"Gills and Thrills"

The article “Gills and Thrills” by Jeff Pfeiffer is an article on Shark Week and shark attacks across America. Since Shark Week aired in 1988 it has been the longest-running event on television. Even if the show has messed with the reputation of sharks, the viewer gets to decide what they want to take away from the show. The thrill of watching attacks and learning more about sharks is what draws viewer to watch the show. Over twenty million people watched the show last year and learned about the fascinating sea creatures. Jeff Pfeiffer hits on a few subjects that are on the show and that viewers are very interested in. Some of these subjects include the worst shark attack, the deadliest shark, the top five eaten alive, shark frenzies, what attacks sharks, shark bites, and the probability of you being attacked. The show features on the daily life of the sharks like what the feed on and how they got their names. Since the launch of the show, there has been one hundred and three premieres of the shark programs. The first host of the show appeared in nineteen ninety four and with no surprise it was the author of “Jaws”, Peter Benchley. In nineteen ninety five the show aired the profile of an extremely rare shark never seen on television. The first live Shark Week program aired in nineteen ninety nine. In two thousand, Shark Week featured the first 3-D program. For the fifteenth birthday of the Shark Week television show in two thousand two, a couple of celebrities jumped in the water to celebrate the anniversary. There have been many years of growth in this program since its first premier. There are a couple of interesting facts about shark attacks at the bottom of the article. They say that you are thirty times more likely to get struck by lightning than to die of a shark attack. Another fact is that bees, wasp, and snakes kill more people each year. Drowning, heart attacks, beach accidents resulting in spinal injury, jellyfish stings, cuts from stepping on sea shells, sunburn, dehydration, and traffic accidents going to or from the beach are all far more common than shark attacks. In nineteen ninety six, four hundred and seventeen thousand five hundred and twenty one people were injured from ladders, toilets, screws, nails, and pruning or trimming plants. Only eighteen injuries and deaths were recorded from shark attacks. In nineteen eighty seven more people were bitten by animals than attacked by a shark. There are very interesting facts in the articles that might intrigue readers to watch the show and learn more about sharks. I think sharks are very misunderstood creatures. People are so afraihem when most of the time they are not using the right precautions to keep both them and the shark safe. Jeff Pfeiffer’s article is very fascinating and touches on many good aspects. I would recommend this article for someone who loves marine biology. Beach lovers should also take a look at this article to see what precautions to take to stay safe in the water. Reading this article would be a great catch!