Animal Planet is being attacked by killer sharks.
During August the channel will be broadcasting various documentaries about the secretive yet very (chompy-chompy) in-your-face creatures.
The documentaries premiere in the first week of the month and will be repeated throughout August.
Here's a look at the premiere line-up:
Shark Attack FilesOn: Monday, 3 August 2009 at 20h00
A documentary that investigates what makes sharks attack at certain times of the day and studies some of the most vicious shark attacks ever, with interviews with the survivors of these terrifying assaults.
The show includes reconstructions of attacks by a Great White shark, tiger shark and bull shark.
Sharkbite Summer (aka Jaws)
On: Monday, 3 August 2009 at 21h00
A one-hour special that profiles the horrifying shark attacks that gripped America in the summer of 2001.
Reconstructions and real-life accounts bring these gruesome attacks to life, while analysis of sharks’ behaviour attempts to understand why they attack in the first place.
Shark After DarkOn: Thursday, 6 August 2009 at 20h00
Shark After Dark uncovers the largely undocumented nocturnal hunting habits of Great White and Sand Tiger sharks with never-seen-before footage of these predators on the prowl at night.
Infra-red cameras and state of the art night-vision technology provide an up close view of the action.
Shark TherapyOn: Friday, 7 August 2009 at 20h00
Shark Therapy follows champion free-diver, Tanya Streeter, as she faces her fear of sharks. Tanya heads off to the Maldives and the Bahamas where she free-dives with tiger sharks, lemon sharks and, in a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, swims with the colossal whale shark.
SHARK FAST FACTS
- 100 million years of evolution gives a shark the ability to hunt in water where it can barely see.
- A shark can hear a school of spawning fish from over a mile away.
- A shark can smell a single drop of blood from 500 yards away.
- At 300 feet, sensors on the shark can detect movement as they pick up vibrations in the water.
- There are about 368 species of shark ranging from the tiny Spined Pygmy Shark to the massive Whale Shark.
- At close range, hundred’s of pores on a shark’s snout can detect the electro-magnetic pulses of a beating heart.
- Sharks have very complex eyesight. The lenses of their eyes are up to seven times more powerful than those of the human eye. Therefore wearing jewellery in the water can attract sharks as the reflected light resembles the shiny scales of fish.
- The Whale shark is the largest shark of all measuring between 40 and 45 feet long.
- Sharks have the most powerful jaws on the planet with a bite about twice as powerful as that of a lion.
- You are 1,000 times more likely to drown in the sea than you are to be bitten by a shark.
- Amanzimtoti Beach in South Africa is the most dangerous beach in the world for shark attacks.
- The teeth of a tiger shark are strong enough to crunch through a turtle’s bones and shell.
- Up to 100 million sharks are killed by people every year.
- The hammerhead shark has the best sense of smell out of all breeds of shark.
- Baby sharks are born with sharp teeth and the ability hunt right from the start.
- Sand Tiger sharks are most active at night.
Animal Planet is on DStv Channel 264.