Bring your chums to SharkFest

SharkFest party, new Imax movie aim to make ocean predators less scary, more understood

To some people, a shark is a maritime menace, a prowling presence lurking beneath the waves. Sharks are to be feared and avoided as the toothy stuff of nightmares.

“It’s a perception of the unknown — a fear of the unknown — that drives people’s concerns about sharks,” says Thom Demas, Tennessee Aquarium director of aquatic collection and life support systems.

“While they are apex predators in their environment, sharks really serve a very specific role in keeping the ocean healthy and clean,” Demas says.

The Aquarium will spotlight these misunderstood fish during SharkFest on Friday, Aug. 3, a top- to- bottom shark bonanza that begins on t he Aquarium pl a za. There, guests will search for shark teeth, snap selfies with a costumed shark, nosh on some Great White Scoops from Cold Stone Creamery and get styled with sharktastic fin hairdos, face paint and tattoos.

Inside the Ocean Jour- ney building, visitors will encounter numerous stations and characters offering fun insights into all aspects of shark life.

› Cowboy Kyle will share facts about shark eggs and the many touchable sharks of Stingray Bay.

› Big-top Bernie’s Traveling Shark Show will feature preserved shark specimens.

› Goofy Greg will return with his jaw-some collection of teeth, including some impressive chompers of the extinct Megalodon.

› Learn about sand tiger and sandbar sharks in an educational dive show, then watch them enjoy a snack during a special feeding.

› Feel the firm, sandpaper-like hide of tiny coral catsharks and epaulette sharks in Stingray Bay.

Combined with educational dive shows, these moments will highlight sharks’ amazing characteristics and reveal their crucial role in maintaining healthy oceans.

Across the street, the Imax 3D Theater will host screenings of underwater documentary “Shark Clans” at 5 and 6 p. m. Recorded and produced by Chattanooga-based Nature Films Network, this film focuses on the research of famed shark conservationist Rodney Fox into the social interaction of great white sharks prowling waters off South Australia’s Neptune Islands.

A great white almost killed Fox in 1963, but instead of avoiding sharks, he committed his life to better understanding and protecting them. Through years of meticulous documentation of great whites while visiting the Neptune Islands, he and his crew discovered that groups — or clans — of these massive sharks return to the islands year after year, i ncluding super- sized sharks reaching lengths of 17 feet or more.

Demas hopes visitors will leave SharkFest or a “Shark Clans” screening with a greater respect for sharks, but also a diminished fear of them.

“I think events l i ke SharkFest a bsolutely help dispel myths about sharks,” he says. “It’s an evening when all t he attention and focus is on these amazing animals and creating opportunities for guests to learn about them and maybe understand them a little bit more.”

Tickets to SharkFest are free for Aquarium members, $ 9.50 for nonmembers ages 3-12 or $ 14.50 for nonmember adults. Screenings of “Shark Clans” are at 5 and 6 p.m. Tickets are $8 and are available on a first-come, first-served basis.

For more information or to purchase tickets for SharkFest: community. tnaqua.org/events/memberprograms/summer/2018/ SharkFest-2018.

PHOTO BY ANDREW FOX Filming of “Shark Clans” near the Neptune Islands.