Shark Week 2012: 11 Reasons to Get Excited

This week marks the beginning of the longest running cable TV event, Shark Week, on The Discovery Channel. This popular documentary marathon is a cultural phenomenon that transfixes viewers year after year. The allure of sharks keeps us coming back for dangerous scenes, exciting attacks, and fascinating factoids.

1. This barking shark. A native species in New Zealand, draughtsboard sharks release bark like dogs when threatened by a predator. Draughtsboard sharks swim in rocky reefs in the day, and in sandy flats at night.

6. When Quint is devoured by the shark in Jaws (1975). From the movie that instilled the fear of sharks in millions of people, the classic is a must-watch during Shark Week. 

7. The special effects in Deep Blue Sea (1999). For a movie made in 1999, Deep Blue Sea used CGI and animatronics to make the shark attacks as realistic and frightening as possible.

9. This sleeping bag. We’ve never wanted a sleeping bag more. Chumbuddy by Kendra Phillips is a 7-foot plush toy that can also function as a sleeping bag. It’s as if it was intended to fall asleep in front of the television in.

10. Because nothing on television beat the premiere of Shark Week. The Spice Girls, Adele, and One Direction’s performances at the Olympic Closing Ceremony didn’t compare to the gore of the ocean’s deadliest beasts on Sunday, and Batman agrees.

11. And because Chuck Norris said so.