Since Steven Spielberg's original Jaws came out in 1975 the media has portrayed the shark as a terrifying, ruthless killer in order to fuel the public's attraction to the terrifying predator of the seas. But the real cruelty lies in the slaughter of these endangered, threatened and vulnerable creatures - at the hands of man - for sport, soup and pharmaceuticals. This negative portrayal has led to misleading the masses, resulting in deceptive insinuations about the nature of sharks and their importance to the balance of our essential marine ecosystems.

Shockingly, a primary contributor to this poor representation of these key species is the Discovery Channel, a TV channel dedicated to nature who should be leading conservation efforts and educating the public around the world. The ratings-led programming of Shark Week, now in its 25th year of airtime, relies on sensationalism and violent depictions, rather than relaying essential information and supporting conservation.

Shark Week, was initially conceived to help generate respect for sharks, however, the current programming relies on feeding viewer's thrill for fear and promoting violence against man. The information provided is biased against the shark species, rather than impartial and objective towards these over-exploited creatures. Even a brief infomercial between programmes giving out facts and numbers about these fast-dwindling populations, or one positive conservation based programme amongst Air Jaws Apocalypse, Sharkzilla, How Sharks Fight and Shark Week's 25 Best Bites, would be sufficient in communicating vital information to the numerous fans of Shark Week.

Discovery should have a duty towards addressing the extinction issue facing many shark species, highlighting the fact that our ignorance is leading to the deaths of 73 million sharks last year – rather than focusing on the 15 human deaths in the same time frame.