Each summer, more than 22 million Americans come inside from the scorching summer sun to sit in front of the TV in awe of the spectacle that is Shark Week on Discovery. In fact, it’s one of our favorite parts of the summer!
So, whether this year’s Shark Week is your first or you’re a Shark Week aficionado, this year’s programming won’t disappoint. The 2024 event will swim to a TV near you starting July 7th on the Discovery Channel (Ch. 278 on DIRECTV).
This guide will tell you everything you need to know about Shark Week 2024 so you don’t miss a single bite of the excitement. You can watch the deep-sea action on Discovery Channel (Ch. 278 on DIRECTV).
When is Shark Week 2024?
Discovery’s Shark Week starts Sunday, July 7, 2024, and runs through Saturday, July 13, 2024.
How Long Is Shark Week?
Shark Week, as the name suggests, is a weeklong TV event on Discovery Channel, giving viewers an amazing up-close look at some of the ocean’s most incredible creatures. The week is filled with spine-tingling documentaries, captivating tales and, of course, some of the most iconic and heart-pounding shark movies.
Who Is the 2024 ‘Shark Week’ Host?
This year’s Shark Week is hosted by WWE wrestler and actor John Cena, taking over from the 2023 host Jason Momoa. If the promo video is any indication, you’re not going to want to miss John Cena and this year’s celebration of Shark Week.
How to Watch Shark Week in 2024?
You can tune into this year’s programming across a variety of networks, all of which are a part of Warner Bros. Discovery family of networks. And while the majority of new content will air on Discovery Channel, there’s more than enough shark content to go around!
Below are the different channels that will host shark inspired or other related content:
- Discovery Channel – Ch. 278
- CNN – Ch. 202
- HGTV – Ch. 229
- ID – Ch. 285
- TBS – Ch. 247
- TCM – Ch. 256
- TNT – Ch. 245
- TLC – Ch. 280
WHAT ‘SHARK WEEK’ SPECIALS ARE NEW THIS YEAR?
Discovery is promising an exciting lineup of programming during the 2024 week-long event. Get ready for some never-before-seen moments with the premiere of Belly of the Beast Pt. 2, an intense and eye-opening look into the world of great white shark feeding frenzies. Learn about the captivating exploration and a potential new species of hammerhead sharks with Monster Hammerhead: Species X. Plus, don’t miss Great White Serial Killer: Sea of Blood, which tells the story of a great white shark attack on a local village.
WHEN DID ‘SHARK WEEK’ START?
This year marks the 36th annual Shark Week. The cable event started in the summer of 1988 on Discovery Channel and has since become a cultural phenomenon, drawing more than 22.7 Million Viewers in 2023. Shark Week has officially become the longest-running cable TV programming event in history, according to the network.
WHY DO WE LOVE ‘SHARK WEEK’?
Discovery’s Shark Week has become so much more than a week of jaw-dropping programming. It also helps to educate viewers on the importance of protecting sharks and their ocean habitat. These shows help to raise awareness and increase conservation efforts that last much longer than a week.
FUN FACTS ABOUT SHARKS
In the name of spreading awareness and education, here are some of our favorite facts about sharks:
Great Whites
- The energy a white shark obtains from consuming 100 kilograms of whale blubber (900,000 kcal) is roughly equivalent to the total caloric intake for an average human over approximately 360 days, which is almost a full year. To put it in perspective, 900,000 kcal is equivalent to eating 3,000 hamburgers!
- Female white sharks are larger than their male counterparts. The largest recorded females can grow up to 20 feet or more in length and can weigh over 4,000 pounds.
- Female great whites need to be over 4.5m (15ft) before they are mature, and can reproduce. They can carry upto six babies, each being 5 feet long and birthed alive. This is why females are larger than males.
Tiger Sharks
- Tiger sharks aren’t the only species with gnarly serrated teeth that aren’t triangular. Six and sevengill sharks have broad, multi-cusped teeth on their lower jaws shaped like combs. Each cusp is pointed, and that turns their entire lower jaw dentition into a saw blade.
- Today, we have a single species of Tiger shark. But over the last 20 million years ago, there have been several species of tiger sharks. Look at their teeth chronologically and you see the evolution of more robust, heavily serrated teeth capable of tackling larger, tougher, and harder prey.
Hammerheads
- Great hammerhead sharks are the largest of all hammerhead species, with dorsal fins that can reach up to 4 feet tall.
- Great hammerhead sharks can swim at speeds of up to 25 miles per hour.
- Cryptic speciation is the phenomenon where two or more species look morphologically similar and are often misidentified as a single species but are genetically distinct. For example, genetic studies revealed that what were thought to be scalloped hammerheads in the Florida Keys were actually a different species, now named the Carolina hammerhead.
- New Caledonia is a very rare location that attracts the world’s three deadliest sharks to its waters; Great Whites, Tiger sharks and Bull sharks.
More Shark Facts
- Shark reproduction is rough and typically involves a male shark rigorously biting the female to initiate copulation. To cope with this, females have evolved to have thicker skin than males so the damage inflicted from the bites is minimal.
- Male sharks have two claspers, or two extensions of the pelvic fin that are used to pass sperm to females. The reason for having two claspers is to maximize the chance of successful reproduction. If the female is on the left side of male, the male can use the left clasper and vice versa.
- There are at least two species of sharks where the females had pups in the absence of a male. In fact, scientists looked at the pup’s genetics and were able to determine that they only contained the female’s DNA!
‘SHARK WEEK’ 2023 RECAP
Can’t wait for July 7? Dive in now with some unforgettable moments from Shark Week 2023!
Get Discovery with DIRECTV TODAY
Tune into Discovery with DIRECTV starting July 7 to make sure you don’t miss any of the incredible discoveries and captivating shark stories.
Don’t have DIRECTV? Sign up now to be ready for Shark Week!
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