Last year six people were killed by sharks worldwide. Multiply that number by more than 12 million and you get close to the number of sharks killed for human consumption each year. The annual mass slaughter of sharks, estimated to be around 73 million each year, has left one third of all shark species on the brink of extinction. “It’s a grave situation that sharks are now faced with,” say Matt Rand, director of the Pew Environment Group’s Global Shark Conservation Campaign. “If serious action is not taken soon, the fate of shark species playing a viable role in the...

Shark nations failing on conservation pledges! A decade after members of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (UN FAO) approved an international plan to conserve sharks, a new analysis finds that it has yet to be fully implemented. With 30 percent of all shark species now threatened or near threatened with extinction, there is little evidence that the plan has contributed significantly to improved conservation and management of these animals. Many countries whose fishing fleets catch large numbers of sharks have failed to meet a 10-year-old pledge on conserving the species, a report...

The Discovery Channel’s Shark Week, which first aired on July 27, 1987, is a week-long series of feature television programs dedicated to sharks. Shark Week is held annually, normally running in July and/or August. In 2000, six million 3D Pulfrich glasses were distributed to viewers in the United States and Canada for an episode featuring an extinct giant shark which had 3D segments. In 2005, Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman from the Discovery Channel series MythBusters hosted Shark Week, and a two-hour MythBusters “Jaws Special” was premiered for the event. In 2006, Mike Rowe from...