CREATIVE SHOWCASE

The site features games, information about shark conservation, a virtual dive experience, the anatomy of a shark, the latest shark headlines, shark attack stories and a popular viral featured called "Shark Yourself," where users can upload photos and manipulate the image by adding shark teeth and other shark features.

Robin Bennefield, executive producer, interactive media at Discovery Communications, explained that the Shark Week site was to be the online representation of this year's Shark Week programming, as well as the ultimate resource for shark information, conservation issues and general shark fun.

While the site has been around since the start of Shark Week, the team tried to match the on-air and marketing theme of the week.

"The design of the site is the continuation of the on-air spot where beachgoers rush into the water to see sharks," Bennefield said. "Our site picks up with a pair of young shark fans snorkeling for a closer view of the sharks. Boy, are they excited about Shark Week."

The team built upon existing content from last year. "With Sharkrunners, [a game on the site] we knew we had access to all the data that the scientists from the 'Mysteries of the Shark Coast' were using, and we wanted to make a direct tie between the show and the game," Bennefield said. "So this took lots of close collaboration with shark biologist Richard Fitzpatrick from the show."

Bennefield said the results exceeded the team's expectations.

"The game is a great tie to programming, and Shark Yourself is a great tie to marketing, so I think we were able to provide a little something for everyone," she said. "We are also proud to support a blog with the Ocean Conservancy to tackle current shark conservation issues. The Shark Week site is meant to live beyond Shark Week, and I think we've been successful at creating an experience for viewers and fans of sharks beyond the programming... We've taken this a step further with the creation of a new Shark Guide, which is a central repository for all the shark information, stories, video, games and interactive experiences that we've created over the years. We will continue to add to the guide so that it continues to grow as a resource for the fans of sharks and for each Shark Week to come."

But did Shark Week's site give fans all that they wanted, or did it leave them swimming for the shore? Our panelists weigh in.
-- Nanette Marcus, cover stories editor, iMedia Connection

• There have only been seven fatal shark attacks in the U.S. from 2000-2006.
• The Bull Nose shark has 13 rows of upper teeth.
• Great Whites can dive down to 4,420 feet.

To me, that's what a shark site is all about -- amazing facts about an amazing animal.

Discovery Channel's site does a good job of delivering this info, plus a lot more. There's pretty much something here for everyone, whether you're six or 60. In particular, I found the Virtual Dive the most engaging part of the site. It's a very simple game-like interface that shows you which sharks go to what depths in the ocean. The relative scale and supporting facts give good context to the information.

Beyond Virtual Dive, there's a shark video mash-up tool, a real-time shark tracking tool, a shark attack map, Shark Yourself photo manipulation tool and a lot more. More than I can list.

In fact, one issue I had with the site was the organization of the information. There's so much content that it becomes difficult to go back and find something again.

There's also a content partnership with How Stuff Works. That's smart because HSW has good content, and I'm glad to see that Discovery is not feeling like it has to build everything from scratch when there are mutually beneficial partnership possibilities.

I might have pushed the shark video content a little more up front, as that's the real hook for the show. And surrounding the Shark Week content is a highly cluttered looking site that has none of the elegance that viewing experiences like Hulu are now providing visitors.

But in the same way that Shark Week delivers endless shows covering almost every aspect of sharks you could imagine, this site does that as well. And that's what Shark Week is all about.
-- Doug Schumacher, president and creative director, Basement, Inc.

Full disclosure -- I hate sharks. They scare me.

So, when I learned that the Discovery Channel was bringing back Shark Week, I was already battening down the hatches (read: imparting my fear of the toothy beasts to the SS Estrin's entertainment director: TiVo).

While I won't be watching Shark Week on the Discovery Channel, I was impressed by its website.

For starters, the site was actually useful for a guy who wants nothing to do with sharks. There's a pretty cool interactive map that gives the locations and details of shark attacks worldwide. Luckily, Aruba, where I'll be this August, isn't a place where I'm likely to hear the phrase: "We're gonna need a bigger boat."

Of course, I realize that most people want to know where the sharks are, and once again the site doesn't disappoint, offering loads of information about every species known to man. There is shark trivia, news, and even a tool that lets you make your own shark documentary. Take that, Jacques Cousteau!

But the most intriguing (read: terrifying) feature of the site is the Shark Runners game, which allows you to captain a research vessel. What's interesting about this game is that it happens even when you're away from your computer. Users can plot a course for sharks and receive an email when their boat comes bow-to-teeth with the beast. But beware those who ignore their emails -- users have a limited amount of time to log back in and resolve the encounter. Talk about creating a campaign that makes you scared not to watch.

The other site tool that caught my attention was the Shark Yourself application. I guess this is about embracing your fears, but the truth is that unlike similar apps (Simpsonize me anyone?) it just doesn't look cool. Maybe it's because you're trying to fit a mouth full of shark teeth onto your face, or maybe they just need some better technology here, but the Discovery Channel mockup is about 20,000 leagues better than any image uploaded by the users. So, I'm not sure my Facebook friends will suddenly turn into a pack of sharks the way the MySpace crowd became residents of Springfield. For me, that's a good thing -- for the Discovery Channel, it's a missed opportunity to take a bite out of Facebook.
-- Michael Estrin, deputy editor, iMedia Connection