The block is featured annually in the summer, and was originally devoted to conservation efforts and correcting misconceptions about sharks.

In 2000, Discovery Channel aired Shark Week Uncaged presented by famous zoologist Nigel Marven as a host.

Six million 3D Pulfrich glasses were distributed to viewers in the United States and Canada for an episode featuring an extinct giant shark, which had 3D segments.

That year, a 446-foot-long (136 metres) inflatable great white shark named Chompie was hung from the Discovery Channel's Silver Spring, Maryland headquarters.

The 20th anniversary included the launch of Sharkrunners, a video game that uses GPS data from tagged sharks in the Pacific Ocean.

The purpose of Shweekend was to increase the shark-related content from previous years and to prolong the summer's shark coverage.

[9] Since then, Discovery has increasingly been accused of using junk science, pushing dubious theories, creating fake stories, and misleading scientists as to the nature of the documentaries being produced.

[10][11] In early 2015, Discovery President Rich Ross vowed to remove this type of programming from future Shark Week lineups.

"[13] More criticism was leveled at Discovery in 2017 when the network heavily promoted a race between Olympic gold medal winner Michael Phelps and a great white shark that turned out to be computer generated, but based on actual speeds of such animals, and Phelps wearing illegal swim gear.

Of the 272 Shark Week programs produced, 43% had titles using words with negative connotations in context (such as "attack", "fear", "deadly").

The relative proportion of in-context negative titles is stable through time, rising at the same rate as the overall number of shows.

In contrast, actual shark science is oriented more towards methodical research related to life history and reproduction, which are more practical for conservation work.

Of the people labelled as "experts" or authorities by Shark Week programs, 41% have over 26 peer-reviewed publications, while 23% lack any contribution to the scientific literature.

Some species with extensive scientific literature are rarely featured, such as bonnetheads (Sphyrna tiburo), sandbar sharks (Carcharhinus plumbeus), and the spiny dogfish (Squalus acanthias).