Shark Week Kicks Off With Andy Samberg as ‘Chief Shark Officer’ [VIDEO]

Today commences Shark Week on the Discovery Channel, and this year, comedian Andy Samberg has been appointed “Chief Shark Officer,” putting the SNL funnyman in deep sea peril.

Begun in 1987, Discovery’s weeklong tribute to sharks is nearly 25 years old and now a full-fledged cultural phenomenon. Seven new shark-centric programs will premiere on Discovery this week including Samberg’s August 4th special ‘Shark City,’ in which he swims with a school of Caribbean reef sharks.

“They were biting chum right next to me, then one of them took a nip at the surfboard, right where I was hanging out. That was when I decided to call it a day,” he said to EW.com.

Check out the full Shark Week schedule here.

[Shark Week]