Beyond Shark Week: Choose Your Own Shark Adventure

The Discovery Channel’s most popular week of programming, Shark Week, is already in full swing—or bite—as the month begins. While it is nearly impossible to deny yourself time in front of the tube—especially when the Chief Shark Officer is Bay Area native and international celebrity Andy Samberg—a little dose of reality goes a long way. The lineup is often heavily slanted with blood in the water-style encounters at a time when fascination and, most importantly, protection is needed for the animals.

With a series of special events taking place at Aquarium of the Bay and within the community, there are plenty of opportunities to get off the couch and fill your calendar with the wonder and awe-inspiring beauty of sharks. So choose your own shark adventure, with the below options—bonus points for choosing to participate in all of them!

No need to pinch yourself—you really will be sleeping with Sevengill sharks and other native species in the Aquarium’s exhibit tunnels, during our once-a-year Family Sleepover. The sleepover includes naturalist-led tours of the exhibits and special hands-on opportunities. Following a morning breakfast, guests will have the unforgettable opportunity of feeding leopard sharks, bat rays and others their morning meal! Tickets will sell out for this event, so contact Mayra Rivas at (415) 623-5376 or visit www.aquariumofthebay.org to learn more and reserve your space.

Focusing on the wonder of sharks instead of the televised carnage seen on TV, Aquarium of the Bay is hosting a fin-tastic lineup of daily and special events from August 1 through August 7. Don’t miss special presentations in the Shark Lab, scavenger hunts and special giveaways, while getting up close with San Francisco Bay sharks. Visit www.aquariumofthebay.org for the full lineup.

Don’t miss a free and special evening of sharks on film—minus the blood and guts—on Tuesday, August 2 at San Francisco Main Library’s Koret Auditorium. From 6 – 8 p.m., films including the award-winning Requiem and KQED QUEST’s Meet the Man in the Grey Suit, among others, will be screened. KQED QUEST producers will be on hand to discuss their work, as well as Aquarium of the Bay’s Animal Care team. Visit www.sfpl.org to learn more about the event.

With the launch of its Feed the Sharks Tour, Aquarium of the Bay guests have the unique opportunity to become aquatic biologist insiders, feeding a variety of sharks, rays, skates and other fishes their afternoon meal. Each tour participant will receive a bucket of seafood to feed to sharks, rays, skates and other fishes in one of the Aquarium’s 350,000 gallon tunnel exhibits. Participants will also try their hand at aquatic biology, testing the pH and oxygen levels of San Francisco Bay water in the Aquarium’s research lab. Naturalists will guide guests through the catwalk over the Aquarium’s exhibit tunnels and allow them to view animals not on exhibit, like tiny baby jellies, sharks and other animals in the behind-the-scenes nurseries. The Feed the Sharks Tour is offered each Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday at 2:30 p.m. Visit www.aquariumofthebay.org to reserve your space.

Kati Schmidt is the Public Relations Manager for Aquarium of the Bay and The Bay Institute, nonprofit organizations dedicated to protecting, restoring and inspiring conservation of San Francisco Bay and its watershed. A Bay Area native and aspiring Great American novelist, Kati enjoys the professional and personal muses found from strolling and cycling along, and occasionally even swimming in San Francisco Bay and beyond.