Discovery’s Shark Week has kicked off for US viewers. In some instances in the past, the channel has been guilty of exaggerating the threat from and demonizing sharks. Some programs have been basically made up, or have been presented as factual when they were in fact fiction.

For 2015 however, Discovery’s new Head of Development and Production, Howard Swartz, has stated that the programs this year will be more science and research focused than they have been in the past. On NPR David Shiffman, a shark scientist at the University of Miami and blogger on Southern Fried Science, has been quoted as saying:

“Shark Week two years ago did not appreciate it when I recommended an 8-year-old neighbor to fact check the scripts for them, because that 8-year-old knew more about sharks than whoever was writing those scripts did.”

However, he is cautiously optimistic about the 2015 offerings so far. For those who cannot stand the TV hype, Shiffman has reposted his 2014 Scientific American article about the best “real” shark scientists and biologists to follow as an antidote.