As Shark Week viewers remain immersed in the fascinating universe of apex predators that rule the oceans, delivered each year in July by Discovery, experts are paying close attention to detail, and not all of them like what they’re seeing.
So far the most glaring example of sensationalism appears to have occurred during Sunday’s launch, with the episode, “Island of the Mega Shark.” It featured Andy Casagrande, Jeff Kurr and Dickie Chivell, who traveled to Mexico’s Guadalupe Island in an attempt to document the largest great whites at the remote island.
The shark they zoomed in on, while videotaping from their nearly invisible “ghost cage,” was described with great exuberance as possibly the largest shark ever videotaped, in excess of 20 feet and weighing perhaps 5,000 pounds. (See the video for the colorful narration, and some very cool footage.)
But on Monday the “Mega Shark” was identified by Nicole Nasby-Lucas and Michael Domeier of the Marine Conservation Science Institute as a well-known Guadalupe visitor named Tailscratch.
The researchers have have been studying and tagging white sharks at Guadalupe Island for more than 10 years, and took exception to claims that it was the largest shark ever filmed; that Tailscratch was obviously pregnant and “bursting,” and to methods used by the film crew to obtain a measurement of the massive shark.
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