Sharkfest starts July 2 on National Geographic and lasts throughout the month of July. Disney networks Nat Geo Wild, Nat Geo Mundo, Disney Plus, Hulu and ESPN2 are also taking part. Disney Channel will feature shark content July 8 and 9, Disney XD will feature ten hours of shark stuff July 3-7, and Disney Junior will do so July 3-9. 

Disney Channel, Disney XD, Disney Junior and Nat Geo Kids’ YouTube channels will all have shark-themed shorts beginning July 3.

ABC’s owned stations will feature Sharkfest content from the past year. 

Disney Plus and Hulu will stream every Sharkfest premiere. There are over 22 hours of original programming in this summer’s event, and more than 50 hours of what Nat Geo calls enhanced content. 

Sharkfest ventures from Australia to the Bahamas, South Africa, and Indonesia, among other nations. Stateside, Sharkfest stops in Hawaii, Cape Cod, MA, Florida and New York, among other destinations. 

Premiering July 2 on National Geographic, Disney Plus and Hulu are Bull Shark Bandits, Shark Eat Shark and Saved From a Shark. July 3 features six-episode When Sharks Attack 360, Return of the White Shark and Bull Shark vs. Hammerhead. 

Other Sharkfest highlights include Shark Below Zero on July 5, eight-episode When Sharks Attack … and Why, premiering July 6, and Sharks vs. Dolphins: Bahamas Battleground on July 10.

Sharkfest has been going on for 11 years.  Last year, Nat Geo Wild, Nat Geo Mundo, Disney Plus, Hulu, ABC and ESPN partnered with Nat Geo on Sharkfest.   

In other shark-related summer TV events, Shark Week starts on Discovery July 23. Jason Momoa hosts the 35th edition of Shark Week. “My love of sharks came long before my time as Aquaman — it began several generations before me,” said the actor at the Warner Bros. Discovery upfront presentation. 

Discovery has not yet shared programming plans for the summer event. 

Nat Geo Wild will debut several new animal-focused documentary series in 2019 while continuing to develop high-profile specials and programming stunts, it was announced during National Geographic's  "further front" presentation Wednesday.

“Nat Geo Wild has always been 100 percent dedicated to animals and the people who love them, and our relentless commitment to creating premium content that entertains, inspires and educates viewers of all ages continues to make us the leading destination for wildlife programming,” said Geoff Daniels, executive vice president and general manager of Nat Geo Wild in a statement. “This new programming slate highlights how Nat Geo Wild continues to find innovative ways to push the boundaries of storytelling, and we are confident that these new programs will strike a chord with our viewers.”

Among the new original series the network is developing for next year are Prairie Dog Home Companion, which will follow the exploits of a prairie dog colony near the New Mexico/Colorado border; Babies Diary, which will focus on five animal families – lions, jackals, cheetahs, hyenas and meerkats – as they raise their young in the wilderness; and Savage Kingdom III: After The Fall, a six-episode series that will serve as the third part in the network’s Savage Kingdom wildlife franchise.

The network will also continue its animal-themed stunt specials with it ninth annual Big Cat Week in November, its fifth Barkfest event in Spring 2019 and its seventh week-long Sharkfest event in summer 2019, according to network officials.

Among its new specials, the network will premiere this fall a two-hour Pupparazzi special focusing on pet photography; and The Flood, a two-hour event set to debut in November that will follow the lives of animals living in the Okavango Delta, which is famous for its drastic arrival and disappearance of water.

Also in November, the network will debut Zeb Hogan’s Monster Fish: Philippines, a one-hour special that follows fish biologist and National Geographic fellow Dr. Zeb Hogan as he searches for the huge whale shark, while this fall the network will premiere Tree Lions, a one-hour special that looks at rare lions who climb trees in Uganda.

Pet lovers will have plenty of animal-themed programming to cuddle up to leading into and following Super Bowl LII this Sunday. 

While the big game between the New England Patriots and the Philadelphia Eagles doesn’t officially kick off until 6 p.m. on NBC, viewers can get into the football spirit all afternoon long with Animal Planet’s Puppy Bowl and Hallmark Channel’s Kitten Bowl.

The three-hour Kitten Bowl V pet adoption event will premiere at noon on Sunday and will feature displaced kittens rescued from the country’s most recent national disasters seeking the to win the “Feline Football” trophy, according to Hallmark officials. Animal advocate Beth Stern will host the event, with Boomer Esiason calling play-by-play action.

Hallmark will partner with the North Shore Animal League America to host 500 adoption parties for the event, which over its tenure has inspired the adoption of more than 10,000 animals, according to the network.

At 3 p.m. on Sunday, puppies will take the field for Animal Planet’s Puppy Bowl XIV. The two-hour special will feature 90 adoptable puppy “players” running around chasing soft footballs and chew toys in a bone-shaped stadium featuring more than a dozen cameras, according to network officials.

Animal Planet has teamed with 48 different animal shelters and rescue organizations from 25 U.S. states and territories to field its lineup of puppies.

Animal Planet will begin the festivities with a Puppy Bowl pre-game show at 2 p.m., said the network. 

After Super Bowl LII is over, animal lovers can tune into Nat Geo Wild for the return of its Safari Live series beginning at 10 p.m. – kicking off a five-day run for the wildlife show. The network will showcae in real time wildlife action from Kenya’s Maasai Mara and South Africa’s iconic Sabi Sands Game Reserve, according to network officials. 

Nat Geo Wild’s Safari Live drew an average of 160,000 viewers for its initial run in 2017.

Nat Geo Wild and Mashable have inked a deal to co-product and co-distribute two original series for their respective digital and social platforms. 

They partnership will “revive vintage National Geographic footage” from the Nat Geo archives and tap Mashable Studios’ expertise in producing digital-first series. 

The first series will look at how animals use tools in their natural habitats to survive, while the second will be a comedy that will combine Mashable’s “sense of internet humor” with archival Nat Geo fare. 

The digital series will be produced by Mashable Studios, and both series are slated to start production in early 2017. 

National Geographic Channels is partnering with GE on a new science anthology series, Breakthrough, executive produced by Ron Howard and Brian Grazer among others, highlighting the 2015-16 upfront slate. NGC CEO Courteney Monroe, president Tim Pastore and other executives and talent presented the programming plans for Nat Geo and Nat Geo Wild at a gathering at Má Pêche in New York today (April 15). They also celebrated that Nat Geo Channel's distribution had topped 90 million homes (see photo). The upfront event comes shortly after the channel had its most-watched program ever, Killing Jesus, which premiered last month.

Breakthrough, about huge achievements in science, will feature celebrity directors Angela Bassett, Peter Berg, Paul Giamatti (who attended the event), Akiva Goldsman, Ron Howard and Brett Ratner. The initial topics will be brain science, longevity, water, energy, pandemics and cyborg technology breakthroughs, NGC said. Other new series on tap are 50 States Of Survival;Primal Survival;The Great Human Race (an adventure challenge show) and The Yard, about shipbuilding operations.

Returning series include Life Below Zero, Drugs Inc., Wicked Tuna, Live Free Or Die and Brain Games. StarTalk, the new talk show hosted by Neil deGrasse Tyson that's set to debut next week, will return in the fall with 10 more episodes, NGC said.

Events on the slate include Saints & Strangers -- a miniseries about the Mayflower pilgrims -- America's National Parks and History Of The World... For Now, from the writers of HBO's Silicon Valley.

New series coming to Nat Geo Wild include Vet School, set at Cornell University's veterinary teaching hospital, and Animal Storm Squad, about first responders who go after trapped and injured pets following a natural disaster. Returning series are: The Incredible Dr. Pol; Dr. Oakley, Yukon Vet; Dr. K's Exotic Animal ER and Cesar 911 (with Cesar Millan). "Big Cat Week," "Barkfest II" and "Sharkfest" will be among the events on tap.

Photo: National Geographic Channels CEO Courteney Monroe, President Tim Pastore, Brain Games host Jason Silva and Life Below Zero star Sue Aikens celebrate that National Geographic Channel is now in 91 million homes at upfront on April 15 at Má Pêche in NYC. Credit: Scott Gries for National Geographic Channels.

Big Cat Week 2014 will deliver never-before-seen footage, as well as inside looks into the species, premiering Nov. 28 at 9 p.m on Nat Geo Wild.

For the past five years, the network has been highlighting lions, tigers, cheetahs, jaguars and cougars, to demonstrate their importance as endangered species.

New additions include an inside look of a lion and its prey, never-before-seen leopard survival skills, and a look into future big cats.

Starting off the week with Man v. Lion, Boone Smith takes a first-hand look at a lion's strength, sitting in an enclosed box in the heart of the action.

Premiere, Future Cat, will utilize CGI images to show the possible evolution of the species, and Leopard: Ultimate Survivor takes a deeper look into a mother's first years with her cubs.

For more information on Big Cat Week, click here.

The premiere episodes are as follows:

Man v. Lion

Premieres Friday, Nov. 28 at 9 p.m.

Leopard: Ultimate Survivor

Premieres Saturday, Nov. 29 at 9 p.m.

Future Cat

Premieres Sunday, Nov. 30 at 9 p.m.

Tiger’s Revenge

Premieres Monday, Dec. 1 at 9 p.m.

Lion Gangland

Premieres Tuesday, Dec. 2 at 9 p.m.

Tiger Wars

Premieres Wednesday, Dec. 3 at 9 p.m.