Where's Marty? Learning about sharks at the National Aquarium
Hi Everyone!
Last week was "Shark Week" in America. What a cultural phenomenon! What started out, simply, as a themed week on Discovery Channel is now something all of America talks about. I think many major outlets did something either on air or online last week about sharks. They hold our fascination. And have for a while.
"Jaws" was released in 1975. Its promotional tag line -- "Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water" -- became a national catchphrase.
On November 4, 1979, "Jaws" made its network TV debut on the ABC Sunday Night Movie. WJZ, at that time, was an ABC station. I was doing weekend weather on the Sunday night 11 p.m. newscast anchored by Richard Sher. Because it was the November rating sweeps, ABC ran a blockbuster and the ratings for that movie leading into our newscast were basically this: 9 out of every 10 TVs on in Charm City were watching "Jaws."
So, "Shark Week" was last week, but why let go so soon. Today "Where's Marty?" had our own Shark Day and went to the National Aquarium in Baltimore where the "show stopper" has been its shark reef since it opened.
The curator of the "Blue Wonders" exhibit, Jay Bradley, joined us and discussed the shark. In our second half-hour, he got specific about the Chesapeake Bay. Did you now that two different species of shark use the Bay as a breeding ground due to the abundance of food available? Yep, it's true. Catch that interview.
Shark attacks are more than rare in the Bay, almost non-existent. But it just points out how important our Chesapeake Bay is to the ecosystem worldwide.
On Friday, more about our maritime lifestyle, or to be more precise, more about a boat that used to be in the water but that now sits in parking lot just north of the Beltway.
Marty B!