Shark Week Is Coming: 5 Things You Never Wondered About Shark Sex
Shark Week begins July 23 on Discovery, but it’s never too early to continue our education — especially when it’s sex ed.
Discovery Digital has launched “Shark Week Listicles,” a series of videos showcasing the best of sharks and the annual programming event in their honor. Yahoo TV has an exclusive sneak peek at the video that will debut July 10: “5 Things You Never Wondered About Shark Sex.” For instance, male sharks have two penis-like organs called “claspers,” and some female sharks have been able to reproduce without having sex with either of them.
The “Listicles” will be shared via Facebook, SharkWeek.com, Sharkopedia, and YouTube.
Below is the full schedule for Shark Week 2017, which includes two specials featuring Michael Phelps. The most decorated Olympian of all time will preview his “race” against a great white in an interview that will be posted June 11 on Yahoo TV.
Great White Shark Serial Killer Lives (Sunday, July 23 at 7 p.m. ET/PT)
Every two years in October — in 2008, 2010, 2012 and 2014 — a secluded beach on the central California coast has been the scene of great white shark attacks. Is it the same shark returning again and again? And will the attacks continue in October 2016? Dr. Michael Domeier believes the Surf Beach attacks may be more than a tragic coincidence. With the help of shark experts Ralph Collier and Cal Lutheran, and using satellite tags and DNA technology, he wants to out the killer once and for all.
Phelps Vs. Shark: Great Gold Vs. Great White (Sunday, July 23 at 8 p.m. ET/PT)
They are one of the fastest and most efficient predators on the planet: Sharks. He is our greatest champion to ever get in the water: Michael Phelps. 39 world records. 23 Olympic golds. But he has one competition left to win. An event so monumental no one has ever attempted it before. The world’s most decorated athlete takes on the ocean’s most efficient predator: Phelps Vs. Shark — the race is on!
Shark-Croc Showdown (Sunday, July 23 at 9:10 p.m. ET/PT)
Dr. Mark Meekan and conservationist Paul de Gelder go on an expedition to one the sharkiest places in the world — a remote wilderness called the Cobourg Peninsula in the Northern Territory of Australia. Meekan is there to count sharks and species as part of Vulcan’s Global FinPrint project — Paul de Gelder’s going because he heard that sharks and crocs fight over sea turtles out there. What happens when 14-foot crocodiles move into shark infested waters? That’s what they’re going to find out! Produced by Big Wave.
Devil Sharks (July 23 at 10:10 p.m. ET/PT)
From active to extinct, and at every stage in between, volcanoes hold a strong attraction for sharks of all kinds. Across the world, sharks congregate and concentrate around volcanoes and volcanic islands. What is it about volcanoes that make them shark hot spots? Dr. Mike Heithaus dives in several volcanoes to find out.
Shark Vortex (July 24 at 8 p.m. ET/PT)
Each summer the Gulf Stream pushes north into the waters of southern New England, bringing with it 30 species of shark. Greg Skomal and Joe Romeiro study the annual spectacle, focusing on three sharks — makos, great whites, and porbeagles — that can outswim, outthink, and outcompete all the others.
Return to the Isle of Jaws (July 24 at 9 p.m. ET/PT)
Divers and scientists “return to the isle of jaws” to unlock the mysteries of this new great white hot spot, just south of Western Australia. They make a startling discovery that causes us to rethink everything we thought we knew about great whites.
Alien Sharks: Stranger Fins (July 24 at 10 p.m. ET/PT)
Alien Sharks is back in search of some of the world’s strangest sharks. Dr. Craig O’Connell goes to the Bass Strait for sawsharks, while Victoria Elena Vasquez and Dr. David Ebert go into deep water in Tokyo Bay to find the star of the show, the goblin shark. They find both sawsharks and goblins — and many more, including ghost sharks, frilled sharks, and the amazing luminescent lantern shark.
Sharks and the City: LA (July 25 at 9 p.m. ET/PT)
Along the coastline of L.A., great white sharks are increasing and they seem to be hunting out of season. Dr. Chris Lowe, director of the CSULB Shark Lab, wants to know why. His investigation takes him to Guadalupe Island, off the coast of Mexico, where he finds the answer.
Sharks and the City: New York (July 25 at 10 p.m. ET/PT)
For decades, great white shark numbers were in decline in the waters around New York. But now, seals are back in New York Harbor — can the great whites be far behind? Marine biologist Craig O’Connell tries to find out how close they really are and shows what a future with great whites in New York will look like. Narrated by Chris Noth.
The Lost Cage (July 26 at 9 p.m. ET/PT)
A team of explorers float in a one-of-a-kind shark cage, 500 miles into the Gulf of Mexico. Acting as human lures in the open ocean, will they encounter its deadliest shark?
Great Hammerhead Invasion (July 26 at 10 p.m. ET/PT)
Early every November, giant hammerheads arrive off Bimini, in the Bahamas. But why? Leading shark scientist Tristan Guttridge tags and follows these normally solitary sharks to find out. Many appear to be pregnant females, as an ultrasound of a female hammerhead shows. Guttridge believes they spend winter in Bimini to feed the growing young in their bellies, and then move on to the Florida coast to prey on migrating blacktips — and the evidence is unmistakable.
Shark Exile (July 27 at 9 p.m. ET/PT)
In Brazil, Dr. Hazin has successfully reduced the number of shark encounters by simply catching and moving sharks out to the open sea. What’s his secret? And can this solution work in Australia, where encounters are a problem?
Shark Swarm (July 27 at 10 p.m. ET/PT)
At various times of the year and in different locations around the world, sharks of many kinds gather, swarm, and spiral. Dr. Tristan Guttridge conducts a study of just what brings them together, and what’s going on in these shark “societies.”
African Shark Safari (July 28 at 9 p.m. ET/PT)
Madagascar is not known as a location for great white sharks. According to the shark sanctuary here, both great whites and tigers are “extinct” in Madagascan waters. So why has a great white shark, tagged in South Africa, traveled 1500 miles up the African coast to Madagascar? Craig O’Connell and the team make the long journey to the remote island nation to investigate whether Madagascar will be the next big great white shark hot spot.
Lair of the Sawfish (July 28 at 10 p.m. ET/PT)
Experts unravel the mystery behind one of the sea’s strangest creatures, the sawfish, from its evolutionary links to sharks and rays, to its key role in the marine ecosystem. Their goal is to bring the sawfish back from the brink of extinction.
Sharkmania (July 29 at 9 p.m. ET/PT)
A rundown of the greatest moments from Shark Week 2017, featuring the closest calls, biggest bites, greatest gadgets, and viewers’ top picks for the best of Shark Week history.
Shark School With Michael Phelps (July 30 at 8 p.m. ET/PT)
Michael Phelps joins Doc Gruber and Tristan Guttridge of the Bimini Shark Lab to get a crash course on everything “shark.” They’ll dispel the myths and common misconceptions, teach him how to safely dive with sharks — including how to stay calm when a hammerhead swims two feet above his face — and get Michael Phelps up close and personal with the incredible power of a great white.
Shark After Dark, the late-night talk show hosted by Eli Roth, returns this year to close out each of the first five nights of Shark Week.