Discovery Channel's Shark Week 2014 has already begun. And it's a shark-fest throughout the week. However, not everyone is happy with what Discovery is presenting. Some say that the premiere episode was a hoax.
Last year, many marine biologists were angered when Shark Week 2013 showed a documentary about "Megalodon: The Monster Shark Lives." Megalodon is a shark that marine biologists and scientists do not believe existed. Although some believe it is an extinct creature, the authenticity of this shark is still questionable.
This year, Discovery Channel has done it again with it's 2-hour premiere episode, which Ecumenical News called "mockumentary." The episode was "Shark of Darkness: Wrath of Submarine." According to the show, Submarine is a 30-foot shark that terrifies the towns and tourists off the coast of South Africa.
The premiere documentary explicitly described Submarine as "a legendary shark first sighted off the coast of South Africa in 1970. Eyewitness accounts say it is over 35 feet long. Its existence is highly controversial. Events have been dramatized, but many believe Submarine exists to this day." Apparently, Discovery has a fondness of these mega-sized sharks just like Megalodon.
According to Gawker, they find this documentary insulting since the documentary shared a story about a boat that capsized due to an attack. Gawker also didn't like the fact that a marine research expert by the name of Mel Thurmond described the beast as having "an insatiable appetite for human blood." Thurmond is said to come from the "South African Institute for Marine Research."
What's insulting about this is that the show is actually painting a picture of a really bad and evil shark just to create a falsified story. And worse, the story of the boat capsizing in Hout Bay wasn't a shark's doing, it was due to heavy swells.
