“SharkFest” starts Saturday (July 5) on National Geographic, 15 days ahead of Discovery’s “Shark Week.”
We’ll see lots of scary-looking creatures, plus experts telling us not to be so scared. Here’s an overview; most shows will also be on Disney+ and Hulu:
RERUNS
— They start at 9 a.m. daily and continue overnight until 6 a.m.
SERIES:
— “Investigation Shark Attack,” 9 p.m. daily (except July 10), rerunning at midnight. In a central control room, four people see tapes of an attack and talk by Zoom to other experts. That starts July 5 with four great white shark encounters in California. Next is Hawaii on July 6, the Bahamas on the 7th, the Gulf on the 8th, Florida on the 9th and Maui on the 11th.
— “Super Shark Highway,” 10 p.m. (except July 10), rerunning at 1 a.m. Two teams study the busy routes of sharks near Australia. That starts with great whites to the south; a second team probes the tropical regions to the north.
SPECIALS:
— July 5: “Sharks Up Close,” 8 p.m. Fresh from communing with penguins for Earth Week, Bertie Gregory goes in the opposite direction — hoping to swim with the great white sharks off South Africa. There’s a lot of frustration here, but there are also good moments with gorgeous filming.
— July 10: “Jaws@50: The Definitive Story,” 9-11 p.m., rerunning at midnight. Steven Spielberg’s company made this documentary about his 1975 film that changed our view of sharks and of summertime movies. This is also on the Peacock streamer, alongside the four “Jaws” movies and more/
— July 12: “Sharks of the North,” 10 p.m., rerunning at 1 a.m. This probes sharks’ surprising arrival in Nova Scotia.
— July 13: “Shark Quest: Hunt For the Apex Predator,” 9 and 10 p.m., rerunning at midnight and 1 a.m. This studies what what makes some sharks the consummate predators.