Sharkrunners is a game close to reality. It is all about tracking Sharks in real time and collecting data for research purposes. The more data you collect the more money you earn with which you can hire more crew members and buy sophisticated equipment for making the most out of the shark encounters.

The game is developed by area/code and is currently in its second season, Australia – The Great Barrier Reef. Twenty sharks are being tracked in this season of the game, 10 Tiger Sharks and 10 Grey reef sharks.

Here is how it really works:
Your role in the game is of marine biologists and at the time of registration you are required to join one of the three institutions

• I.M.O.P. (The International Marine Observation Project)
  A high-tech research institute run by no-nonsense marine scientists looking for hard data.

• The Piermont Group
  A media-savvy philanthropic organization that is equally interested in scientific data and dramatic images

• FIN
  A hard-core ecological activist group devoted to protecting and preserving sharks at any cost

Once you get through the registration you can take a 21 slides tour/tutorial which runs you through the details of how the game is played. Or you can get to the game right away by clicking on the boat and setting waypoints and get as close to sharks as you can for an encounter.

Once you reach close to a shark you will receive an alert on the screen then an e-mail or an SMS based on your selection. Depending up on the money you have earned or the crew members you have you can choose from multiple techniques of gathering data from the shark encounter.

Remember it’s a game with a pinch of reality so the pace of the game is understandably slower than the regular ones, but the it sure is exciting to get into a shark encounter and gather data about a specific shark, while you are at it you get to see pictures and short videos of the sharks.

Shark lovers will be happy to know that the Shark week is hitting Discovery. It starts with Mythbusters special on Sunday, July 27th, at 9pm on Discovery and runs through August 2nd. Visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharkrunners for more info.

Visit SharkYourSelf.com to get your picture with shark teeth.. Like the one on the right!

Click on the image below to see a bigger screenshot of the game.