In light of Discovery Channel’s recent fear-based ad campaign, I thought I’d revisit Save Our Seas Foundation‘s “Rethink The Shark” ad campaign from 2007. The award-winning ads (based on a well-known scene from Jaws, no less) are proof-positive that an audience-gripping ad campaign can be created, while still maintaining a conservationist-minded theme. The ads were created by advertising agency, Saatchi & Saatchi Capetown. Three ads were created, all of them with the same lead-in as the ad posted above. The other two ads ended with a kite and a toaster.

I love how the ads take the fear and familiarity of Jaws and turn it around to increase awareness about just how rare fatal shark attacks are.

My Fox Tampa Bay recently released two video segments about shark attacks, which seem to be in response to Wednesday’s attack at St. Pete Beach involving 19-year old, Jenna James. Kudos to the producers and reporters involved with these segments for taking the high road and reporting the facts of shark attack odds and stressing awareness as opposed to fear when it comes to sharks and swimming in the ocean.
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Video footage featuring a shark, which some believe to be a white shark, swimming around in the ocean near Malibu, California is making the rounds on the local news outlets in the Los Angeles area. The quality of the raw shark footage video isn’t the greatest (there is a link for it at MyFoxLA.com). It certainly appears that it could be a white shark, but I’m not sure how one could be absolutely positive of the species based on the video footage. Given the size and silhouette seen in the video, if I had to venture a guess, I’d go with white shark. However, KTLA.com quotes Julie Scardina from Sea World as saying that the shark could be a mako. If it is a great white, it isn’t exactly groundbreaking news that a white shark would be observed in the area. Despite Scardina’s statement that “typically, white sharks are found further north,” white sharks are certainly no strangers to Southern California.
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At this point, I know I’m beating a dead horse, but I really feel like Discovery Channel’s YouTube campaign is just going overboard, particularly the Shark Week 2009 promotional video below, titled “Swimming girl is in for a surprise,” in which a girl is swimming along and is then snatched by an unseen force (presumably a shark). It’s followed by some bloody “Shark Week” text and then a Discovery Channel logo with the Earth apparently bleeding in the water.

If that’s not enough, Discovery’s YouTube channel page features a watery background with blood and articles of clothing floating about. The first seven videos in their “Shark Week Archives” playlist focus on shark attack on humans.
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This really should come as no surprise to anybody who has been following the marketing campaign for Discovery Channel’s Shark Week. Last week I touched on the fear-based campaign, and I saw further evidence of it yesterday while doing a Google News search for the search string “Great White Shark.” I noticed in the Google Ads that Discovery Channel’s “bring fear back to Shark Week” attitude was in full-force. To their credit, out of the five ads that I came across, one of them was “fear-free” and simply, descriptively, and effectively advertised Shark Week. The remaining four rely more on conjuring up fear towards the animals they are featuring in their upcoming programming…

While doing a search on “sharks” today, I ran into another “Graphic Content” ad for FrenziedWaters.com, Discovery’s horror-themed promotional website for Shark Week.

Discovery Channel, your marketing campaign continues to disappoint me and is a disservice to shark conservation efforts.

The Star News Online is reporting that Julia Anne Mittleberg, a 26-year old woman, was bitten on the foot by a shark on Wednesday (July 22, 2009). Mittleberg was in 3-4′ of water at Holden Beach, NC when the attack occurred. According to the report, the hospital has confirmed she is in “good condition”.

In other shark attack news, ABC Action News, is reporting that Jenna James, a 19-year-old female, was also bit by a shark on Wednesday (July 22, 2009) while swimming at St. Pete Beach, FL. James was bitten above the knee and did not see the shark, but the wound is said to be consistent with a shark bite. Her injuries are said to not be life-threatening but she underwent surgery, according to the report.
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CBS is reporting that police were called to a street in downtown Miami on July 21, 2009 due to the body pf a 6′ (1.8m) nurse shark being deposited on the road. Reports indicate that two men had tried to sell the shark to multiple fish markets, asking $10 for the animal. The men were seen carrying the shark around and even rode the city’s Metromover train carrying the body of the deceased shark. According to CBS, “authorities say the incident could lead to misdemeanor charges of improper killing and disposal of an animal, and selling a shark without a license.” The Miami Herald is reporting that the body of the shark was returned to the ocean, according to wildlife officials.

Personally, I hope the perpetrators are prosecuted for this act of needless stupidity.

The North Carolina Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores will be featuring Shark Week from July 26 through August 1. According to their website, Shark Week will “offer a close-up look at these mysterious and often misunderstood predators,” and will offer family-oriented activities including:

• touching a bamboo shark
• competing for prizes in Shark Jeopardy
• classroom activities for children involving shark-related crafts and games
• a chance to have your picture taken in the replicated jaws of a huge, prehistoric megalodon
• viewing shark-feeding programs
• talking to Aquarium divers as they swim with sharks in the Live Dive programs

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CNN’s NASA’s forays yield earthly spin-offs briefly mentions the use of an algorithm originally developed to track star patters, which is now being used to track “endangered animals” including whale sharks.

The article doesn’t go into to much depth about the technology, but it mentions that everyday citizens can contribute to the tracking of these animals by uploading photos of them using services such as Flickr and Facebook.

While not shark-related, I also found it interesting to note that the article lists a few products that have been erroneously credited to being developed by or during NASA space missions. The most notable of these products include Tang and Velcro.

The San Diego Union Tribune article, Fisherman releases great white, reports that Jeff Patterson, a client of Conway Bowman of Bluewater Bowman, hooked a small great white shark off La Jolla (San Diego, CA) on July 17, 2009. Bowman estimated the shark to be around 6′ (1.8 meters) in length and 150 lbs (68kg) in weight. The white shark was hooked on a a fly-rod and was brought it within 25 minutes of being hooked. After removing the fly from the white shark’s mouth, both Patterson and Conway patted the shark on the head, and then the shark was released back into its natural environment. Bowman was quoted as saying, “To see a great white shark that close is the pinnacle of my guiding career.” Patterson also caught and released 3 mako sharks and 8 blue sharks over the course of his two-day fishing trip with Bowman.

It’s refreshing to see a news article about a white shark without any references to Jaws, monsters, killers, etc. It’s also refreshing to read about responsible fishermen respecting the sharks that they’ve caught and safely releasing them back to their environment. In fact, upon visiting Bowman Bluewater’s website, I was pleasantly surprised to see that they are sponsoring a catch and release mako tournament in which the proceeds of the tournament will go to the Pfleger Institute of Environmental Research, St Jude Children’s Research Hospital, and Casting for Recovery. The proceeds donated to the Pfleger Institute of Environmental Research will be used for research on Southern California mako sharks.