this infamous fish.
Day Of The Shark (today) is a two-part special which looks at shark attacks and why they occur. The first part reminds viewers that sharks are predictable animals but trespassing into their territory can cause them to become unpredictable.
The second part, which airs tomorrow (Oct 6), reveals the science behind sharks and what triggers them to attack at certain times of the day and what people can do to avoid being attacked.
Debunking the myths about sharks, especially the great white shark (the notorious shark that shot to infamy with the film Jaws), is harder than you think.
Threatened and misunderstood: The ocean’s ultimate predator is given a whole lot of attention on Discovery Channel’s Shark Week which starts today. In Great White Appetite (Oct 7), scientists travel the globe to find out about the great white’s population, mating habits and what drives their appetite. You’d be surprised to learn that the scientists do not have any accurate data on great white sharks.
If you want to know the world’s shark hotspots, then follow Les Stroud and a team of experts as they embark on a quest to find out which waters are the deadliest in Deadly Waters (Oct 8).
And what do sharks get up to at night? That’s what a team of divers armed with the latest in infrared cameras are about to find out in Shark After Dark (Oct 9).
Sharkbite Summer (Oct 10) takes you back to the year 2001 when America was gripped with shark fever as it recorded the highest number of sharkbite cases that even Time magazine proclaimed it “The Summer Of The Shark”. Learn in detail about the sharkbite accounts during that summer and the ensuing panic it caused.
Finally, Blood In The Water (Oct 11) is seen through the eyes of the victims, the witnesses and the shark itself as it captures the first instance of our fear of sharks.
In order to prepare you for a fascinating week with sharks, here are some useful information about them.
·Sharks regularly shed and replace their teeth, unlike humans who have two sets of teeth during their lifetime. While it varies from species to species, some sharks may lose as many as 30,000 teeth during their lifetime.
·There are more than 350 species of sharks and about 80% are either incapable of causing harm to humans or are unlikely to ever come into contact with people.
·The two largest species of sharks – whale shark and basking shark – eat the smallest prey such as plankton, tiny shrimps and small fish. Despite their size, these massive sharks are quite docile and pose little threat to humans.
·Sharks can attack from whatever direction they please. They have a unique jaw design that allows them to protrude their jaw beyond their snout, so they can even latch on to something directly in front of them.
·Sharks have more senses than we do. They can detect vibrations and electric fields besides being able to see, hear, smell, taste and feel. All these senses are fairly keen so it does not need to rely on any one sense to locate prey.
·Sharks have a complex and sophisticated visual system. In some ways, they have better eyesight than humans. Their lenses are as much as seven times more powerful than human beings and some species can detect light that is up to 10 times dimmer than the dimmest light the average person can see.
> Don’t miss Discovery Channel’s (Astro channel 551) Shark Week which features Day Of The Shark (Part One, today), Part Two (tomorrow), Great White Appetite (Oct 7), Deadly Waters (Oct 8), Shark After Dark (Oct 9), Sharkbite Summer (Oct 10) and Blood In The Water (Oct 11). All shows air at 9pm. Log on to discoverychannelasia.com/sharkweek for more information.
You also stand a chance to win a trip for two to Perth, Australia, and swim with whale sharks. Log on to astro.com.my/astrolife to enter the Shark Week contest.
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