Ocean Mysteries with Jeff Corwin airs Saturday mornings on ABC

Shark research at the Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s (DEP) Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve (RBNERR) will have the national spotlight in an upcoming segment of Ocean Mysteries with Jeff Corwin.  The new production, being launched jointly by the Georgia Aquarium and Litton Entertainment, is part of the Litton Weekend Adventure Saturday morning three-hour educational programming block on ABC. The shark research episode is slated to air nationwide on November 5th at 9:30 am on ABC (Updated).

“We are thrilled that the Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve is being recognized in this production,” said RBNERR director Gary Lytton. “Millions of TV viewers nationwide will have a great opportunity to learn more about sharks and the importance of mangrove estuaries as shark nurseries through our collaboration with Corwin and the Georgia Aquarium.”

As production plans got underway at the Georgia Aquarium, the Ten Thousand Islands shark capture project became the perfect opportunity to put Corwin in close contact with wild sharks. Filming took place aboard a RBNERR research vessel in the Ten Thousand Islands in August 2011 and encountered four sharks:  two lemon (Negaprion brevirostris), a bonnethead (Sphyrna tiburo) and a blacktip (Carcharhinus limbatus). While the cameras rolled, the sharks were measured, weighed and had other data recorded before being tagged and released with Corwin’s assistance and enthusiastic explanation of their significance to the ocean ecosystem.

About Litton’s Weekend Adventure

Litton's Weekend Adventure is a series of six all new series airing on 95 percent of the country's ABC affiliates following Good Morning America in most markets. Litton Entertainment is the preeminent independent distributor in the television industry. Covering marine species and issues facing them around the world, Ocean Mysteries with Jeff Corwin is a 26-episode, half-hour weekly TV series that will be broadcast nationally on Saturday mornings on more than 200 ABC affiliates each week. www.facebook.com/oceanmysteriestv.