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THE SHARK GROUP

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Alex Buttigieg, Founder

OUR MEETING WITH DISCOVERY CHANNEL EXECUTIVES

A letter to the Discovery Channel, in the wake of Shark Week 2007, resulted in a four hour meeting between several of Discovery Channel's top executives in production, programming and development, and Shark Group representatives: Maris Kazmers, shark photographer; Julie Anderson, founder of Shark Savers; Steve Fox, whale shark researcher; and David Ulloa, underwater film-maker. The meeting was held at Discovery headquarters in Washington, DC, Silver Springs, Maryland.

The Shark Group believes that Discovery Channel should move in the direction of presenting Shark Week as a nature documentary for the whole family, providing accurate and interesting facts about these unusual and intelligent animals. As the most heavily fished species are now considered to be on the verge of extinction, public appreciation of the true nature of sharks is important for their future preservation, and the health of our oceans.

The three requests offered by The Shark Group representatives were:

1. 1. That Discovery Channel eliminate the use of negative descriptive words to describe sharks, such as man-eaters, monsters, mindless killing machines and other like terms.
   

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   2. That Discovery Channel make Shark Week more scientific in content.
   

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   3. That Discovery Channel heed our plea to use their power to spread the message of the dire need for shark protection.
   

The result of the meeting was an agreement with Discovery Channel that The Shark Group will pursue interesting stories for Shark Week 2009, in accordance with the company's effort to improve the image of sharks. This will mean placing less emphasis on the rare shark related accidents that occur.

Few animals consider humans to be potential food, and no shark, even the Great White, kills and eats people. Shark bites are usually the result of rare investigatory bites used by sharks to check if an object is edible or not, or the response of the shark to being attacked by the person.

Discovery Channel's representatives share our concern about shark depletion, and are already producing shows portraying how heavy fishing, by-catch, and shark finning are endangering them. They expressed strong interest in working with our community of shark scientists and researchers toward this mutual goal.

While the programming for Shark Week 2008 has already been decided upon, we are confident that the positive results of our new collaboration with Discovery will become apparent in 2009 and beyond.

The Shark Group is an International Internet discussion forum, whose members live on all continents. Many of us work in shark related jobs: scientific research, education, film-making, publishing, shark diving and photography, writing, journalism, the arts, and more. Our common interest is sharing information about sharks; our common concern is their future.

If you would like more information about this topic, please e-mail Alex Sharkman Buttgieg sharkmanab@gmail.com or Ila France Porcher ilafranceporcher@gmail. (shark group owners). to visit the online group, go to: The Shark Group