The Santa Monica Pier is all in a frenzy for Shark Week. All weekend long, leading up to Discovery’s annual programming on Sunday, the Pier will feature a Shark Park, beach cleanup, and a thrilling Shark Week light program on the Pacific Wheel.
The activities begin Friday night where guests can look to the skies and see hammer heads and white sharks swim across the face of the 130-foot-high Pacific Wheel. This unique light program is a first-of-its kind for Pacific Park who hopes to bring awareness for ocean conservancy through education from our partners Discovery Channel and Heal the Bay. The program will run from dusk till midnight all weekend long. If you are unable to make it to the West side, you can always view Pacific Park’s light programs on our live cams.
Saturday and Sunday, Pier visitors can experience Discovery’s ‘Shark Park’. Taking over the Central Plaza next to Pier Burger, there will be a shark-inspired landscape featuring 4 species of sharks. Each is designed and fabricated out of upcycled and recycled materials often found washed ashore. The materials will add to the visual interest of the sculptures and drive a message of conservation to raise awareness about keeping the earth’s oceans, home to sharks the world over, safe for years to come. Guests are encouraged to share this Instagrammable Shark Park with hashtag #sharkweek.
Also on Saturday, Shark Week will be hosting beach cleanups with Ocean Conservancy at beaches nationwide including Rockaway Beach in New York, the Santa Monica Pier in Los Angeles, Osterman Beach in Chicago, South Point Pier Park in Miami and Beverly Triton Beach in Annapolis. Shark fans can head to oceanconservancy.org/shark-week-2018 and RSVP to a cleanup in their area. Pacific Park is giving free rides on the Pacific Wheel for the first 100 participants in the beach cleanup here in Santa Monica. Heal the Bay is organizing the cleanup locally. In addition, Heal the Bay’s Santa Monica Pier Aquarium will have Shark Week-themed activities all week including the chance to watch baby shark hatch, interact with swell sharks and horn sharks, and learn more about these fascinating creatures that swim just beneath the Pier.
And of course shark fans can enjoy Shark Frenzy anytime at Pacific Park. One of the Park’s newest rides, Shark Frenzy takes the ocean’s most recognizable inhabitants and adapts them into the “Tilt-A-Whirl” ride concept. The ride features seven whirling cars on tilting platforms, with guests sitting in the jaws of the ocean’s most iconic sharks including the Blue, Bull, Great White, Lemon, Mako, Sand Tiger and Tiger species. Riders are moved in a circular motion while revolving around and sent side-to-side in sudden, unpredictable movements.
Dates and Times
- Friday, July 20 – Saturday, July 22, 8 PM nightly – See sharks swim across the Ferris wheel
- Saturday, July 21, 9:30 AM – Beach cleanup starting at the Santa Monica Pier Aquarium; register online
- Saturday, July 21 – Sunday, July 22, 11 AM-9PM – Shark Park art installation (200 Santa Monica Pier)
- Sunday, July 22 – Sunday, July 29, 7:00PM nightly – Shark Week on Discovery and at Discovery.com
About The Santa Monica Pier Aquarium
See what Heal the Bay’s work is all about at the Santa Monica Pier Aquarium: protecting the animals that call the Bay home. With over 100 local species on exhibit, hands-on activities, and daily educational programs, the Santa Monica Pier Aquarium is the perfect place to be immersed in marine science without getting your feet wet. The Aquarium is home to over 100 local marine species including sharks, rays, eels, and sea horses. There is a nominal fee to enter, but kids are always free. The Aquarium is also a popular place for schools and camps to visit and learn more about conservation of Southern California coastal waters, watersheds and marine life through education, interaction and discovery.
Shark Week
Shark Week, television’s longest-running event takes a bite out of summer for its 30th anniversary, premiering Sunday July 22 at 7:00PM ET/PT and continuing through Sunday, July 29. After three decades and hundreds of shows, Shark Week 2018 celebrates this milestone with an all-star lineup of athletes and celebrities including Shaquille O’Neal, Ronda Rousey, Aaron Rodgers, Rob Gronkowski, Lindsey Vonn, Mark Cuban, Barbara Corcoran, Kevin O’Leary, Daymond John, Guy Fieri and Bear Grylls. In addition, Shark Week’s team of renowned scientists deliver all-new groundbreaking shark stories incorporating innovative research technology to reveal compelling insight into the mysterious world of sharks. Finally, Shark Week 2018 will feature the most hours of shark programming ever on Discovery Channel with over twenty hours of celebrity surprises and jaws-dropping shark stories.
Check out Shark Week 2018’s full list of shows at Discovery.com.
About Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel is dedicated to creating the highest quality non-fiction content that informs and entertains its consumers about the world in all its wonder, diversity and amazement. The network, which is distributed to 100.8 million U.S. homes, can be seen in 224 countries and territories, offering a signature mix of compelling, high-end production values and vivid cinematography across genres including, science and technology, exploration, adventure, history and in-depth, behind-the-scenes glimpses at the people, places and organizations that shape and share our world.