Sharks are really, really cool.
鲨鱼的确很酷
They've been around about 400 million years.
它们大约四亿年前就已经生活在地球上了
There's over 400 species of them,
鲨鱼种类超过400种
and they even have the ability to detect electromagnetic fields in the water.
它们甚至能够检测到水里的电磁场
All of which is why it's so baffling that Discovery Channel's Shark Week has so little biology in it.
正因为如此，《探索频道》拍摄的《鲨鱼周》很少符合生物学知识这一点才让人感到无比困惑
Recently, it's become more like a reality tv show than a series of nature documentaries.
最近，《探索频道》变得越来越像是一部电视真人秀，而不是自然纪录片了
And in the past two years, it's veered into really weird territory,
过去的两年里，《探索频道》逐渐走向了一个非常古怪的领域
with Discovery Channel actually deceiving viewers about sharks.
他们制作的鲨鱼系列影片其实是在欺骗观众
It wasn't always like this.
事实很少是那样
Back in 1988 when it started, by all accounts the shows were great and educational.
早在1988年《探索频道》刚推出的时候，大家一致认为，他们的节目水平非常高，也很有教育意义
But slowly it's become more and more sensational.
但慢慢地它就开始走肾了
In the last few years, most of its shows have been about Great Whites attacking humans.
在过去的几年里，《探索频道》大部分都是关于大白鲨袭击人类的内容
Surely there's something thrilling about that.
的确，这类节目非常震撼
But there's something backwards about it too.
但它也有一些缺点
Shark attacks are really rare.
鲨鱼其实很少攻击人类
And in truth, we're a bigger threat to sharks than they are to us.
事实上，人对鲨鱼的威胁其实比鲨鱼对人的威胁更大
These shows about shark attacks are great for making people scared of sharks.
这些关于鲨鱼攻击人类的节目的确能让人对鲨鱼产生恐惧

They don't do much for making people care about them.
但他们并没有让大家更关心鲨鱼的生存状况
Now if Shark Week was just sensationalized, that might be disappointing but tolerable.
《鲨鱼周》只会博人眼球，这一点虽然有点令人失望，但还可以容忍
But last year, Discovery Channel entered new territory, completely making up a story.
但是，去年，《探索频道》开辟了一个新的领域——编故事
They aired a documentary with a scientist
他们联合一名科学家拍了一个纪录片
who told us that there was a 100-foot shark called Megalodon roaming the oceans,
这名科学家告诉我们，海洋里有一条长达100英尺的巨齿鲨
and it killed 4 people off the coast of South Africa last year.
这条鲨鱼去年在南非海岸杀死了4个人
Zoom in. Once more. And to the right.
放大，再放大，往右
I know it's kind of blurry but look at that. Look at that. That's a fin!
我知道画面看不太清，但你们看，你们看，那个就是它的鳍
But here's the thing.
然而问题是
The scientist was an actor, the footage was faked, and the deaths didn't even happen.
这名科学家其实是一个演员，那个镜头是假的，并且根本没有人被杀死
Viewers had no way of knowing this.
观众没办法获取这一真相
There was just a disclaimer saying that the scenes were dramatized.
节目组也只发布了一个免责申明，声称镜头有进行戏剧处理
All shark researchers agree that megalodon went extinct 2 million years ago,
鲨鱼研究人员纷纷表示，巨齿鲨早在200万年前就已经灭绝了
but an online poll afterwards showed that 73% of viewers thought it was real.
但节目播出后的一项网络调查显示，有73%的观众以为巨齿鲨真的存在
This was the highest rated episode in Shark Week history,
这集节目创下了《鲨鱼周》开播以来的最高播放记录
which is probably why Discovery is doubling down with fake shark programming this year.
这很可能就是《探索频道》今年为什么在制作假的鲨鱼节目上投入翻倍的原因
First, in a promo, they hoaxed viewers by claiming there was a shark in Lake Ontario,
首先，在一个预告片里，他们就欺骗观众说安大略湖有鲨鱼
which they had to admit was fake after Canadian officials believed it and started getting worried.
信以为真的加拿大政府官员慌了起来，《探索频道》才不得不承认那是假的
Then they kicked things off with a new fake documentary, Shark of Darkness,
接下来他们又张罗起了另一个假纪录片——《黑暗之鲨》
about a non-existant 35-foot white shark.
讲述的是一条根本不存在的35英尺长的大白鲨
What made this incident particularly horrifying was that the attacks were captured on camera.
这一事件尤其令人恐怖的是，这条鲨鱼发动袭击时有相机记录了下来
Featuring another fake scientist from a fake research institute,
他们拍摄的是一个并不存在的研究机构的一名并不存在的科学家
blaming a fake shark for a death that didn't happen.
还怪罪了一条并不存在的鲨鱼发动了一次并不存在的袭击
Finally, they're following up with a Megalodon sequel that claims to have new evidence.
最后，他们还对巨齿鲨系列进行跟进，声称他们有了新线索
The worst part about all of this?
这件事情最糟糕的部分在哪里？
Discovery viewers have a real appetite for actual science.
《探索频道》的观众都是真心热爱真科学的
When the channel debuted BBC's series, Life,
BBC系列纪录片《生命》在《探索频道》首播以后
it got over 11 million viewers, more than twice as many as megalodon.
就收获了1100万的点击量，比巨齿鲨的点击量高出了两倍还多
Discovery calls itself the world's #1 nonfiction media company.
《探索频道》自称是世界上最优秀的纪实传媒公司
But it's apparently decided that the natural world isn't interesting enough for TV.
然而，显然，他们觉得，对拍电视而言，自然世界还不够有趣