Shark Week is on the verge of returning to Discovery Channel in the 2023 TV schedule for its milestone 35th year with host Jason Momoa, and the annual celebration of sharks is exploring new depths, making new discoveries, and taking new risks for the goal of learning more about the many species. The week will kick off with a special called "Belly of the Beast: Feeding Frenzy," which involves Dr. Austin Gallagher and his team trying something that had never been done before with white sharks... and facing the problem of a pair of "serial killer" orcas.
I spoke with Dr. Austin Gallagher, who has appeared many times on Shark Week over the years (including when Shaq faced his fears), during a recent press day for the Discovery event, and I asked him what about "Belly of the Beast: Feeding Frenzy" makes it a good way to start out Shark Week on July 23. He shared:
Longtime Shark Week viewers know that great white action is on the way for any special that visits South Africa, but "Belly of the Beast" won't be another installment of Air Jaws. Instead of a seal decoy, the team used a decoy whale carcass for the very first time to attract the sharks, and trying something new clearly paid off! That's not to say that Dr. Gallagher and his team will have an easy time tagging one of the "largest white sharks ever for Shark Week," and fans will have to tune in to Discovery on July 24 to see the whole story.
Of course, the Shark Week specials that visited South Africa in 2022 also explored the problem facing great whites, which is that orcas have learned to target these sharks, kill them, and devour their livers, which has massively reduced their numbers in the area. When I noted that situation that was documented last year, Dr. Gallagher shared whether viewers will see a different side in "Belly of the Beast" in 2023:
Tragically for great white sharks, orcas have been living up to their popular name of "killer whales" off of South Africa and becoming what Dr. Gallagher dubbed "almost serial killers." Port and Starboard may have cute names, but what they're doing to great whites in the area isn't exactly adorable! The shark expert continued:
Orcas certainly aren't treated as a joke in Shark Week, but there have been plenty of killer whale memes floating around the internet in recent months as awareness spread about how intelligent the aquatic mammals really are. Shark Week goes the extra mile every year to remind viewers that sharks aren't human-killing machines like on Jaws and other films (which Steven Spielberg has said he regrets). Will "Belly of the Beast" give more awareness to the shark/orca situation? I asked Dr. Austin Gallagher that very question, and he explained:
Fortunately for fans, the wait for Shark Week is nearly over. The seven days of shark action begins on Discovery with "Belly of the Beast: Feeding Frenzy" on Sunday, July 23 at 8 p.m. ET. It will be followed by "Jaws vs The Meg" at 9 p.m., "Serial Killer: Red Sea Attacks" at 10 p.m., and "Shark Week: Off the Hook" at 11 p.m. That's only the first night, so you'll want to keep tuning in for the full week! If you're not able to watch on Discovery, Shark Week will also be available streaming with a Max subscription.