The documentary team of Discovery Australia learned more than they bargained for during the filming of Shark Week program, Bride of Jaws. The feature focused on the search for a 16-foot, 3,000 pound Great White shark known as “Joan of Shark.” While they weren’t able to attract their target, they did lure two other Great Whites with an innovative new approach—blasting death metal music through underwater speakers. 

Typically, chum—a mix of fish blood and entrails—is used to attract the large fish. But as it turns out, the grinding, low-frequency tones popular in the death metal genre mimic the sounds of thrashing prey, such as seals or other fish. Sharks have remarkably sensitive ears, and their sense of hearing is the first tip-off that their next meal is nearby. Their inner ears are made up of three sensory areas, allowing them to detect prey from distances as far as 800 feet. These areas are lined with fine, tiny hairs that pick up vibrations in the water, which leads them to struggling animals. Since sound travels faster and farther underwater, it makes sense that they would eagerly respond to the tempting music. 

The implications of this discovery are enlightening on several fronts--no longer using bait could potentially be more environmentally friendly, and studies have shown that the natural behaviors of sharks could be impacted by associated humans with food. The risk of sharks being domesticated, or even comfortable, with humans is likely low, but reducing contact with people will only serve to protect the animals. Shark Week programming has been criticized in the past for not being exactly scientific, so any measures taken to preserve the natural environment of the animals is positive. Imagine if scientists, film makers and naturalists could use harmless means to attract their subjects--perhaps one day bands could create shark-specific albums, inspiring a whole new genre of music: shark core!

And although the band Discovery Australia was using, Darkest Hour, isn't exactly death metal, their sound has elements of the genre: double bass drums, tuned down guitars and growling vocals. So while the sharks, clearly, are not music fans, the visuals of them being lured by brutal harmonies is too wonderful and ridiculous to ignore. Even though sharks are not the savage beasts pop culture would have us believe, their reputation lends itself to humorous speculations. 

Researchers are speculating that there may be a great white shark nursery near New Jersey. What has led them to this hypothesis and how will they find out?

First, we should understand that nurseries are considered “essential habitats” for sharks of all kinds. An essential or critical habitat is an area that is critical for spawning, breeding, feeding, and growth of sharks. This is exactly what a nursery is: an area for sharks to reproduce and care for their offspring until they are able to take care of themselves.

Earlier in August, a juvenile white shark, about four feet long, was discovered by people leisurely fishing about nine miles northeast of Sandy Hook, New Jersey. They actually caught the fish, took pictures and video of it alongside the boat, and let it go. Fishing for great white sharks is illegal as they are an endangered species.

Based on historical data this is a known nursery for great white sharks. The area is identified as the New York Bight, a stretch of ocean from Cape May to Montauk Point. There is limited research, but there seem to be quite a few sightings of great white pups during warmer weather.

The shark caught by the family in August was likely a female that was only a few months old, says Michael L. Domeier, President of the Marine Conservation Science Institute in Hawaii. He makes this prediction based on the videos taken by the family.

This particular nursery was tentatively identified in the 1960s, when Jack Casey was working at the Sandy Hook Marine Labs. He noted several pups with umbilical scars—neonates. The number of sharks in the area dropped in the ‘70s and ‘80s and then began to increase in the 1990s as conservation efforts were initiated, as observed by area fishermen.

The nursery theory is based on anecdotal evidence. No formal studies or observations have been performed in the area. Researchers have noted an increase in shark sightings, but have not formally confirmed this.

Additional anecdotal evidence indicates increased sightings in the Cape Cod area during the summer, potentially related to the large seal population. Some scientists believe the Cape Cod shark population and the New Jersey nursery may be related. The Cape Cod sharks could be the source of the pups in the nursery. A study of the area is needed to link the two scientifically.

Meanwhile, the great white shark named Mary Lee, tagged by researchers in 2012, has returned to the New Jersey coastline. She was previously thought to be pregnant and possibly returning to the nursery, or she may simply be following food on her migration path. Mary Lee is 3,500 pounds of tagged shark. Her tag, which pings from her dorsal fin, has recently shown clusters around the Townsends Inlet.

For those concerned, the last fatal shark attack in New Jersey was over 100 years ago. To read the funny Twitter account started in Mary Lee’s name, follow @MaryLeeShark. Photos and silly comments abound. At last count, she had over 70,000 followers.

The Discovery Channel had some dicey programming last year during shark week. Some things were presented as fact when they were actually more sensational theories or maybe even guesses… or Sharknado. No, actually it was Megalodon. And no matter what Discovery tries to imply, they are extinct and have been for millions of years.

I was disheartened when it was exposed that so many of Discovery’s discoveries were sensationalized junk. So this year, when I heard it was Shark Week, I told my son and he said, “After last year? Who cares?” Yes, the Megalodon did us in. By hinting and “reporting” about this “monster shark” that was actually only as real as Sharknado, we lost our taste for a good bite of shark facts… because they might end up being fictional.

Discovery actually used actors instead of scientists. It used Photoshop. It used fake video. It even called the piece a documentary. This was intentional misinformation on a Mega-shark scale. Can we forgive them? Not at my house.

If we want shark fiction, we’ll watch JAWS. They did swear that they’d stop with the “mockumentaries” this year. But after two years of the Megalodon… Well, you know where we stand.

I can’t directly comment on Shark Week since I didn’t watch it. I can tell you that on the Discovery website they are featuring pictures of cute babies in shark jammies. Scary. They look dangerous. There’s an article about their feature, “Alien Sharks: Close Encounters” which is probably about sharks time traveling from the future to attack humans that are wearing gear that is made of a material from the future that they time traveled to get because they knew this was going to happen and Discovery paid for the time travel mileage. Alien Sharks? Really?

Hm. There’s a lovely link to something they aired called, “Island of the Mega Shark” which of course smacks of a Land Shark living on an island just waiting to eat shipwrecked people. And in the video a great white is attacking a “ghost cage” which is a really clear Rubbermaid container, I think. Did I mention that I turned off the sound? I don’t want to misinterpret anything they say.

I just had to scroll down, didn’t I? There it is. Megalodon. *sigh* They will NEVER learn. The Hammerhead cam appears to be the nose of the hammerhead shark going back and forth over the bottom of the ocean. Endlessly. I wonder if this was on the show. If so, it must have been quite boring. There aren’t even any other fish. Or rocks. Just sand and this shark’s nose. Now he has a tiny sea creature hitchhiking on his nose. Wow.

So, there you go. These are my personal notes about not watching Shark Week. It was much more fun describing it to you this way than sitting through misinformation and sharkcams in deserted waters. Thank you for indulging me. Next time, I’ll leave Shark Week behind like a Megalodon and talk about what’s new in the ocean.