Shark Week poster

TV series

Shark Week

1988TV-1439 seasons7.6 / 10

Shark n’ awe!

The Discovery Channel's Shark Week, first broadcast on July 17, 1987, is a weeklong series of feature television programs dedicated to sharks. Held annually, normally in July or August, Shark Week was originally developed to raise awareness and respect for sharks. It is the longest-running cable television programming event in history. Now broadcast in over 72 countries, Shark Week is promoted heavily via social networks like Facebook and Twitter.

Streaming, rental and purchase options

Where to watch in United States

Checked Sep 2, 2026

Shark Week is available to stream on DirecTV On Demand, Discovery+ (Via Amazon Prime), HBO Max (Via Amazon Prime), Philo, and Spectrum On Demand in United States. You can also buy it from Amazon, Apple TV, and Fandango at Home. Use the direct links below to open the provider.

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Synopsis

The Discovery Channel's Shark Week, first broadcast on July 17, 1987, is a weeklong series of feature television programs dedicated to sharks. Held annually, normally in July or August, Shark Week was originally developed to raise awareness and respect for sharks. It is the longest-running cable television programming event in history. Now broadcast in over 72 countries, Shark Week is promoted heavily via social networks like Facebook and Twitter.

Season 30 episodes

Choose an episode, then use the watch options above for the show.

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Episode 1

Great White Serial Killer Lives

42m

Every two years in October - in 2008, 2010, 2012 and 2014 - a secluded beach on the central California coast has been the scene of great white shark attacks. Is it the same shark returning again and again? And will the attacks continue in October 2016? Dr. Michael Domeier believes the Surf Beach attacks may be more than a tragic coincidence. With the help of shark experts Ralph Collier and Cal Lutheran, and using satellite tags and DNA technology, he wants to out the killer once and for all. Produced by Shark Entertainment.

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Episode 2

Phelps vs Shark: Great Gold vs Great White

42m

They are one of the fastest and most efficient predators on the planet: Sharks. He is our greatest champion to ever get in the water: Michael Phelps. 39 world records. 23 Olympic golds. The world’s most decorated athlete takes on the ocean’s most efficient predator: Phelps V Shark – the race is on!

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Episode 3

Shark-Croc Showdown

42m4.5 / 10

Dr. Mark Meekan and conservationist Paul de Gelder go on an expedition to one the sharkiest places in the world - a remote wilderness called the Cobourg Peninsula in the Northern Territory of Australia. Meekan is there to count sharks and species as part of Vulcan’s Global FinPrint project – Paul de Gelder’s going because he heard that sharks and crocs fight over sea turtles out there. What happens when 14-foot crocodiles move into shark infested waters? That’s what they’re going to find out! Produced by Big Wave.

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Episode 4

Great Hammerhead Invasion

42m

Early November, giant hammerheads arrive off Bimini, in the Bahamas. But why? Leading shark scientist Tristan Guttridge tags and follows these normally solitary sharks to find out. Many appear to be pregnant females, as an ultrasound of a female hammerhead shows. Guttridge believes they spend winter in Bimini to feed the growing young in their bellies – and then move on to the Florida coast to prey on migrating blacktips – and the evidence is unmistakable. Produced by Icon Films.

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Episode 5

Shark Vortex

42m

Each summer the Gulf Stream pushes north into the waters of southern New England, bringing with it 30 species of shark. Greg Skomal and Joe Romeiro study the annual spectacle, focusing on three sharks – makos, great whites, and porbeagles – that can out-swim, out-think, and out-compete all the others. Produced by 333 Productions and Radley Studios.

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Episode 6

Return to the Isle of Jaws

42m

Divers and scientists RETURN TO THE ISLE OF JAWS to unlock the mysteries of this new great white hot spot, just south of Western Australia. They make a startling discovery that causes us to re-think of everything we thought we knew about great whites. Produced by Red Rock Films.

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Episode 7

Alien Sharks: Stranger Fins

42m

ALIEN SHARKS is back in search of some of the world's strangest sharks. Dr. Craig O'Connell goes to the Bass Strait for sawsharks, while Victoria Elena Vasquez and Dr. David Ebert go into deep water in Tokyo Bay to find the star of the show, the goblin shark. They find both sawsharks and goblins - and many more, including ghost sharks, frilled sharks, and the amazing luminescent lantern shark. Produced by Discovery Studios.

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Episode 8

Sharks and the City: LA

42m

Along the coastline of LA, great white sharks are increasing and they seem to be hunting out of season. Dr. Chris Lowe, Director of the CSULB Shark Lab, wants to know why. His investigation takes him to Guadalupe Island, off Mexico, where he finds the answer. Produced by Arrow Media.

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Episode 9

Sharks and the City: NYC

42m

For decades, great white shark numbers were in decline in the waters around New York. But now, seals are back in New York Harbor – can the great whites be far behind? Marine biologist Craig O’Connell tries to find out how close they really are, and shows what a future with great whites in New York will look like. Produced by Pangolin Pictures.

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Episode 10

The Lost Cage

42m

A team of explorers float in a one-of-a-kind shark cage, 500 miles into the Gulf of Mexico. Acting as human lures in the open ocean will they encounter its deadliest shark? Produced by Gurney Entertainment.

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Episode 11

Devil Sharks

42m

From active to extinct, and at every stage in between, volcanoes hold a strong attraction for sharks of all kinds. Across the world, sharks congregate and concentrate around volcanoes and volcanic islands. What is it about volcanoes that make them shark hotspots? Dr. Mike Heithaus dives in several volcanoes to find out. Produced by Pangolin Pictures.

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Episode 12

Shark Exile

42m

In Brazil, Dr. Hazin has successfully reduced the number of shark encounters by simply catching and moving sharks out to the open sea. What’s his secret? And can this solution work in Australia, where encounters are a problem? Produced by Sealight Pictures.

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Episode 13

Shark Storm

42m

At various times of the year and in different locations around the world, sharks of many kinds gather, swarm, and spiral. Dr. Tristan Guttridge and Ornella Weideli conduct a study of just what brings them together, and what’s going on in these shark ‘societies’. Produced by Red Rock Films.

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Episode 14

African Shark Safari

42m

Madagascar is NOT known as a location for great white sharks. According to the shark sanctuary here, both great whites and tigers are ‘extinct’ in Madagascan waters. So why has a great white shark, tagged in South Africa, travelled 1500 miles up the African coast to Madagascar? Craig O'Connell and the team make the long journey to the remote island nation to investigate and see if Madagascar is the next big great white shark hotspot. Produced by Arrow Media.

Episode credits

Guest stars Craig O'Connell

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Episode 15

Lair of the Sawfish

42m

Experts unravel the mystery behind one of the sea’s strangest creatures, the sawfish, from its evolutionary links to sharks and rays, to its key role in the marine ecosystem. Their goal is to bring the sawfish back from the brink of extinction. Produced by Radley Studios and Delve Creative.

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Episode 16

Sharkmania

42m

A rundown of the greatest moments from SHARK WEEK 2017, featuring the closest calls, biggest bites, greatest gadgets, and viewers’ top picks for the best of SHARK WEEK history. Produced by Discovery Studios.

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Episode 17

Shark School with Michael Phelps

42mfinale

Michael Phelps joins Doc Gruber and Tristan Guttridge of the Bimini Shark Lab to get a crash course on everything ‘shark.’ They’ll dispel the myths and common misconceptions, teach him how to safely dive with sharks - including how to stay calm when a hammerhead swims two feet above his face - and will get Michael Phelps up close and personal with the incredible power of a Great White. Produced by Peacock Productions.

Where to watch Shark Week

Episode information updated Sep 2, 2026

More about Shark Week

Cast

Dwayne Johnson
Josh Gates
Rob Riggle
Shaquille O'Neal
Eli Roth
Josh Wolf
Craig O'ConnellSelf
Jeff KurrSelf

Production details

Status
Returning Series
Series type
Scripted
Episodes
459
Original language
English

Networks & production

  • DiscoveryUnited States
  • DiscoveryUnited States

Themes

nature documentaryshark