Review: 'Alien Sharks: Strange New Worlds'

I am no expert on these things, but I suspect that one of the most difficult challenges in coming up with new Shark Week specials is finding some theme for the footage. Sure, Air Jaws almost writes itself. But what do you with other random stories and footage that don't have obvious hook? Odds are that viewers won't tune in to watch a special called Even More Sharks! or Sharks From A Slightly Different Angle!

Alien Sharks: Strange New Worlds is a great Shark Week special name. Although I don't think I'm spoiling anything by letting you know you won't see any actual alien sharks. Still, it's a fun and sometimes goofy special that also includes some cool footage of some very unusual shark species.

The "alien" part is briefly set up in the special's intro, which mentions that life on Earth may have been created by alien material and viewers are shown something which appears to be an asteroid falling to Earth. And as the narrator explains "life eventually grew to include as many as 1,000 different types of sharks and rays. Many of them ALIEN!"

Now in the context of this special, "alien shark" just refers to some crazy-ass looking type of shark. Which, now that I think about it, would be a pretty great alternative name for this special: Crazy-Ass Sharks!

The special is mostly filmed in the waters around South Africa, which in the summer must be filled with Shark Week producers, shark-related scientific studies and beach-loving divorced men from the Netherlands, France and Germany. 

Wildlife biologist and rare species expert Forrest Galante hosts the special and according to his narration, he's primarily focused on trying to find evidence of the Broad-Nosed Sevengill shark, whose population has declined by more than 60 percent in the past 40 years. Even worse for the species, it is a favorite snack of two killer Orcas -named Port and Starboard - who have migrated into the area and are working their way through the local shark population like hungry kids at an all-you-can eat buffet.

Galante is aided by deep water shark scientist Christine De Silva, who has developed a special deep water camera and sensor that will hopefully make it easier to spot the Sevengill in the deep water canyons off the coast. But this leads to a weird situation in which De Silva appears in the first few minutes of the hour, then is randomly mentioned in passing by Galante as he moves his search from area to area. "While Christine continues to scan the deep waters for the Sevengills, I am in pursuit of..."

To be fair, she does return later in the hour. And along the way, Galante highlights some really cool-looking sharks, although he tries way to hard to fit his narration into the "alien" theme. "That is so inter-galactic!," he'll exclaim when he spots some crazy-ass looking shark. Like the long cylindrical Pajama Cat Sharks, who are captured having what passes for sex when it's happening between two double-length cans of Pringles. His excitement is contagious and I've certainly never seen sharks like those. But I'm not sure I'd describe them as "alien." Well, maybe it's an example of alien shark sex, but that's probably not a good alternative name for the special either.

Galante spends time with all sorts of fish in hopes of spotting a Sevengill, at one point even freediving with seals. Unfortunately for his mission - but luckily for producers - he spots Port and Starboard, the serial killer Orcas of South Africa. 

He finally meets back up with elusive Christine, who shows him some really fascinating footage captured with her deep water equipment. They spot a Leafscale Gulper Shark, which have these incredibly big and creepy eyes which allows it to see under conditions with almost no visible light.

I won't spoil anything by revealing whether or not they eventually track down the elusive Sevengill. But I will say that there are some unexpected twists at the end and Alien Sharks: Strange New Worlds ends up being a fun and breezy watch.

But sadly, no actual aliens were seen by anyone.

Alien Sharks: Strange New Worlds premiered Monday, July 25th 2023 on Discovery.