Jumping the Shark: White Shark Representations in Great White Serial Killer Lives—The Fear and the (Pseudo-)Science

Iri Cermak

doi:10.3390/journalmedia2040035

Abstract

Sharks are among the most endangered nonhuman animals on the planet because of industrial fishing, the shark meat and fin trade, expanding recreational fishing, and other anthropogenic causes. White sharks (Carcharodon carcharias), the most visible in popular culture, remain vulnerable (VU, IUCN Red List) and understudied, although population recovery is having a measure of success in regions like the Eastern Pacific and the Northern Atlantic of the United States. As numbers rise, Jaws associations also remain in vogue in programming that emphasizes human–wildlife** conflict such as Shark Week’s Great White Serial Killer Lives. Network marketing typically promotes this content by hyping shark science. Textual analysis, however, suggests that exposure to pseudoscientific narratives and unethical fear-inducing images is counterproductive to wider support for conservation programs and public recognition for sharks’ rights to their habitats.

Highlights

Introduction and6 segments: Brief recap of shark encounters between 2008–2014; Collier and McMillan seen together in intro and segment 3.Segment 1: Spear fisher off Devil’s Jaw struck (2016); dubbed the most recent.Segments 2, 4–7: McMillan interviews surfers, kayaker, and other witnesses in2008–2014 shark encounters.McMillan, CollierMcMillanSub-segment 1: Narrator makes the case that McMillan and Collier are thinking the shark culprit could be a female on a 2-year migration coming back to her hunting grounds.Domaier begs to differ
Plot Structure In Great White Serial Killer Lives, Brandon McMillan and Ralph Collier continue their search to unveil the mystery behind a series of strikes that recur every two years off the waters of Surf Beach, California
In segment 2, the Narrator first posits the existence of such a shark by venturing that the strikes are not a “one-time random thing” but a pattern that recurs every two years, while, in sub-segment 1, he expands on the idea by noting that McMillan and Collier believe that the culprit may be a single individual—a female—coming back to her hunting grounds every other year

Summary

Introduction

Introduction and6 segments: Brief recap of shark encounters between 2008–2014; Collier and McMillan seen together in intro and segment 3.Segment 1: Spear fisher off Devil’s Jaw struck (2016); dubbed the most recent.Segments 2, 4–7: McMillan (alone) interviews surfers, kayaker, and other witnesses in2008–2014 shark encounters.McMillan, Collier (intro, seg 3)McMillan (seg 4, 5, 6, 7)Sub-segment 1: Narrator makes the case that McMillan and Collier are thinking the shark culprit could be a female on a 2-year migration coming back to her hunting grounds.Domaier begs to differ. Electronic organ-like effects associated with the shark’s savagery and crunching aural effects that mimic the shark biting are part of the sensory barrage designed to overwhelm the viewer These foreboding, discordant tones do not let up until the waning moments and corroborate that the aim of the program is to communicate a persistent sense of danger in line with the species’ purported villainous nature. Consonant with spectacle, these sound effects are designed to distract viewers from pondering the implausible premise of a Jaws shark on the loose.

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion