Here's Why Discovery Channel's Shark Week Is A Bunch Of Lies

If you've been watching Discovery Channel's Shark Week and had a nagging sense that what you're seeing is just not true, then your instincts were right. In the video above Joseph Stromberg from Vox details how the channel's once educational selection of shark programmes has turned into sensationalist drivel.

Stromberg explains how some of the documentaries are just completely fabricated, replacing actual biology with "LOOK HOW BIG AND DANGEROUS THAT THING IS!". For instance, Megalodon was about how a long extinct (like, two millions years or so) giant shark was supposedly roaming the oceans—complete with fake footage and actors as scientists.

One of the big downsides of this is that misinformed viewers think sharks are more dangerous than the statistics tell us. Unsurprisingly, we're more of a threat to sharks and their habitats then they are to us. But, of course, this sensationalism works incredibly well, with this year's Shark Week attracting record-breaking viewing figures. As it did last year and will probably do again next year.

via Vox