Culture & Education | Monday 22 August, 2016 8:27 am |

The most fin-tastic time of the year is back and making a huge splash! Shark Week, television’s longest-running and most anticipated summer programming event bursts onto Middle Eastern screens this month on Discovery Channel, available only on OSN, the region’s largest pay-TV network, from Sunday 28 August at 21:50 KSA time, with all-new jaw-dropping and compelling shark stories guaranteed to keep viewers at the edge of their seats. 

 

This year the shark fun will go beyond the small-screen, with Shark Week content premiering live on Discovery Channel and also on OSN Play, the award-winning online viewing service offered at no cost to OSN subscribers. Take a dive into this year’s Shark Week programme line-up:

 

Shallow Water Invasion - Sunday 28th August at 21:50 KSA

Using a self-propelled shark cage called “The Explorer,” marine biologists Mauricio Hoyos and Grant Johnson will investigate a recent discovery at Guadalupe Island – great whites moving into shallow waters at night.  This movement shows that sharks entering shallow water are normal behaviour – which would account for some of the shark encounters happening with greater frequency in the shallows along coastlines.

 

Isle of Jaws – Sunday 28th August at 22:40 KSA

In 2016, award-winning shark cinematographer Andy Casagrande discovered that great white sharks had strangely and completely disappeared from the Neptune Islands off South Australia. Where did the sharks go? Searching west along the known great white migration route, he stumbles upon an incredible discovery – a concentration of all male great white sharks off an uncharted island. Andy calls in marine biologist Dr. Jonathan Werry, and together they get up close and personal with a dozen large great whites in the hopes of solving two of the most closely guarded of all the great white’s secrets… where they mate and where they have their young. Within this programme, viewers will be able to immerse themselves into the adventure with virtual reality by using the DiscoveryVR app.

 

Sharks Among Us – Monday 29th August at 21:50 KSA

Shark encounters are increasing around the globe. The solutions to deal with the public’s growing anxiety range from culling to using nets and drumlins – all of which kill sharks. Dr. Craig O’Connell believes he has developed a system that will prove once and for all that sharks and people can peacefully coexist – and live!

 

Sharks vs. Dolphins: Face Off – Monday 29th August at 22:40 KSA

Sharks and dolphins have shared the ocean for ages, but only recently, scientists have begun to understand the true nature of the relationship between these two masters of the sea. It’s hostile, and dangerous, mainly for dolphins.  Dolphins would rather eat fish and swim with humans; sharks would rather eat dolphins and anything they can sink their teeth into.  Dr. Mike Heithaus and his team bring new research that may solve why sharks attack dolphins far more than we ever knew.

 

 

Air Jaws: Night Stalker – Tuesday 30th August at 21:50 KSA

Famed shark photographer Chris Fallows embarks on his 8th Air Jaws adventure with shark expert Jeff Kurr and shark biologist Neil Hammerschlag as they discover how great white sharks hunt in total darkness. Narrated by Lena Headey (‘Game of Thrones’), it turns out that great whites can hunt effectively with or without any sun or moonlight – but how do they do that?

 

The Killing Games – Tuesday 30th August at 22:40 KSA

Dr. Jonathan Werry and shark cinematographer Andy Casagrande travel to a special location in South Australia to research a new great white hunting strategy, where they no longer wait for seals to enter the ocean – they come out of the water and snatch them from the shore! But is this unique to Australia?  It isn’t; sharks are smarter than we thought and can learn new things when there’s food involved.

 

Wrath of a Great White Serial Killer – Wednesday 31st August at 21:50 KSA

A newcomer has taken residence in the waters of the Pacific Northwest… the great white shark. Shark expert Ralph Collier and Brandon McMillian seek answers to the main questions in this case – why are great white sharks traveling so far north and why are these encounters focused on this one particular place?

 

The Return of Monster Mako – Wednesday 31st August at 22:40 KSA

Professional shark tagger Keith Poe, and marine biologists Greg Stuntz, Matt Ajemain and their team use state-of-the-art technology to try to document a live-predation of a thousand-pound mako shark — what fishermen call a ‘grander.’ Granders are enormous makos that make a kind of transformation when they reach 10 feet and 1000 pounds – they become more secretive and begin to hunt bigger prey, like seals. And they’re hard to find on the East Coast – until Joe Romeiro and team jump in the water after dark and come face to face with them.

 

Jaws of the Deep – Thursday 1st September at 21:50 KSA

Marine biologist Greg Skomal and the REMUS SharkCam team return to Guadalupe to find the world’s largest great white shark, Deep Blue. This time, they deploy two robot subs: one that dives to 300 feet, and another that goes to 2000. Together, they build a profile of how the great white uses the entire water column. The team uncovers hunting techniques and strategies great whites use to ambush their prey – and film a great white’s attack on the sub!

 

Tiger Shark Beach – Thursday 1st September at 22:40 KSA

Dr. Neil Hammerschlag is the world’s leading tiger shark expert. Now, he’s on a quest to answer what he calls the trifecta of tiger shark science: where do these giant sharks mate, where do the pregnant females gestate, and where do they give birth? He hopes to find answers by tagging and tracking 40 individuals across a shallow area off the Bahamas called Tiger Beach. Second only to great whites, the tiger shark’s killing power and voracious appetite is legendary – and Neil has to deal with some aggressive sharks while on expedition.  

 

Exclusive OSN Play Shark Week titles include Deadliest Sharks, which looks into the famed White Tip Sharks to see if they really are the world’s most deadly shark; Jungle Shark follows marine biologists as they examine how the Bull Sharks of the Serena River in Costa Rica avoid the 12-14 American crocodiles that also live in the river; while Sharksanity rounds up the greatest moment from Shark Week 2016, with only the closest calls, biggest bites and greatest gadgets making the cut!

 

More than just a programming stunt, shark-fans across the Middle East can also get up close and personal with these mysterious creatures at the official Discovery Channel Shark Week Exhibit now open at the Dubai Aquarium & Underwater Zoo, in association with OSN. Featuring a seamless hybrid of digital technology and living marine life, visitors can learn more about shark biology and behavior while wondering at the array of exotic shark species on show, including Hammerhead Sharks, Bonnethead Sharks and Devil Rays. 

 

SHARK Week will air weeknights from Sunday 28 August - Thursday 1 September at 21:50 and 22:40 KSA time on Discovery Channel, OSN channel 500, with an extra six hours of exclusive SHARK WEEK content available on OSN Play.