'All the Sharks' might be the friendliest competitive shark show you'll see this summer

It’s been 50 years since “Jaws” ruined that summer, spawning a fleet of progressively dreadful sequels and knockoffs, turning a elemental food into a movie monster, and a twelve since “Sharknado” turned the monster into a joke. Sharks had been swimming successful the civilization earlier that, to beryllium sure, often with the prefix “man-eating” appended, though men devour sharks too, and mode much often — truthful who’s the existent apex predator? And adjacent though they are not arsenic people cute arsenic our cousins the dolphins and whales — I person ne'er heard of 1 balancing a shot connected its chemoreceptor — they person besides been made adorable arsenic plush toys and cartoon characters.

“All the Sharks,” premiering Friday connected Netflix, is simply a contention amusement successful which 4 teams of 2 vie to photograph the most, and the astir different, taxon of sharks, crossed 2 eight-hour days, and are acceptable escaped successful the waters disconnected Japan, the Maldives, South Africa, Australia, the Bahamas and the Galapagos Islands. And, brother, are determination a batch of varieties — hammerhead shark, walking shark, whale shark, tawny caregiver shark, pajama shark, pelagic thresher, tiger shark, tasselled wobbegong shark, puffadder shy shark, babe shark, mommy shark and daddy shark, to sanction but a few. (There are 124 taxon of sharks successful Japanese waters, we’re told, and 200 disconnected South Africa.) Points are awarded according to the rarity oregon abundance of the taxon successful each location. These sharks are neither monsters nor jokes, though astatine slightest 1 contestant finds the banded houndshark “freaking adorable … their small feline eyes, their subterminal mouth.”

As competitions go, it is friendly, similar “The Great British Baking Show” oregon “MasterChef Junior.” There’s nary mode to sabotage your opponents, nary strategy past guessing wherever the sharks mightiness beryllium running, eating oregon hanging out. The purse — $50,000 — goes to the winners’ chosen marine charity, though prizes are besides awarded to the top-scoring squad successful each episode. (Cool gear, seaside vacations.) Winning is not truthful overmuch the constituent arsenic conscionable staying successful arsenic agelong arsenic imaginable — due to the fact that it’s fun. Sometimes things don’t spell a team’s way, but nary 1 has a atrocious attitude.

“All the Sharks” is hosted by Tom “The Blowfish” Hird, acold left. The competitors are Randy Thomas, Rosie Moore, Aliah Banchik, MJ Algarra, Dan Abbott, Sarah Roberts, Brendan Talwar and Chris Malinowski.

(Netflix)

Naturally they are good-looking, due to the fact that this is television, and fit, due to the fact that you request to beryllium to bash this; astir person nonrecreational expertise successful fishy, watery oregon chaotic things. (They surely cognize their sharks.) Brendan (marine biologist) and Chris (fisheries ecologist) are a squad called the Shark Docs. Aliah (marine biologist specializing successful stingrays — which are intimately related to sharks, did you know?) and MJ, identified arsenic an avid spearfisher and shark diver, comprise Gills Gone Wild; they met astatine a “bikini formation cleanup” and person been besties ever since. British Bait Off are Sarah (environmental journalist) and Dan (underwater cameraman), who similar a cupful of tea. And finally, determination are the Land Sharks, Randy and Rosie. Dreadlocked Randy, a wildlife biologist, says, “I was ever 1 of the lone Black guys successful my classes … I got that each the time: ‘Oh, you’re doing that achromatic lad stuff’ and it’s conscionable like, ‘No, I’m doing worldly that I love.’” Rosie, an ecologist who specializes successful apex predators, wants to amusement girls it’s “OK to beryllium badass … enactment with these brainsick animals, get down and dirty.” She tin clasp her enactment for 5 minutes.

The amusement has been produced with the accustomed tics of the genre: comments presented successful the contiguous tense that could lone person been taped later; melodramatic euphony and editing; the “hey ho uh-oh” communicative framing of big, large big Tom “The Blowfish” Hird, with his braided pirate’s beard, whose website identifies him arsenic a “heavy metallic marine biologist.” Footage of large achromatic sharks — the assortment “Jaws” made celebrated — is inserted for the thrill factor, but nary are coming.

But immoderate massaging has been applied, “All the Sharks” is existent enough. The contestants woody with unsmooth seas, beardown currents, jellyfish and sundry venomous creatures, intruding fishermen, constricted air, sinus crises, adaptable visibility and unexpected orcas. And the sharks — who bash not look peculiarly funny successful the humans, arsenic determination is nary deficiency of acquainted luncheon options — bash sometimes get successful great, unsettling profusion. (There’s a crushed “shark-infested waters” became a phrase.) Meanwhile, the water itself plays its ungovernable part. In their enveloping blueness, dotted with colorful food and coral reefs, the undersea scenes are, successful fact, rather meditative. (Humans determination dilatory down there.) Someone describes it arsenic similar being wrong a surface saver.

In the bargain, we larn not a small spot astir shark behaviour and biology, and determination is an implicit, sometimes explicit, conservation theme. Each encountered taxon gets a graphic describing not lone its length, value and lifespan but the grade to which it is oregon isn’t endangered — and, bittersweet to say, galore are.