TV Week COVER STORY Nat Geo Wild is airing their third annual SharkFest too

Discovery Channel's Shark Week circles again

Shark week on The Discovery Channel.
Shark week on The Discovery Channel.

It's summer. It's hot. The cool ocean waters beckon.

Well, maybe not. Not with the recent spate of shark attacks in North Carolina. Two teens had their left arms bitten off in only waist-deep water last month. They survived, but it might be further incentive for the rest of us to settle back and watch the sharks on TV instead.

Yes, shark lovers (or loathers), it's time once again for Discovery Channel's Shark Week. The annual event begins today (the earliest ever) and runs through July 12. Discovery promises the most hours of programming in the event's 28-year history.

How do you feel about sharks? I've only been wading in the ocean a handful of times and scuba diving in the Gulf of Thailand once. That last adventure was three years before Jaws shocked the world in 1975 and convinced me I had been incredibly stupid to venture to the murky depths (well, maybe 20 feet) armed only with a spear gun and 15 minutes of training.

For the record, the odds in the United States of being bitten by a shark are about 11.5 million to 1, according to the Florida Museum of Natural History's International Shark Attack File. But you can infinitely improve those odds by staying out of the ocean.

Reminder: Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No! descends on Syfy at 8 p.m. July 22.

Here's the Shark Week schedule so you can plan ahead.

Shark Trek, 7 p.m. today. Marine biologist Greg Skomal tags great whites off Cape Cod and attempts to determine why the Florida coast is the new great white shark hot spot in the Atlantic Ocean.

Island of the Mega Shark, 8 p.m. today. Shark experts travel to the volcanic island of Guadalupe off the west coast of Mexico's Baja California to search for one of the largest great white sharks ever recorded.

Monster Mako, 9 p.m. today. Scientists outfit a Mako shark with cameras in order to reveal the mysteries of their swift and unseen world. Mako sharks are the fastest of all species in the world. They live in warm waters, colder temperatures, in the depths of the ocean and close to shore in shallow waters.

Shark After Dark, 10 p.m. today through Thursday. For five nights, new host Eli Roth will have celebrity guests, shark fans and experts to look back at some of the Shark Week highlights and give viewers a sneak peek at the next day's programs.

Return of the Great White Serial Killer, 8 p.m. Monday. The special seeks to find answers for a series of great white shark attacks that have occurred every two years at Surf Beach, Calif. The last two attacks were fatalities.

Alien Sharks: Close Encounters, 9 p.m. Monday. This is the third installment of the fan favorite about the sharks that live in the deepest ocean waters. This year, a 20-foot megamouth shark is tagged off the eastern coast of Taiwan.

Bride of Jaws, 8 p.m. Tuesday. The search for "Joan of Shark," the largest female great white ever tagged.

Tiburones: Sharks of Cuba, 9 p.m. Tuesday. American and Cuban scientists search for a great white shark population in an unexplored area of the world untouched by man for decades.

Super Predator, 8 p.m. Wednesday explores a deep sea trench in New Zealand that is home to a predator large enough to take on a great white.

Ninja Sharks, 9 p.m. Wednesday. "Submarine" is a 30-foot great white that natives claim has terrorized the shores of South Africa for decades. Can its existence be proven?

Shark Planet, 8 p.m. Thursday. The special captures new footage of shark behavior, exploring how they hunt as well as their social lives, courtship and growing up. Thirteen shark species across the globe are filmed using the latest 4K and high-speed camera technology.

Sharks of the Shadowland, 8 p.m. Friday. For the first time, divers in New Zealand tag a sevengill shark to find out how they hunt, with the goal of better understanding their behaviors and preventing attacks.

Shark Clans, 9 p.m. Friday. Shark experts Jeff Kurr and Andy Casagrande head to New Zealand to investigate the sightings of a 20-foot great white. That leads them to the nocturnal feeding ground of a "mega-shark."

Sharksanity, 8 p.m. Saturday. Viewers rank their favorite viral shark clips.

Shark Island, 7 p.m. July 12. Shark Island explores the latest in a string of deadly bull shark attacks. By the way, it's believed the teens who lost arms in North Carolina were attacked by a single bull shark.

DUELING SHARKS

SharkFest. If you want to double down your shark experience, cable's Nat Geo Wild is airing its third annual SharkFest programming from 6 to 10 p.m. today through Thursday. It's pretty much the same sort of thing as Shark Week, however I do recommend the When Sharks Attack Marathon on Tuesday.

For a complete schedule, check the website at natgeowild.com/sharkfest.

Style on 07/05/2015

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