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As a kid, I used to bust out a notepad and write down every single shark species I knew. I have a notebook from 2010 (5th grade) with lists and drawings of different sharks. And now I’ve done real research with sharks! #SharkWeek was a huge inspiration to me
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And I definitely learned a lot from the educational episodes that Discovery channel offered. The dramatized stories never really interested me and I would record all of the scientific episodes so I could watch them again later in the year. But one thing stood out to me.
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Save for the epic #Mythbusters crossover event with @KariByron, there were NO female researchers or scientists or fishers. Everyone was a dude. I felt like shark science was a boy thing and that I would never be able to do that with my life, even though I loved sharks
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As a well known cultural event that occurs on a yearly basis and has a far reach, #SharkWeek has a responsibility to show women, people of color, LGBTQIA+, and every other kind of shark scientist out there.
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By only showing white men, discovery channel is telling their viewers that only white men do shark research, which is just not true. This just reinforces that white men enter the field. And as we all know, science thrives on diversity.
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Speaking of diversity, the educational episodes were the only ones to show that sharks other than Great Whites, Bulls, Tigers, and Hammerheads even exist! There are 400+ species of shark and I think each species could have an hour long special and still be entertaining
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In conclusion, for now, #SharkWeek has a wide audience that is not just white men. They need to represent their demographic better. But more importantly, shark research is not conducted solely by white men! They need to represent the authors of science better.
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And finally, #SharkWeek needs to do a better job of not sensationalizing more aggressive sharks. Zebra sharks are just as cool as Great Whites. I loved my research with Sandbar Sharks & Dogfish sharks. I call for #SharkWeek to promote the diversity of sharks AND scientists.
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