Shark Week 2017 Start Date, Preview: Discovery Channel Releases Full Schedule
One of the most highly anticipated features of Discovery Channel is the annual "Shark Week," during which the network airs various interesting specials dedicated to sharks. This year's event will come a bit later than usual, but that does not make it any less interesting. In fact, Discovery will feature a special guest who will appear in two Shark Week episodes, making this year's program a lot more worth looking forward to.
Shark Week 2017 officially kicks off on July 23, and new reports confirm that Olympian Michael Phelps will grace two of its specials. On the first day of the week, he will appear in "Phelps vs. Shark: Great Gold vs. Great White," where he will dive into the ocean to see how he will fare if he swims alongside a Great White Shark. Considering the swimmer's 23 Olympic gold medals, it will be interesting to see if his superb swimming skills will allow him to outswim the gigantic creature.
Phelps filmed the said special at Cape Town, South Africa. According to him, his priority while filming the episode was his safety.
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"That was the only way I was going to do it. And it was there. Being able to have the amount of divers that we were able to have in the water and knowing that I was safe was the biggest thing. But obviously, it's an opportunity that you don't get very often—to race with a Great White. So I said for sure I would do it," he said in an interview with Entertainment Weekly.
Another special will also feature the swimmer as he pays a visit to the Bimini Shark Lab to discover different facts about sharks and to learn how to dive safely with them. He told EW that it was an incredible experience to be able to dive with sharks and to see more of them in the wild.
Here is the full schedule for this year's Shark Week:
Sunday, July 23
7 p.m. — "Great White Serial Killer Lives"
8 p.m. — "Phelps vs. Shark: Great Gold vs. Great White
9:10 p.m. — "Shark-Croc Showdown"
10:10 p.m. — "Devil Sharks"
11:10 p.m. — "Shark After Dark"
Monday, July 24
8 p.m. — "Shark Vortex"
9 p.m. — "Return To The Isle Of Jaws"
10 p.m. — "Alien Sharks: Stranger Fins"
11 p.m. — "Shark After Dark"
Tuesday, July 25
9 p.m. — "Sharks and the City: LA"
10 p.m. — "Sharks and the City: New York"
11 p.m. — "Shark After Dark"
Wednesday, July 26
9 p.m. — "The Lost Cage"
10 p.m. — "Great Hammerhead Invasion"
11 p.m. — "Shark After Dark"
Thursday, July 27
9 p.m. — "Shark Exile"
10 p.m. — "Shark Swarm"
11 p.m. — "Shark After Dark"
Friday, July 28
9 p.m. — "African Shark Safari"
10 p.m. — "Lair Of The Sawfish"
Saturday, July 29
9 p.m. — "Sharkmania"
Sunday, July 30
8 p.m. — "Shark School With Michael Phelps"
