Once again, Shark Week has a major success! I was lucky enough to see some of the programs that aired this year, so I knew what was coming. Among the interesting and informative programs was a show called Biggest Mako on Earth, where the crew is attempting to lure in, as the title suggests, the biggest mako shark ever recorded.
Before Biggest Mako Ever was released (it’s currently on HBO Max), I had the opportunity to talk with scientist Kendyl Berna about a variety of topics. Among them was something she said about the idea of the existence of a mako shark bigger than anything anyone has seen. Unlike me, who believes in mermaids, she explained why this mako exists using logic and science.
Why bigger mako sharks are possible
“So, makos aren’t that studied or frequently seen," Berna said. "There isn’t much citizen science on them even outside of fishermen’s bycatch because they are frequently in the areas that fishermen are. That said, this area of California in particular just has an incredible abundance of prey for them. Makos are known to eat squid, fish, and lesser-known marine animals. And so when you have such an abundance of prey, you can have animals getting bigger.
"We're trying to understand if this is becoming more and more common in this area as the water heats up like it did this area like it did this year. And there’s the Marine Mammal Protection Act, which also makes it so you can’t kill any marine mammals in the United States, and so, because of that, they just have so many options for eating bigger meals than what they are used to doing in the rest of the world. So it is possible that they’re getting bigger in this area”
After hearing all of this, I asked why makos aren’t studied more often.
“I think they’re harder to find because they’re not coastal," Berna revealed. "You’re not coming across a mako that often unless you’re fishing, for the most part. So, they’re also not a species that people shark dive with. I think they’re more elusive than other sharks. I’ve done a lot more research in tropical areas, so, like, lemon sharks, nurse sharks, occasionally hammerheads, tiger sharks, and I feel like they’re so much easier to find than makos, because makos are pretty deep water and they like to be far off.”
Shark Week
Berna explains how Shark Week plays a role in her research.
“One thing I say that excites me about Shark Week is the fact that it lets you break barriers for what science wouldn’t usually fund. So, in another aspect of my scientific life, I’m getting a grant through a government or a university or a private institution, and there’s really kind of a cookie-cutter version of how you do this research. It’s very standardized.”
She goes on to say, “Shark Week is the exact opposite of that. Shark Week is trying to get good science while also being as entertaining as possible. Because of that, we get to think up our wildest ideas and have a budget to do things that are so different than standardized science would be doing. And that’s what makes it really exciting.”
"More of the value in Shark Week comes from entertaining and educating the public, so I think it’s just as valuable, if not more valuable, to do Shark Week as it is to funded, very academic science because the funded academic science, while you’re producing tremendous data and results, it might be seen by a handful of people in the scientific community. Where Shark Week is being seen by millions of people. And so, I do think that there’s so much power in getting to show science experiments and make them fun and bring people into the water whereas they might not otherwise go there.”
"You can do something that, to the scientific community, wouldn’t be worth the funds because it can’t be as replicated or it might not be as tried and tested, but Shark Week loves that fact," Berna finished.
Before I end the article, it would be irresponsible not to give readers one more reason to check out Biggest Mako on Earth. It can be summed up in two words: chum elevator. Check out the episode to see what that is. And trust this writer when he says you won’t be disappointed.
Thanks for reading. Stay tuned to Show Snob for more on Discovery's Shark Week.
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