Fig 1.
Trends in Shark Week episode titles.
(A) Frequency of negative words used in episode titles; (B) Percent of episodes with negative titles per year. Orange circles indicate episode titles coded as negative based solely on the Affective Norms for English Words list (ANEW), blue squares indicate episode titles coded as negative by authors based on context (phrases rather than individual words); (C) Number of episodes with negative titles per year. Black circles indicate total number of episodes aired each year, orange circles indicate episode titles coded as negative based solely on the ANEW, blue squares indicate episode titles coded as negative by authors based on context.
Fig 2.
Number and percent of episodes by documentary class.
Fig 3.
Percent of episodes categorized by “Research” (orange line), “Shark Bites” (green line), or “Diving with Sharks” (blue line).
Fig 4.
Number and percentage of occurrences of particular research methods in Shark Week episodes.
Fig 5.
Frequency of number of scientific publications authored by Shark Week experts.
Fig 6.
Percent of episodes including any appearance by an expert/host referred to by female pronouns, by year.
The red dashed line indicates 50% for a given year. Overall, 20.1% of hosts/experts were associated with female pronouns.
Fig 7.
Species appearing in at least 5 Shark Week episodes.
Hammerheads were most commonly great hammerheads S. mokarran, though scalloped hammerheads S. lewini and smooth hammerheads S. zygaena were sometimes mentioned. Conservation status reflects that of great and scalloped hammerheads (Critically Endangered); smooth hammerheads are currently assessed as Vulnerable. Mako sharks were almost always shortfin makos Isurus oxyrinchus, but one longfin mako I. paucus was mentioned (both species are Endangered).
Fig 8.
(A) Locations by country; (B) Locations within the United States.
Table 1.
Representative example dialogue and narration showing sharks in a negative light.
Table 2.
Representative example dialogue and narration showing sharks in a positive light.