Ah, Shark Week. The time when screens are ablaze with shark footage. It’s a time when the already bright fires of shark-mania are stoked even higher—a time when the bellows are pumping air into the blaze of hysteria. There’s a reason people are scared of sharks, even if it is misguided: (some) sharks are big, scary creatures that could potentially tear your limbs from your body. The reality, however, isn’t quite as bad as it seems. For the most part, sharks are docile, curious creatures, and when they do bite a human, it’s often a mistake. Those mistakes, though, can be pretty devastating.
That fear is likely what led the Discovery Channel to devote a whole week of programming to the shark, and depending on your thoughts about sharks, you’re either going to gasp in awe or shriek in terror at the footage they captured.
