{"id":387675,"date":"2026-07-27T13:40:28","date_gmt":"2026-07-27T13:40:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/387675\/"},"modified":"2026-07-27T13:40:28","modified_gmt":"2026-07-27T13:40:28","slug":"shark-week-expert-on-why-the-tv-event-is-synonymous-with-summer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/387675\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Shark Week’ expert on why the TV event is ‘synonymous with summer’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Summertime means three things: ice cream, fireworks, and Shark Week!<\/p>\n

\"Kendyl<\/p>\n

Kendyl Berna in a shark cage. (Courtesy: Discovery Channel)<\/p>\n

Discovery Channel\u2019s week-long programming block dedicated to the feared (and often misunderstood) undersea predators has been a TV staple for over four decades and is still going strong.<\/p>\n

Kendyl Berna, founder of Beyond the Reef and a Shark Week regular, calls the event \u201csynonymous with summer.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the question remains, after all this time, what\u2019s still misunderstood about sharks?<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything!\u201d Berna told PauseRewind\u2019s Elizabeth Stanton. \u201cThere’s never enough research on any species. There’s never enough. There’s never enough funding into marine science in any way, because you really need to have a grant or donorsor academic funding for this research, and so often that follows such a specific format that and parameters for what you can and can’t research. So, one thing I love about Shark Week is it really lets us think outside of the box.\u201d<\/p>\n

She continued, \u201cIt basically lets us put like our 10-year-old science project brains on to go, what can we do differently this year? And very often, my first thought as a marine biologist is like, this is ridiculous, and it’s always a back and forth with our executive producer every year, where I’m like, this is insane. That wouldn’t work, and then we do it, and I’m like, okay, somehow that brought sharks. I have no idea how, but that was a crazy experiment, and it ends up being really, really rewarding and interesting because Shark Week sort of gives you both the budget and the go ahead to do things that specific, standardized sort of like research grants wouldn’t let you do.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Mako<\/p>\n

Mako shark close up. (Courtesy: Discovery Channel)<\/p>\n

Blending science and entertainment helps broaden people\u2019s understanding because as Berna said, \u201cscience isn’t that exciting a lot of times. You know, so much of it is like you’re just sitting on a boat for hours of the day tagging something. So doing these other experiments are what you have to do to not have the exact same episode every year, and I also think that’s where a lot of the value comes in. Is that we learn really interesting things each year by doing these kind of out of the box experiments.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even with the work Shark Week has done and the improved understanding we have of sharks, people remain fearful of the animals, which Berna is empathetic about.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it’s inherently in us, and then I think that understanding doesn’t take away the fear, but it helps to sort of explain that they aren’t out there looking to hunt humans. You know, sharks are kind of like the garbage trucks of the sea, actually. They like to hunt the weak, the dying, the diseased. They kind of help clean up the ecosystem because of that. So very often, a human is going to be a very hard meal for them to get. I just told someone it’s like sharks like ordering Uber Eats versus you know going and hunting for their food if they can.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even Berna admitted that she feels more comfortable in the water wearing a scuba mask, which confuses the sharks into thinking the human swimmers are predators instead of prey.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love sharks if I have a mask on. I don’t like sharks as much if I can’t see them,\u201d she admitted.<\/p>\n

\"Mako<\/p>\n

Mako shark swimming towards bait. (Courtesy: Discovery Channel)<\/p>\n

Shark fear still drives pop culture ever since \u201cJaws\u201d swam into theaters over 50 years ago and Berna doesn\u2019t see the trend dying down anytime soon.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think sharks will never not be hot. I think that’s why Shark Week keeps kicking too. Like I think we will forever have a fear fascination with them. In the same way, horror movies won’t go away, you know, true crime won’t go away. I think we love to watch the unknown, especially because sharks are somewhere that most people don’t get to visit or have you know a strong relationship with the ocean. So it is kind of this a little bit of this like fear fascination area.\u201d<\/p>\n

Berna doesn\u2019t have a dream project in mind when it comes to her next Shark Week plans, but she does have a favorite species of shark.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do think that makos are the most entertaining shark to watch, personally, because they’re so smart, they’re so fast, they have the craziest looking teeth of any shark,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

You can watch Berna educate and entertain in \u201cBiggest Mako on Earth,\u201d premiering Monday July 27 on Discovery.<\/p>\n

Follow us on Instagram @WeArePauseRewind<\/a> for all your pop culture obsessions.<\/p>\n