“How do you know I can do that?” Whitenack said. “I don’t come from a family of scientists. I haven’t seen many people like me on TV.”

Now a biology professor at Allegheny College in Meadville, Pennsylvania, Whitenack found his way into shark research anyway. With the pandemic lockdown in 2020, she saw an opportunity to research the sources of her own old misconceptions. Was “Shark Week” giving audiences the wrong message about sharks? And who studies sharks?

Whitenack led a team of researchers to study hundreds of “Shark Week” episodes that aired between 1988 and 2020. A study released last month by the Public Science Library found that Discovery’s show emphasized negative messages about sharks and lacked helpful messages, according to their study. It overwhelmingly featured white men as experts on shark conservation and including several with the same name.

The show had more white experts and commentators named “Mike” than women, according to study co-author David Shiffman, a conservationist at Arizona State University.

“When the hundreds of people of color working in this field are interested, [and] When more than half of my field is female, it may no longer be a coincidence that they only feature white males,” Schiffman said.

Discovery did not respond to a request for comment on the findings. It has since undergone scientific review.

The photographer pointed the camera at the surfer. A shark photobombed him.

A ratings draw consistent with Discovery’s 34-year tradition, “Shark Week” has faced criticism in the past. Scientists and TV pundits have slammed the 2020 event for announcing a roster of TV specials featuring six of his eight nominated experts, white men.

According to Whitenack’s research, this trend has persisted through nearly the entire history of television shows. The survey found that over 90% of his 229 experts who appeared in 201 “Shark Week” episodes were white, and about 78% were male.

Carlee Bohannon, marine biologist and co-founder of Minorities in Shark Sciences, praises the study for putting numbers to her and her colleagues’ long-standing concerns about diversity in both the media and shark science. Did. When Bohannon founded her organization with her three other Black scientists in her 2020, it was the first time any of them had met another Black woman in their field.

“We all grew up watching one type of person on TV,” said Bohannon. “‘Shark Week’ was really the biggest event and it was always packed with white men.”

Another diversity study co-authored by Shiffman found that more than half of the members of the American Elasmobranch Society, an academic group that supports research on sharks and other fish, are women, but more than 70% of the group’s leadership positions are women. I’m a woman. owned by men. Women in marine science can also face a culture of misogyny, marine biologist Catherine McDonald wrote in 2020, in Scientific American.

“‘Shark Week’ further concentrates power (in the form of publicity and media attention) in the hands of white male ‘prominent scientists’, exacerbating the academic power imbalance,” McDonald said. writes.

In the latest study, Whitenack and other researchers believe that episodes of “Shark Week” have more than positive words describing sharks as “awe-inspiring” or ecologically important. , containing stories of attacks and other fear-mongering messages.

According to researchers, “Shark Week” also lacked an effective message on conservation issues. While Discovery used the show to promote laws to protect sharks, “Shark Week” is dedicated to practical issues on conservation issues, such as avoiding seafood caught in a manner that could harm sharks. It rarely provided viewers with meaningful information, the study argues.

But Whitenack and Bohannon say the biggest concern is the lack of diversity in the program and how it shapes young scientists’ perceptions of marine biology and whether they can enter the field. I agree.

“Diversity in people leads to diversity in thought, which ultimately leads to innovation,” Bohannon said. “Being able to see people like you in this field is really impactful.”

white knack said discovery I have not contacted the research group.

In 2020, National Geographic partnered with Minorities in Shark Sciences to allow members of the organization to participate in the network’s competing TV show, SharkFest. From this group he has seven scientists of color on this year’s show.

Bohannon made two appearances at “SharkFest” to talk about nurse sharks in the Bahamas and how they adapted to swimming in shallow water. She felt like it was a milestone—she hopes her peers experience more.

“Just seeing myself on TV was so surreal,” said Bohannon.