Are you watching Shark Week? You should be!

���� Tonight I raced through the usual Wednesday night mopfest so I could get home by nine to see "Robo Shark," on the Discovery Channel. And it was totally worth it. There was a little confusion as to what footage came from Robo Shark, since some had a little camera crosshair and some didn't; also, who shot the footage of Robo Shark? But who cares -- what we get to see is amazing. Several times I actually slid off the couch onto my knees, whispering to myself, "Amazing!"

���� There was a scene looking up through deep deep water -- you can see light, but you can't see where the surface is -- and this huge volume of water is filled with hammerhead sharks. The narrator said five hundred. Hammerhead sharks, snaking in all directions, wall-to-wall, as far as the eye can see. This scene should be made mandatory in the public schools.

���� There was also some footage of the famous flying sharks -- great whites leaping out of the water, snatching seals mid-leap. Leaps straight up, leaps straight forward, spinning sidehack leaps. Incredibly huge, strong sharks. They're bigger and stronger than anything you've seen.

���� In another scene, there's a sardine migration off the coast of South Africa. Millions of sardines. First come the dolphins. They come in packs, with an exciting trumpet accompaniment. When they arrive at the miles-long sardine stream, they start a coordinated whip-swimming that pushes the fish toward the surface. They also blow curtains of bubbles that corral the fish. It's very fast and exciting.
���� Meanwhile, sharks have heard the dolphins' signals, and have trailed them to the site. The sharks also hunt cooperatively, racing side-by-side into the cloud of sardines. I'm pretty sure these are great whites. It was so exciting I don't remember. There was also a big bronze whaler? shark, that joined this frenzy of dolphins and sharks chasing sardines and dolphins avoiding sharks. Camera cuts to the surface and you can see bodies of sea creatures thrashing about everywhere.
���� Then, gannets. Birds swoop in and crash into the water -- plunge several feet in, come up with fish. It's incredible. These are birds leaving the air zone and entering a water zone full of feeding sharks. Insane.
���� Robo Shark really outdid himself on this mission: millions of sardines, teams of acrobatic dolphins, gangs of thuggish sharks and daredevil seabirds in an amazing action scene with trumpets. Five stars. Terrific job, Robo Shark.

���� In the end, Robo Shark dies. He gets eaten by a great white. He sinks to the ocean floor, a nonfunctioning debris, fiberglass and plastic. His legacy though, lives on. Watch again on Sunday night at five -- "Robo Shark" on the Discovery Channel.

���� Shark Week has always been a terrific idea. I love it, my brothers love it, our cousin Doug loves it. Which reminds me: I still have to start the family chain letter.


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