You wouldn’t think that Shark Week and the United States Coast Guard could collide in the same sentence but interestingly enough, they can and do.

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Did you know that the USCG Saves Sharks from illegal fishing and poaching almost every day? Without the USCG, there would be a lot less sharks around, especially endangered sharks, like the Carcharodon Carcharias or Great White shark!

In its 26th season the most exciting tooth and fin programs to hit the airwaves come at us once again!

 

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Just when you thought it was safe to go in the water?!

SHARK WEEK!

 

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What Is Shark Week?

Shark Week is an annual week long programming block on Discovery Channel which features both factual and ficticious shark based programming. It originally premiered on July 17, 1988. Held annually, normally in July or August, Shark Week was originally developed to raise awareness and respect for sharks. It is the longest-running cable television programming event in history.”  (source: Wikipedia

 

Why Is Shark Week So Popular?

What has made Shark Week such a long awaited phenomenon year after year?

People are fascinated by sharks!

People watch show after show, bite after bite and with constant blood in the water there is a still and ever present a shark craze!

12 Foot Hammerheads, the rarely seen Thresher with a tail longer than its body, the Great White, Reef, or possibly a lemon shark is all that is needed to grasp your interest but there has to be more. They fly and they move about your television set breaking all manners of gravity as they engulf all prey in the ocean!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wic5sMmmU6I

They are jawsome! A weekly marathon of flying, non-vegetarian, teeth infested, hulks of fish and sea lion devouring predators. Yeah I can see why this so popular.

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“There is no exact formula for why some franchises grab the public consciousness and never let go, but with Shark Week it starts with great storytelling, cutting edge production values, and a fascinating character: the shark!” David Zaslav, CEO of Discovery Communications (source: Huffington Post)

[Tweet “The #USCG saves people from sharks & #SharkWeek almost every day!”]

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The USCG Saves People From Sharks

But how does the US Coast Guard factor into Shark week? It’s hard enough rescuing some topsy turvy ship hand from the deck of some future crab bake depository. Or off the Florida Keys where rescuing a few would-be surfers is the order of the day.

Try and do it in shark infested waters! Not quite the same thing now is it? But the US Coast Guard does this and is always present when the call is made to help these men and women who have experienced a shark bite.

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Where Are The Deadliest Spots For Shark Attacks?

Sharknado Goes Viral

(But Discovery Channel didn’t buy the rights when they had the chance! ouch!)

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And now with Shark Week beginning the talk of the town also turns to Sharknado and the recent release of Sharknado 2: The Second One because New York simply wouldn’t be the same without a Shark attack!

Sharknado is a 2013 made-for-television disaster B movie about a waterspout that lifts sharks out of the ocean and deposits them in Los Angeles.[3][4] It first aired on the Syfy Channel on July 11, 2013, and stars Ian Ziering, Cassie Scerbo, Tara Reid, and John Heard.

It was also given a one-night only special midnight theatrical screening via Regal Cinemas and NCM Fathom Events, where it took less than $200,000 in the box office across 200 screenings.” (Source: Wikipedia)

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So the Shark Week “Perfect Storm” has arrived! Thanks to Shark Week on Discovery Channel, the daily activities of the USCG and the Sharknado 2 arriving back in July… still on the cutting edge of becoming another B-Movie cult classic! Shark Week is pure TV awesomeness!

How The USCG Saves Shark Week

You can’t have shark week with no sharks! Thanks to the USCG and the World Wildlife Federation, something is being done about illegal poaching of sharks and other endangered species in our waters!

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — August 6th, 2014

The poachers intercepted Sunday had 153 separate sharks totaling more than 1,500 pounds.

At approximately 7:30 a.m., an aircrew aboard a Coast Guard HU-25 Falcon surveillance aircraft spotted a Mexican fishing vessel known as a lancha approximately three miles north of the border and 22 miles offshore. It was moving fast toward the border. The aircrew began chasing the lancha south and reported it to watch standers at the Coast Guard Sector Corpus Christi Command Center.

The Command Center dispatched a 33-foot interceptor boat from Coast Guard Station South Padre Island. The interceptor crew caught the lancha four miles south of the border and 15 miles offshore. The boat and four crewmembers were towed to Station South Padre Island, where the vessel remained in custody while the crew was repatriated back to Mexico.

“These events are always time sensitive due to sighting the lancha in close proximity to the international boundary line,” said Lt. Austin Montanez, a pilot aboard the Falcon. “It takes incredible teamwork among the responding units and every second can mean the difference between an interdiction and one of the many that got away.” (source: Military.com)

[Tweet “The #USCG saves #SharkWeek every year!”]

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