Journey to Shark Eden

 

Release Date: October 5, 2010

Watch Date: May 3, 2023

"A team of scientists led by National Geographic explorer Dr. Enric Sala journeys to five remote islands near Tahiti in the remote South Pacific to explore pristine coral reefs and the shark populations that inhabit them. With hopes of creating a marine protected area, they face a host of challenges: powerful waves, jagged reefs, and being stranded on a remote desert isle."

    Our first National Geographic shark special, there will be many as the marathon goes on, but I think you always remember your first.

    Or I would, if there was anything truly remarkable to remember.

    In the spirit of Stonehenge Decoded what this is, really, is a documentary about people doing science, which is interesting, but there are no new facts. A thriving coral reef system means thriving prey, means thriving predators. The more sharks, the better the ecosystem. And coral reefs do better where humans aren't around to spoil them. None of this is new information.

    Seeing the complicated work that goes into doing science is pretty interesting, but it's all basic surface level stuff with very little explanation into the detail of what they're actually doing, and how the science is even conducted. It's more, these are the facts, this is how we confirm the facts, lather, rinse, repeat.

    The one very cool part, the part that Bob really enjoyed was the moments that had nothing to do with sharks - mainly a tour of an untouched Pacific island. The lush vegetation, the nesting seabirds, the animals with no fear of humans because they'd never really seen them before. As the documentary says, it's like Darwin visiting the Galapagos for the first time. Very few people get to experience that sense of being the first human in a location anymore, and it's cool to be brought along with that experience as an audience.

    I can only hope our shark movies get better from here, because this one was just...eh.