Discovery Channel's annual Shark Week event begins tonight, and in anticipation of the fin-fest, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson recorded an introduction video, paying tribute to the late Paul Walker, who was not only known to be a shark enthusiast, but also a champion for shark and marine conservation, as mentioned by Johnson in the above video.
The video went up yesterday on The Rock's Instagram, and shows a snippet of the introduction he's recording in what appears to be a gym. Dwayne Johnson shared it, along with the caption:
Was moved to shoot this very special intro to one of Paul Walker's final missions for shark and marine conservation. #DiscoveryChannel #SharkWeek #ProtectingThatWhichILove #MissYouBrotherPaul
As E! points out, Paul Walker studied marine biology in college, and he later went on to use his fame in support of the BillFish foundation.
The Rock worked with Paul Walker in Fast 5, 6 and we'll see the both again in 7, which is due out next year. Walker died tragically in a car accident last November. He had already filmed scenes for the movie, and his brothers filled in for him in other scenes in order to complete the movie. As for Walker's philanthropic causes, it's nice to see Dwayne Johnson shedding further light on an issue that was evidently important to the actor.
Sharks will be at the forefront of pop culture this week, as Discovery Channel will be airing shark-focused programming all week, beginning tonight when Shark Week officially kicks off. At 9:00 p.m. ET, Discovery will air Shark of Darkness: Wrath of Submarine, a special that takes a closer look at "Submarine," a 30-foot great white shark that's said to be the deadliest of its kind, of all time and may have been involved in "countless fatal attacks," though that's unproven. And later this week, Discovery Channel will air Lair of the Mega Shark, which will have shark experts following a 20-foot Great White shark in the hopes of checking out its nocturnal feeding ground. The preview below shows them fixing a camera to a shark's fin.
Shark Week will also feature the late night program Shark after Dark. View the full schedule of Shark Week programming here. Check out the Shark Week trailer after the jump...
