Shark Weak
This week lets talk about the end of summer and the weak shark week.
Welcome to Bogworld.
Its August already. I cannot believe there is only one more month left of summer. Soon I am going to be navigating snow covered roads again here in Minnesota. There ought to be a law against winter. The good news is before winter comes fall and I do love autumn. Here in Minnesota the air gets crisp and clean. And when the leaves turn colors it rivals anything you have ever seen on a New England postcard.
But I am getting ahead of myself. There is still a month of hot muggy days and the Minnesota State Fair is still coming. There are still a months worth of concerts outside at the Minnesota Zoo. There is still plenty to enjoy in the summer of 2010.
I admit it. I am a Discovery Channel, History Channel, Learning Channel addict. I love the fascinating shows on these cable networks. I cannot get enough of Deadliest Catch or Ice Road Truckers. In fact IRT is on the television as I write this tonight.
All that being said, I found this year’s Shark Week to be a little... well... weak.
It felt like the majority of the shows this time around were dedicated to sharks jumping. Last year, the big hit was Air Jaws. Air Jaws explored a phenomenon found only off the coast of South Africa where water and light conditions combine to make White Sharks launch themselves completely out of the water when they attack seals. No doubt about it. Cool video.
This show revealed that the sharks behaved this way because there was an island nearby with a big seal population. Just off the shore of that island the water becomes very deep. Sharks have learned that they can patrol undetected deep underneath the waves watching for seals swimming at the surface high above. When they choose a victim, they rocket up from the depth below, bite their prey, and the momentum carries them up and out of the water in this spectacular manner. This combination of plentiful prey, deep water, lighting and visibility conditions in the water are unique to this spot.
This Shark Week we were introduced to Air Jaws 2 and Air Jaws 3.
Air Jaws 2 was more of the same of the original except this time around they got the camera much closer to the sharks and used better high speed high def cameras that captured every terrifying moment. Ok, Air Jaws 2 was ok.
Then comes Air Jaws 3. The premise for Air Jaws 3 was to answer the question, “Do White Sharks anywhere else in the world launch themselves out of the water like the sharks near Africa?”
Um. Air Jaws 1 and 2 both repeatedly state that this behavior only happens off the coast of South Africa. Its almost like the film makers just wanted someone to fund a trip around the world and they found some investors who did not see Air Jaws 1 or 2.
And as expected, in Air Jaws 3, they spent much of the show showing the amazing footage from the first two shows, then new footage of sharks NOT jumping out of the water in places like the coasts of northern California, Mexico and Australia. Thats right. Its a shark documentary about what sharks do not do in other parts of the world.
Lets be honest. You or me could shoot a documentary about something sharks do not do. It would be a lot like shooting a documentary on what dogs or cats do not do. It is very easy to capture subjects not doing something.
They had lots of video of sharks not jumping. Sharks not jumping near California. Sharks not jumping near Mexico. Sharks not jumping off the coast of Australia. Sharks all over the world, not jumping out of the water.
Maybe next year, there will be a documentary about how sharks are not vegetarians. An hour of watching sharks ignoring veggies lowered into the water.
Its August already. I cannot believe there is only one more month left of summer. Soon I am going to be navigating snow covered roads again here in Minnesota. There ought to be a law against winter. The good news is before winter comes fall and I do love autumn. Here in Minnesota the air gets crisp and clean. And when the leaves turn colors it rivals anything you have ever seen on a New England postcard.
But I am getting ahead of myself. There is still a month of hot muggy days and the Minnesota State Fair is still coming. There are still a months worth of concerts outside at the Minnesota Zoo. There is still plenty to enjoy in the summer of 2010.
I admit it. I am a Discovery Channel, History Channel, Learning Channel addict. I love the fascinating shows on these cable networks. I cannot get enough of Deadliest Catch or Ice Road Truckers. In fact IRT is on the television as I write this tonight.
All that being said, I found this year’s Shark Week to be a little... well... weak.
It felt like the majority of the shows this time around were dedicated to sharks jumping. Last year, the big hit was Air Jaws. Air Jaws explored a phenomenon found only off the coast of South Africa where water and light conditions combine to make White Sharks launch themselves completely out of the water when they attack seals. No doubt about it. Cool video.
This show revealed that the sharks behaved this way because there was an island nearby with a big seal population. Just off the shore of that island the water becomes very deep. Sharks have learned that they can patrol undetected deep underneath the waves watching for seals swimming at the surface high above. When they choose a victim, they rocket up from the depth below, bite their prey, and the momentum carries them up and out of the water in this spectacular manner. This combination of plentiful prey, deep water, lighting and visibility conditions in the water are unique to this spot.
This Shark Week we were introduced to Air Jaws 2 and Air Jaws 3.
Air Jaws 2 was more of the same of the original except this time around they got the camera much closer to the sharks and used better high speed high def cameras that captured every terrifying moment. Ok, Air Jaws 2 was ok.
Then comes Air Jaws 3. The premise for Air Jaws 3 was to answer the question, “Do White Sharks anywhere else in the world launch themselves out of the water like the sharks near Africa?”
Um. Air Jaws 1 and 2 both repeatedly state that this behavior only happens off the coast of South Africa. Its almost like the film makers just wanted someone to fund a trip around the world and they found some investors who did not see Air Jaws 1 or 2.
And as expected, in Air Jaws 3, they spent much of the show showing the amazing footage from the first two shows, then new footage of sharks NOT jumping out of the water in places like the coasts of northern California, Mexico and Australia. Thats right. Its a shark documentary about what sharks do not do in other parts of the world.
Lets be honest. You or me could shoot a documentary about something sharks do not do. It would be a lot like shooting a documentary on what dogs or cats do not do. It is very easy to capture subjects not doing something.
They had lots of video of sharks not jumping. Sharks not jumping near California. Sharks not jumping near Mexico. Sharks not jumping off the coast of Australia. Sharks all over the world, not jumping out of the water.
Maybe next year, there will be a documentary about how sharks are not vegetarians. An hour of watching sharks ignoring veggies lowered into the water.