Shark Week 2012 Comes To South Africa

by Kraig Becker on

The Discovery Channel’s Shark Week is always amongst the most highly anticipated annual events on cable television. For one week out of the year, the network is pretty much all sharks all the time. This year’s edition of Shark Week, which is now in its 25th year, begins on Sunday (August 12) and takes viewers to South Africa where they’ll get an up close and personal look at these awesome predators as they’ve never seen them before.

Shark Week 2012 begins with a visit to South Africa’s Seal Island where researchers go in search of a massive great white known as Colossus. Spanning 14 feet in length and dominating all other sharks in the water, Colossus is a legendary monster that required the development of a new camera to safely capture him on film. The crew reportedly took some amazing footage of this giant fish, but not before he nearly ate their expensive new toy.

To celebrate South Africa’s prominent role in Shark Week 2012, the Visit South Africa Facebook page has taken on a special shark theme. Not only are there plenty of frightening images of the aquatic beasts, but the page is also hosting a “Shark Smarts” quiz that rewards one winner with a trip for two to visit South Africa for themselves. That trip includes airfare, three nights stay in Cape Town at the luxurious Table Bay Hotel and a shark cage diving experience with Marine Dynamics.

If you’re a fan of Discovery’s Shark Week then set your DVR’s to capture all the action starting on Sunday, then head over to the Visit South Africa page to test your knowledge of the big fish. Who knows, it could just earn you a face-to-face encounter with a great white.


Watch Shark Week on Discovery Channel, have a shark encounter of your own

by Kraig Becker on

This Sunday marks the return of Shark Week on the Discovery Channel, one of the most popular annual events on any cable network. Now in its 24th year, Shark Week manages to pull in millions of viewers who are both fascinated by, and terrified of, the notorious predators from the deep. And after watching sharks on television all week, if you should happen to find yourself inspired to see them in person, Discovery can help you with that too.

This year, Discovery has enlisted the aid of Saturday Night Live‘s Andy Samberg to help host their fin-filled prime-time specials. Samberg has been named CSO (Chief Shark Officer) for Shark Week, which will see the return of some of the most popular shows from the past, as well as seven new shark-centric programs. One of those new shows actually sends Samberg himself to the Bahamas where he gets up close and personal with some of the local sharks.

Discovery knows that Shark Week is extremely popular with their audience, which is why they also give us the opportunity to have a shark experience of our own. The network’s adventure travel company Discovery Adventures offers four unique itineraries to the Galapagos Islands, where travelers will have the opportunity to see a variety of shark species –including Reef Sharks, Whale Sharks, and Hammerheads– in their natural environments.

For a complete listing of the shows that will air during Shark Week click here, and don’t forget to tune in on Sunday to get your shark fix. And when Shark Week ends for another year, book your own shark adventure to help ease the wait for Shark Week 2012.

[Photo courtesy Terry Goss via WikiMedia]