Just when you thought it was safe...Shark Week returns

June 21, 10:52 PMLong Island Television ExaminerMarc Ciborowski

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    Photo:Discovery Channel

Shark Week returns to the Discovery Channel on Sunday, August 9, 2009 at 9PM ET/PT. The annual seven day programming event kicks off with “Blood in the Water”. “Blood in the Water” is a two hour tale, focusing on how in the year 1916 in a period of less than two weeks, five people suffered attacks by sharks on the shores of New Jersey.

If you are a long standing fan of Shark Week and expect that you may have already seen all that it has to offer, fear not. For 2009, Shark Week will integrate six new premieres into its outstanding selection of previously aired features focusing on sharks. If you have never tuned into this series of shows before, then you will receive the privilege of experiencing some of the most amazing marine footage ever recorded, from a fresh perspective. In 2008, 29.1 million people watched Shark Week, an increase of approximately 6.5 percent from the previous year.

The programming schedule will include nightly broadcasts of information intended to educate viewers on shark conservation. These segments will be produced in a joint effort between the Discovery Channel and the marine conservation organization, Ocean Conservancy. In 2003, National Geographic reported that a group of scientists conducting a study that centered on the review of 15 years of fishing logbooks, came to the conclusion that all but two of the 17 shark species included in the study had seen their numbers slashed nearly in half in less than two decades. In 2007, a Foxnews.com report stated that "Large sharks have been functionally eliminated from the East Coast of the U.S., meaning that they can no longer perform their ecosystem role as top predators”

The Discovery Channel will also provide a complex interactive website at discovery.com/sharkweek, where enthusiasts can enjoy such features as live blogging, a video mixer, Facebook content, quizzes and a shark based, interactive alternate reality game.

If you wish to see a shark up close, here is a venue in Montauk that allows adventurous Long Islanders to observe these majestic creatures in their natural environment:

http://www.ecophotoexplorers.com/MontaukCageDiving.asp