“I'm so excited about this tenth year of SharkFest,” National Geographic channel’s Senior Vice President of Development and Production Janet Han Vissering said during a TCA press conference about the summertime programming event. This year, SharkFest is bigger than ever with a multi-platform lineup that includes 21 hours of original programming and over 60 hours of enhanced content. “We have worked really hard within Nat Geo and also Disney to bring in diverse voices and scientists.” Using something awesome that kids love, sharks, viewers will see representation this year across diverse genders and skin colors from the scientists behind these new specials. “When kids and the future do see us, they'll see that there is a path. There is a seat at the table, and that's probably one of my proudest moments in celebrating this year's 10th anniversary of SharkFest is that there are different voices. There are more voices, and I'm really committed, and our company is committed to continuing that effort for ten more years.”
Gibbs Kuguru (National Geographic/Fiona Ayerst), Sara Casareto (National Geographic/Joseph Lupo), Dr. Mike Heithaus (National Geographic/Mike Heithaus), Candace Fields (National Geographic/Michael Potter)
The excitement begins tonight at 10/9c on National Geographic with the premiere of Camo Sharks, featuring Ph.D. candidate Gibbs Kuguru. “I heard this alarming statistic a couple of years ago, I guess 30 years of shark programming, there were more men named Mike than actual qualified females in some of these shark documentaries,” Gibbs shared about the importance of diversity in these types of programs. “Some of the biggest movers and shakers that are pushing the boundaries of shark research don't have a voice. And when you sort of pigeonhole all these shark docs to be these pseudo action films, you kind of miss the point as to why we're all doing this.” In Camo Sharks, Gibbs uncovers some surprising facts about shark skin. “These great white sharks share melanin pigment with us. So it has melanin pigment just like me and you. It sort of brings to mind the debate around race and everything that we fight about as a human species. And it makes you think if this animal that spans the ocean for 400 million years has the same skin quality as us, what are we really fighting about here? I really love the way sharks have brought me that perspective.”
“One of the most important things about these types of shows is for people who never grew up around the ocean and didn’t have the opportunity to be near the water or even potentially even go to an aquarium and see these large animals,” explained Sara Casareto, a Florida International University student working on her doctorate in shark biology and behavior who appears in the special Jaws vs. Boats, premiering July 17th at 8/7c. “Shows like these allow people to see and learn about these sort of things, and when you see sharks, and when you see the ocean and you learn about it, that’s when you can learn to love it and respect it and want to protect it, and that is one of the best parts about shows like SharkFest. Because SharkFest is bringing on scientists, it’s bringing on women, it’s bringing on people of color, so people all around are going to be able to see someone who looks like them talking about something that maybe they’ve never seen or they get to see, and they can learn to love it and be like, ‘Oh, I can do that,’ or, ‘This person is doing something that I think is super cool. How can I learn more about it, and also play a role in it?’ And with Jaws vs. Boats we’re working on figuring out why are we seeing more videos of sharks interacting and being around boats, and we’re going to dive into the science behind it.”
Joining Sara in Jaws vs. Boats is a familiar face to longtime SharkFest viewers and also one of her FIU teachers, Dr. Mike Heithaus. “I came from the cornfields of Ohio, but I was still fascinated by sharks and I'm the kid that never grew up,” he recollected about how media about sharks inspired his career. “When I go talk to kids in schools, they remember everything from these shows. So if you don't have the science right, which SharkFest does, and if you don’t have the representation right, you are not doing what you should be doing. So I think that, for me, it's just such an honor to be involved in something that is doing something that is super-entertaining but super-good for our oceans and frankly for harnessing the next generation of talent and scientists, and Gibbs, Candace, and Sara are just great role models going forward.”
Candace Fields is a member of Minorities in Shark Science (MISS) who studies the population dynamics and geographic population structure of large predators. “I was always drawn to sharks which is kind of not the typical thing for Bahamians,” Candace shared, whose special World’s Biggest Hammerhead? premieres July 18th at 10/9c. Watching programs on sharks on TV as a kid, Candace was innately aware that something was missing. “Not only the passion for sharks inspired me to get involved and to start doing work related to the conservation but also to kind of be a voice, be a female in that world. Be a black female in that world. Almost every show has a component of the Bahamas. And, equally, almost every show has no Bahamians. And so I want to be that person to be the representative because at the end of the day, it matters. Representation matters, and seeing somebody from the place speak about it is I think crucial.”
“These are incredibly large creatures that people know still only a little bit about,” Janet Han Vissering concluded. “Every time we go back in to look at new shows, we're finding new scientists and new work and new technology that allows us to get a little bit more information which makes the basis of our shows which has always been the point. And therefore, we're able to highlight new content, new technology, new ways of showing these sharks every year, which is why we're so excited about our tenth anniversary this year.”
You can tune into the 10th anniversary of SharkFest July 10th through August 7th, spread across National Geographic, Nat Geo WILD, Nat Geo Mundo, Disney XD, ABC, ESPN, and streaming on Disney+ and Hulu. Click here to see the full programming lineup.