Shark Week first premiered on the Discovery Channel on July 17, 1988. Viewers can binge on shark magnificence for a solid week. There are 500 known types of sharks, who inhabited our world 200 million years before the dinosaurs. Sharks are vital to a healthy oceanic ecosystem, but have become endangered due to hunting, fishing, and an alarming amount of rising ocean acidity.
Shark Week 2015 will air July 5-12 and cover a wide variety of shark-related topics. Shark attacks, conservation, and shark behavior is covered 24/7 for a solid week, but shark enthusiasts can cope with binge watching withdrawal through ABC Library's supply of books and DVDs.
The iconic novel Jaws by Peter Benchley, was inspired by a historic shark attack as detailed in the book Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror In An Age of Innocence by Michael Capuzzo. Capuzzo's book explores in depth the first documented cases in American history of shark attacks. Five swimmers was attacked by a great white shark along the Atlantic coast of New Jersey.
Jaws the movie, is an enduring classic that captures the mixture of terror and wonder sharks can evoke. Check out Sharknado, which features a monstrosity of a hurricane that overwhelms Los Angeles and unleashes thousands of insatiable sharks, intent on terrorizing the population in and out of the water.
Keep you shark enthusiasm going all year long with the following books and DVDs:
The Secret Life of Sharks : A Leading Marine Biologist Reveals the Mysteries of Shark Behavior by A. Peter Klimley
Sharks In Question : the Smithsonian Answer Book by Victor G. Springer, Joy P. Gold
The Devil's Teeth : A True Story of Obsession and Survival Among America's Great White Sharks by Susan Casey
Shark : Stories of Life and Death From the World's Most Dangerous Waters edited by Nathaniel May
Close To Shore : A True Story Of Terror In An Age Of Innocence by
Michael Capuzzo
The Shark Chronicles : A Scientist Tracks the Consummate Predator by John A. Musick and Beverly McMillan
