Latest news with #Bergeron
Forbes
18 hours ago
- Business
- Forbes
This Rum Can Help You Make Trader Vic's-Style Mai Tais
There's more than one way to skin a cat, the saying goes, and there's also more than one way to make an authentic Trader Vic's Mai Tai. I won't get into the cat-skinning details, never having attempted to skin one myself, but I've made — and consumed — plenty of Mai Tais over the years, and have been an avid student of how to make a proper one. For me, and many a rum enthusiast, a 'proper' Mai Tai is synonymous with that made by 'Trader Vic' Bergeron. The original, most famous, and perhaps most unknowable of all its iterations is the original, created on the fly by Vic for a couple of Tahitian friends in 1944. Nowadays, it's probably cheaper to create a time machine than it is to buy a bottle of the now-legendary J. Wray & Nephew 17 Year Old Jamaican rum used to make the original Mai Tai. Appleton Estate, where Wray & Nephew 17 is said to have been produced, released a one-off recreation using the identical marques, or distillates, in 2023. It was, predictably, snapped up by rum nerds and cocktail geeks in a matter of nanoseconds, and a bottle on the secondary market will run you well north of $1,000 nowadays. Not, therefore, exactly a viable option for whipping up a Mai Tai. My crushed ice game is not great but this Trader Vic's-style Mai Tai was delicious. Photo by Tony Sachs Today's Mai Tais served at the remaining Trader Vic's locations are, while tasty, a far cry from the original, employing multiple 80-proof rums of unknown provenance — unknown to us, at least, if not to Trader Vic's insiders and higher-ups. So what's an aspiring Mai Tai-ologist to do? Believe it or not, Trader Vic himself encountered the same problem. The original 1944 Mai Tai proved so popular that Wray & Nephew ran out of 17 year old rum to sell to Trader Vic's. Bergeron rejiggered the formula with W & N's 15 year old rum; once supplies of that started running low, he blended it with other Jamaican rums like Red Heart and Coruba. Eventually the 15 year old, like the 17 before it, became completely unavailable. It was at that point, in the mid 1950s, that he reworked the recipe again. According to Kevin Crossman, who runs The Search For The Ultimate Mai Tai website, 'problems with consistent quality in the other Jamaican London Dock Rums caused Trader Vic to make private arrangements, in the interest of high quality, to blend and bottle a Jamaican rum under his own label and control. Consistent quality was maintained in both a 15- and 8-year aging.' Joy Spence, master blender at Appleton Estate, has said on the record that the blend was made by Wray & Nephew at Appleton Estate at least until 1981. But wait, there's more! Vic Bergeron himself wrote a 1970 treatise, Let's Set the Record Straight on the Mai Tai . In it, he says, his blend, 'though excellent, didn't exactly match the end flavor of the original 17-year-old product. This desired nutty and snappy flavor was added by the use of a Martinique rum.' Martinique rum (or rhum, as the French spell it) is equated nowadays with rhum agricole , which is distilled from cane juice rather than molasses and has its own, very distinctive flavor. Back in the '50s, though, rhum agricole was all but unknown in the States. The rum exported from Martinique was distilled from molasses. (Props must be given here to the great rum writer/historian Matt Pietrek, whose research on the topic can be found at his Rum Wonk blog and, frankly, throughout much of this very article). I managed to find a vintage 1950s bottle of Rhum Negrita, a Martinique molasses rum mentioned by name in Trader Vic's books of the era (today it's a bottom-shelf Caribbean blend that's nothing like what it was back then). It's quite dark, doubtlessly through the addition of caramel coloring, and it has an intense, burnt-sugar flavor that's more reminiscent of a Guyana rum than a rhum agricole. Today, the tables have turned, and in recent years it's been all but impossible to find a rum from Martinique that isn't a rhum agricole. But Holmes Cay, a New York-based independent bottler that's been hunting down and releasing great rums from around the world since 2019, has given us the next best thing. Its recently released Réunion Island Rum Traditionnel comes from the French island of Réunion, in the Indian Ocean, whose molasses rum is a close cousin to that which comes from Martinique. Holmes Cay has released two other rums from Réunion, but this is the first aged expression. Holmes Cay's Réunion Island Rum Traditionnel is an essential piece in the Trader Vic's Mai Tai puzzle. Photo by Tony Sachs Tropically aged for three years in ex-cognac casks, it's bottled at 46% ABV, a touch above the 44% of vintage Negrita. It's lighter in both color and flavor than the Negrita, but it's got the same basic vanilla-cinnamon-burnt sugar notes to it. To give it a little extra 'oomph' in my Mai Tai, I added a touch of Guyana rum — coincidentally or not, also bottled by Holmes Cay. Guyana 2018 Versailles was distilled on the legendary Versailles wooden still — it intensifies the flavor of the Réunion rum without altering it, and it's well worth drinking in its own right. Thanks to Holmes Cay, we've ticked the box of the most difficult ingredient to find for our genuine 1950s-style Trader Vic's Mai Tai. So what else do we use for our liquid time machine? According to The Search For The Ultimate Mai Tai, the recipe calls for: 1 ounce Martinique rum. For our purposes, let's make that Réunion Island Rum Traditionnel. I also added a splash, no more than 1/4 ounce, of Guyana rum. 1 ounce Trader Vic's Jamaican rum. We know that it was made at Appleton Estate and was a blend of 15 and 8-year-old rums. So it makes sense to go with Appleton for this component. Joy Spence says the 8-year-old is her go-to in Mai Tais; you can combine their 8 Year and 15 Year expressions to make your own Trader Vic's blend (personally, I like to use their richer, more complex 21 Year Old bottling). Will it taste exactly like what Trader Vic used? Probably not, but it will certainly have the same basic DNA. I would avoid the funky pot still rums from Jamaica, such as Smith & Cross, Doctor Bird, or certain rums from Hampden Estate. They're beloved by many a rum enthusiast, myself included, but their earthy, vegetal flavor profiles aren't appropriate for this endeavor. 1 ounce pre-mixed Curaçao, orgeat & rock candy syrup. What the heck do we do here? First of all, figure out proportions: based on common sense but no hard evidence in particular, I went with a half-ounce of curaçao and a quarter ounce each of orgeat and rock candy syrup. The modern-day Trader Vic's Mai Tai uses Leroux curaçao; I opted for Pierre Ferrand. Pretty much anything goes here, but bottom-shelf brands aren't recommended. As for the orgeat, I went with Latitude 29's, made by Orgeat Works. The famed New Orleans bar is run by Jeff 'Beachbum' Berry, a dedicated scholar of historic tiki cocktails. If it's good enough for him, it's good enough for me. I used Trader Vic's own rock candy syrup, but have since been alerted by drinks writer and fellow Mai Tai obsessive Dylan Ettinger that Vic's is a 1:1 ratio of sugar to water, where the proper old-school ratio is 2:1. This is also known as rich simple syrup, and it's probably easiest just to make your own. The juice of one fresh lime. Most Mai Tai recipes call for one ounce of fresh-squeezed lime juice. Based on personal experience, sometimes I get a full ounce from a single lime. Quite often, I don't. So is it an ounce or not? How about this: squeeze a lime. If it's somewhere in the neighborhood of an ounce, you're good to go. If it's considerably more or less, adjust according to your desired taste. But don't worry about precision here. Pour all the ingredients into a shaker with plenty of ice, shake it until it's pretty damn cold, and then pour it out into the glass of your choice (I prefer Trader Vic's own double rocks glass myself) filled with plenty of shaved ice. Garnish with half of the spent lime shell and a sprig of fresh mint, and you've got yourself a Trader Vic's Mai Tai. Is it an exact replica of the 1944 original? No. Is it totally legit, created and approved by Vic himself? Absolutely. Is it delicious? Oh heck yes.
Chicago Tribune
6 days ago
- Automotive
- Chicago Tribune
Aurora woman among five Kane County residents who get cars through Midas initiative: ‘No one can take that from me'
On Amy Bergeron's first drive in her new car, she blasted Hanson. Not rap music, not the current pop hits. 'MMMBop' is her song of choice. Even though it was July, she turned off the air conditioning, opened the sunroof and rolled down the windows, she recalled. The traffic surrounding Chicago made the first part of the drive slow, she said, but then was able to pick up speed as she got into the suburbs. 'I was hot stuff,' Bergeron, 39, said. 'Probably not if you saw me. You're probably like, 'Oh my God, this woman's weird.' But I was living it up.' This wasn't just Bergeron's new car — it's also the first car she's ever had in her name. Bergeron, who lives in Aurora, is a mother of six, and a veteran. Recently, she was a recipient of a car through a giveaway from a program with Midas called Project Spark. Project Spark is an initiative by Midas giving cars to individuals in need. Midas franchises refurbish and then donate them from time to time across North America. Six Midas franchises — in Tinley Park, Downers Grove, Grayslake, Chicago, Evanston and Barrington — recently participated in a six-car giveaway. The six recipients were given the keys to their new cars at an event at Soldier Field in Chicago on July 2, according to a press release from the public relations firm publicizing the giveaway. The Project Spark program has existed since 2018, according to the PR firm, and the number of events fluctuates from year to year — this year they have 12. There were about 50 submissions for the recent Chicago giveaway, she said. Five of the six recipients from the July giveaway were from Kane County, including Bergeron. Jacob Zimmerman, superintendent of the Kane County Veterans Assistance Commission, said Midas approached the county about the program, looking for nominations for area veterans to apply to get one of the cars. Four of the individuals they recommended ultimately were awarded cars, he said, and another person from the county was also awarded a car. The Veterans Assistance Commission has developed a network of veterans they've helped over the years, Zimmerman said, which helped streamline the process for the Midas program. He said he and his staff in the county keep a list of 'folks who are (in) hard times, that maybe need a little hand up every once in a while.' In addition to pulling from their own connections, they also reached out to other area veterans organizations. 'Just being connected with the community, I think, really was a win here,' he said, saying he hopes the county can participate in the program in the future. Bergeron, for example, has participated in county programs to help her get back on her feet after a yearslong struggle with drug addiction. She served in the Army starting in 2005, working in medical logistics, according to her service records. She was honorably discharged in 2010 with a non-combat disability. Bergeron said she got hurt during her military service, and got addicted to pain medications. She ultimately got into legal trouble over it. In 2015, she was charged with identity theft and attempted unlawful acquisition of a controlled substance for reportedly stealing the name and drug identification number of a medical professional in an attempt to refill fake prescriptions, according to past reporting. 'At that time, I wanted to get clean, I just couldn't do it,' Bergeron told The Beacon-News. 'Like, I couldn't force myself to do it.' It took some time before she got fully clean, she said, and explained that she landed back in court several times after that. But she ultimately got help from Kane County's Veterans Treatment Court, and completed a course and rehabilitation program. She was previously featured in a column for The Beacon-News about the county program. She referred to the identity theft as both the worst and best thing she did, because 'so many good things came from that.' Since then, she's gotten some help from the Kane County Veterans Assistance Commission, like through the recent car giveaway. 'From the point on that I got myself in trouble, they've really been there,' Bergeron said. She also got help from a Montgomery-based program called Veterans Smile, through which she underwent a dental procedure and had her teeth extracted for a set of dentures for which she was featured in another column in The Beacon-News. But she had trouble tolerating the dentures, she said. And then she got pregnant with her youngest child, and was unable to undergo another surgery. But she's going back in for another procedure to hopefully one day get a permanent set of teeth, she said, on Tuesday displaying a text confirmation on her phone about her scheduled appointment. And now she has a car to get her where she needs to go. It's a 2008 Infiniti, she said, with enough seats to hold all six of her children, ages 18, 16, 14, 11, 5 and 1. 'It makes me feel like I'm rich when I drive it,' Bergeron said. Before, Bergeron was able to drive a van owned by the family of her younger children's father, but this is the first car she's ever had in her name, she said. 'No one can take that from me,' Bergeron said. This school year, she'll be able to use her new car to take her children to school and get groceries from the store. She explained that her 5-year-old daughter has nonverbal autism, but she and her daughter's father are going to start doing a homeschooling program with her when she starts school this year, while also taking care of their baby. That means Bergeron may be able to go back to work, she pointed out. Before, she was concerned about not having consistent access to a mode of transportation to get there. She receives some money to pay the bills because of her disability during her military service, but that 'doesn't take care of the sanity,' she said, describing her day-to-day of talking mostly to her children. She hopes that one day she can own her own house. But now, several years clean from drugs, Bergeron's life already looks a lot different than it was — with a car, and the possibility of getting a job someday soon. And she has new hobbies, like tending to the vegetable garden in her back yard. There's cucumbers, corn, bell peppers, tomatoes, zucchini, potatoes, chili peppers and what she thinks is a wild pumpkin. It's one more thing she's gotten since recovering from her addiction. 'I started (gardening) when I started getting sober because it would just give me stuff to do,' Bergeron said. 'And then, when I started paying attention to all this stuff that I'm putting in my body anyway that's killing me, I'm like, 'Well, I can grow my own, and it doesn't have all this stuff in it.' … I just like being healthier.'
Economic Times
20-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Economic Times
Shark Week 2025: When and where to watch on TV and streaming
Shark Week returns for its 37th year, promising another adrenaline-filled lineup of jaw-dropping specials and deep-sea discoveries. As the countdown begins, we've compiled everything you need to know, from when it airs to where to stream, plus the can't-miss highlights that will make waves all week long. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Ocean on Deck: Dates and Key Premieres When: Sunday, July 20 marks the official opening at 8 p.m. ET/PT, continuing nightly through Saturday, July 26. Host Highlight: Emcee Tom Bergeron will front the quirky new special "Dancing with Sharks", which debuts the opening night and features divers engaging in what's billed as an 'underwater dance-off' with sharks. The Star Attractions: Must-Watch Shows Dancing with Sharks: A bold mix of dance and marine interaction, pairing trained divers with sharks in choreographed "performances." It's billed as an 'unprecedented underwater dance competition.' Air Jaws: The Hunt for Colossus: The famed 'Air Jaws' franchise returns with more aerial feats and bigger sharks—prepare for intense surface action. How to Watch Shark Week 202 TV Broadcast Exclusive Channel: Airs nightly on the Discovery Channel. Available through most cable and satellite providers. Streaming Options HBO Max: Following Discovery's merger into the Warner-Discovery ecosystem, many Shark Week specials land on HBO Max ($9.99/month). Discovery+: The Discovery streaming platform is expected to host replay and on-demand content—historically featuring the full Shark Week catalog. Live TV Services: Cord-cutters can tune live via platforms like SlingTV (Blue plan around $45/month), Hulu + Live TV, DirecTV Stream, and YouTube TV. Bundles & Price Notes Entertainment bundles like the Disney+, Hulu, and HBO Max combo ($29.99/month ad-free) provide access across services—ideal if you're looking to binge beyond Shark Week. Watch Discovery Channel content live through cable or live TV streaming plans; HBO Max and Discovery+ let you revisit episodes post-broadcast. Nightly Lineup & Schedule Day Prime Showcase (8 p.m.) Sun, July 20 Dancing with Sharks Mon–Fri, July 21–25 Combination of Air Jaws, expert-led shark dives, scientific deep dives, and specialty stories Sat, July 26 Host picks and encore presentations Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Why Shark Week Still Bites Educational Power: Showcases heart-rate-raising moments while teaching vital facts—about behaviors, ecosystems, threatened species like hammerheads or whale sharks. Conservation Messaging: Emphasises threats such as overfishing and habitat loss. Public Engagement: Celebrity tie-ins, such as Bergeron's hosting role, help draw new audiences to shark awareness. Diving Deeper: Why Timing Matters Long weekends + summer heat: Launching Shark Week amid prime summer ensures high viewership. Launching Shark Week amid prime summer ensures high viewership. Global interest: With options on streaming platforms, both U.S. and international audiences can tune in. FAQs When is Shark Week 2025 scheduled? What channel is Shark Week on? As the mercury rises, cable and streaming platforms are primed to launch Shark Week 2025, marking its 37th annual celebration of these misunderstood marine apex predators. From July 20 to 26, Discovery Channel will once again plunge viewers into a lineup combining scientific insight and adrenaline-pumping entertainment. Here's your guide to how and where to watch, according to a report by Live year's Shark Week leans into high-concept spectacles while continuing its educational mission:Discovery's programming excels at marrying awe with respect for oceanic habitats. The week is both an expedition into shark behavior and an invitation to marvel at these creatures without fast edits or fear-mongering TV guides or Discovery+ as more detailed schedules become available. Each evening lineup delves into different facets of shark life—from breeding and migratory behavior to conservation challenges in warming ongoing evolution in its presentation, Shark Week continues to champion shark conservation and ocean science. The programming is far from sensationalist:Discovery has repeatedly partnered with marine biologists and conservation groups to avoid fear tactics while delivering captivating its debut in 1988, Shark Week has grown to one of television's longest-running themed franchises. Once famed for suspense, it has transitioned toward respected science communication. The 2025 edition promises thrills and purpose: the thrill of predators and the purpose of protecting Week 2025 will air from Sunday, July 20 to Saturday, July 26, with new content premiering nightly at 8 p.m. ET/PT on the Discovery Week airs exclusively on the Discovery Channel via most cable and satellite providers.
New York Post
18-07-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Post
Tom Bergeron on a possible ‘DWTS' return ahead of new shark show
Under the sea. Former 'Dancing With the Stars' host Tom Bergeron, 70, hosts a Shark Week special called 'Dancing With Sharks.' 'I had two reactions,' Bergeron, 70, exclusively told The Post. Advertisement 6 Tom Bergeron on 'Dancing With Sharks.' tombergeron/Instagram 'The first one was, 'What are you smoking?' And the second one was 'Where do I sign?' It was just too much fun an idea to pass up. Plus, as an added incentive, they gave me a little trip to the Bahamas.' He quipped, 'Some of these sharks danced better than some of the humans in the 15 years that I watched couples [on 'Dancing With the Stars']. Sharks don't have stage fright.' Advertisement Airing Sunday, July 20 (8 p.m. ET on Discovery), 'Dancing With Sharks' follows five shark experts as they dance underwater, surrounded by sharks, as Bergeron and a panel of judges (including Allison Holker and comedian Pete Holmes) offer commentary. The Emmy-winning TV host, who also helmed 'Hollywood Squares' from 1998 to 2004 and 'America's Funniest Home Videos' from 2001 to 2015, hosted 'Dancing With the Stars' from 2005 until he was fired from the ABC show in 2020. He was later replaced by Tyra Banks, who hosted just three seasons before her exit. 6 Contestant Jamie Ferguson interacting with a shark in a scene from 'Dancing with Sharks.' AP Advertisement 'I miss the people,' Bergeron said, but he explained that his contract would have taken him to Season 30, 'at which point, I was going to leave on my own timing. So, I only missed two seasons by being fired.' He added, 'Those two seasons, which would have been my final two, all occurred during the pandemic. And I would have hated that, because everything that I loved about the show — the camaraderie, throwing a party for everybody mid-season, hanging out together. You couldn't do any of that.' Looking back on his firing, Bergeron said, 'In hindsight, they kind of did me a favor.' 6 Tom Bergeron on 'Dancing With Sharks.' tombergeron/Instagram Advertisement 6 Tom Bergeron, Tonya Harding, and Sasha Farber on 'Dancing with Sharks.' ABC He added, 'I was able to go out doing the show the way I always did the show. And on that last show. Len [Goodman] and Bruno [Tonioli], Carrie Ann [Inaba] and I had a great time. I have great memories of wrapping it up that way.' Bergeron recalled that he recently had lunch with original 'Dancing with the Stars' showrunner Conrad Green, who is back in that role and is 'the reason the show has righted itself.' On whether he'd ever return, he told The Post: 'At lunch with Conrad, I offered a way that I'd feel comfortable going back for one night. I said, 'I'm not even going to charge you a lot of money. You pay me scale, and then you make a generous contribution to the Motion Picture and Television Fund, and I'll be there.'' 6 Janelle Van Ruiten interacting with a shark in a scene from 'Dancing with Sharks.' AP 6 Tom Bergeron on a 2018 episode of 'Dancing With the Stars.' ABC 'So we'll see. The mirrorball is in their court,' he continued. For now, Bergeron has a newfound interest in sharks. Advertisement 'Don't tell my wife, but now I'm intrigued about at least getting in one of the cages and going underwater and getting up close [with sharks],' he teased. 'The people I've met doing this show have really allayed some of my concerns about doing something like that.' However, he joked, 'It might result in a divorce.'
San Francisco Chronicle
18-07-2025
- Entertainment
- San Francisco Chronicle
Discovery 'Shark Week' has breaching great whites, looks back at 'Jaws' and starts with some dancing
NEW YORK (AP) — Fifty years ago, 'Jaws' unlocked dread in millions about man-eating sharks. This summer, that fear may be somewhat reduced as they become contestants on a TV dance show. Former 'Dancing With the Stars' host Tom Bergeron steps up for a marketing masterstroke by Discovery Channel's 'Shark Week' — 'Dancing with Sharks,' where humans and 20-foot-long hammerhead sharks do a little mambo. 'I had a decade and a half experience of hosting a dance show, but this one was different,' Bergeron tells The Associated Press. 'I'd often thought on 'Dancing With the Stars,' wouldn't it be great if we could incorporate another species? And here I've finally got my dream come true.' In the show, five scuba-diving shark handlers use bait to twirl and guide various sharks into mini-waltzes, in what's being billed as 'the world's most dangerous dance competition.' One contestant wraps his arms around a nerf shark and spoons it. Another takes off her air tank and does a double backflip. A third — a hip-hop loving shark handler — does an old school head spin on the ocean floor as sharks swirl. 'These are some of the best shark handlers in the world. These are people who know the nuances of sharks, know how they move, know how to behave, know how to safely move with them, and they're guiding these sharks along as you would a partner,' says Kinga Philipps, a TV correspondent and one of the three judges. 'It is so fluid and beautiful, all they really had to do is put a little bit of music to it and they're actually dancing.' It's a shark-a-thon 'Dancing with Sharks' kicks off the week of programing, which includes shows on how to survive a shark attack, why New Smyrna Beach in Florida has earned the title of 'The Shark Attack Capital of the World' and whether a mysterious dark-skinned shark off the coast of California is a mako, mutant or possibly a mako-and-great white hybrid. The seven nights of new shows — and a related podcast — ends off the Mozambique coast with a once-a-year feeding frenzy that turns into a showdown between the sharks and their massive prey, the giant trevally. One highlight is Paul de Gelder's 'How to Survive a Shark Attack,' which he has intimate knowledge about. He lost his right hand and leg in 2009 during an attack by a bull shark in Sydney Harbor. 'If you're in the jaws of a shark, you want to fight for all of your life. You want to go for the soft parts. You want go for the eyeball. You want to go for the gills,' he says. 'But if you're not being attacked by a shark and you're just encountering a shark, then you just want to remain calm.' De Gelder debunks one myth: Punching a charging shark will stop its attack. 'If you really want to hurt your own hand, go ahead,' he says. A better approach is to not thrash about and gently redirect the animal. 'The secret I got taught many years ago was don't act like food and they won't treat you like food.' 'Shark Week' has become a key part of the summer holiday TV schedule, a place where humans safe on land can see ancient apex predators unnervingly glide into view and snap open their jaws. This year's highlights also include the hunt for a 20-foot great white that can leap into the air — 'Air Jaws: The Hunt for Colossus' — and a show about male and female great whites competing in a series of challenges to determine which sex is the superior predator, naturally called 'Great White Sex Battle.' Joseph Schneier, senior vice president of production and development at Discovery, says the shows are born from listening to what the diving and science community is seeing, like pro divers moving artistically with the sharks as they fed them, leading to 'Dancing With Sharks.' 'We realized, well, there's something here that we can go further with,' he says. 'We're lucky that sharks continue to surprise us. Which helps us get kind of new stories and new things to focus on. That's been the mantra for us — the sharks are the stars, not the humans.' As always, there is a deep respect for the creatures and strong science beneath the amusing titles, sharky puns, dramatic music and racy titles like 'Frankenshark' and 'Alien Sharks: Death Down Under.' 'It's like putting your vegetables in a dessert,' says Bergeron. 'You get all the allure of a 'Dancing With Sharks' or other specific shows, but in the midst of that you do learn a lot about sharks and ecology and the importance of sharks in the ecosystem. It's all in your strawberry sundae.' Discovery's 'Shark Week' has a rival — National Geographic's 'SharkFest,' which also has hours of sharky content. There's also the unconnected shark horror comedy 'Hot Spring Shark Attack' and a movie earlier this summer that added a serial killer to a shark movie — 'Dangerous Animals.' Born from 'Jaws' 'Shark Week' was born as a counterpoint for those who developed a fear of sharks after seeing 'Jaws.' It has emerged as a destination for scientists eager to protect an animal older than trees. ''Jaws' helped introduce this country and this world to a predator we're all fascinated with,' says Schneier. 'But we also feel 'Jaws' went too far. These are not creatures that are out to hurt humans by any means, but they have had 50-plus million years of evolution to get to this place where they are just excellent predators. It's fun to celebrate just how good they are at their job.' Kendyl Berna, who co-founded the ecology group Beyond the Reef, and is a veteran on 'Shark Week,' says studying the ancient beasts can teach humans about changes to the planet. 'So much of the programming this year speaks to what's happening with the rest of the world — climate change and how much that affects where sharks are and when they're there and what they're eating,' she says. 'As a keystone apex predator, sharks do set the tone for what's happening.' Bergeron says being a part of 'Shark Week' for the first time and meeting some of the divers who interact with sharks has actually made him braver. 'I don't think I'm at a point where I could go down there with them and have the sharks swirling around me without a cage. But with a cage, I think I am ready to do that,' he says. 'Just don't tell my wife.'
