Final summer season, a fantastic white shark washed up on the shore of Nantucket, Massachusetts. When a household on trip got here throughout the beached behemoth because it flailed within the shallow waves, they made a shocking selection. Members of the group cautiously approached the shark and pushed it again into the ocean. Video of the occasion rapidly went viral — a feel-good story with a touch of hazard.
However 50 years in the past, throughout the identical summer season that “Jaws” first swam into theaters, the same encounter might need gone very in a different way.
On June 20, 1975, Steven Spielberg unleashed “Jaws” on the world, inventing the fashionable blockbuster and launching a worldwide fascination with sharks. It was the primary movie to gross greater than $100 million on the U.S. field workplace, in response to the American Movie Institute. Primarily based on the best-selling guide by Peter Benchley, “Jaws” sparked a surge of curiosity in learning the traditional apex predator — and an obsession with searching sharks as trophies.
“When ‘Jaws’ came out, there was an uptick in shark tournaments,” stated Wendy Benchley, a longtime ocean conservationist who’s married to the “Jaws” creator and seems within the upcoming Nationwide Geographic documentary “Jaws @ 50.” “This fictional book and movie somehow gave people the license to kill sharks.”
Within the half-century since, our understanding of nice white sharks has elevated dramatically, however there’s a lot we nonetheless don’t know concerning the ruler of the ocean. On the similar time, shark populations world wide have decreased dramatically because of overfishing, though sightings (and assaults) have elevated just lately alongside the East Coast of the US for causes that scientists nonetheless don’t totally perceive.
“Jaws” could have sparked our collective fascination with sharks, however 50 years later, the truth is way extra difficult than Peter Benchley or Steven Spielberg ever might have imagined.
The Influence Of ‘Jaws’
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The primary time she went scuba diving after seeing “Jaws,” Wendy Benchley was admittedly slightly freaked out.
“‘Jaws’ touched our innate fear of being eaten by a monster fish,” she stated. “I’m not dismissing the fact that it is a very real, visceral fear for people.”
The film’s affect was actually lethal. Impressed by Robert Shaw’s portrayal of gruff shark hunter Quint, some “Jaws” followers determined to take part in shark-hunting tournaments. The variety of recorded nice whites caught and killed by people world wide spiked within the three years after “Jaws” was launched.
“One of the things I still fear [is] not to get eaten by a shark, but that sharks are somehow mad at me for the feeding frenzy of crazy sports fishermen that happened after 1975,” Spielberg stated on BBC Radio 4’s “Desert Island Discs” in 2022. “I truly and to this day regret the decimation of the shark population because of the [‘Jaws’] book and the film. I really, truly regret that.”
However whereas that fad rapidly handed, the optimistic impacts have been long-lasting. The film unleashed a wave of marine scientists within the mould of Richard Dreyfuss’ character, Matt Hooper. In response to Benchley, enrollment on the Rosenstiel Faculty of Marine Science on the College of Miami elevated by 30% in response. (It’s unclear how many individuals noticed “Jaws” and determined to change into beach-town police chiefs, impressed by Roy Scheider’s protagonist, Martin Brody.)
Shark Populations Are On The Decline
“Jaws” will not be accountable for it, however there’s no denying the worldwide shark inhabitants has plunged within the 50 years because the movie’s launch. In response to a report printed within the scientific journal Nature in 2021, the variety of sharks and rays within the ocean has dropped by 71% since 1970, largely because of an 18-fold improve in fishing.
In response to Benchley, the numbers are much more dire.
“We only have 10% of the sharks left that we had in the ocean 40 years ago,” she stated.
The trigger is overfishing (huge ships that sweep the ocean and pull up fish and different creatures indiscriminately), together with the recognition of shark fin soup in China and different Asian international locations. The wildlife nonprofit group WildAid has managed to scale back demand for the delicacy by 85%, in response to Benchley, via a publicity marketing campaign that enlisted celebrities like Yao Ming and Jackie Chan.
And for those who’re questioning why it’s essential to guard dwindling shark populations (except for common conservation causes), Benchley put it merely: “You’ve got to have apex predators in the ocean to keep the ecosystem in balance.”
Are Shark Assaults On The Rise?
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Globally? No. The overall variety of recorded unprovoked shark bites in 2024 was 47, down from an annual common of 64 in recent times, in response to an annual report from the Worldwide Shark Assault File. However alongside the East Coast of the US, each sightings and bites are on the rise.
The identical ISAF report revealed Florida is the most probably place to see a shark on the earth, with 14 bites in 2024. In the meantime, a 2023 shark assault on Rockaway Seaside in Queens, New York, marked the first such incident within the state because the Nineteen Fifties. Additional north, Cape Cod has change into a scorching spot for nice whites, irritating vacationers and locals who can now not benefit from the peninsula’s ocean-facing seashores.
The first purpose for this shark resurgence is the return of one other aquatic animal: seals. Elevated seal populations within the area, because of a deliberate conservationist effort, have attracted their pure predator.
“There are more great white sharks along the East Coast, and that is an environmental success story,” Benchley stated.
“Sharks do not like humans. We don’t have enough fat on us. They’d much rather have a seal.”
– Wendy Benchley, ocean conservationist
Nonetheless, local weather change may be partially accountable. Scientists speculate that warming oceans might entice different marine life, which might then entice hungry sharks. And whereas nice whites have been lengthy believed to desire colder water, one 2024 research discovered that the youthful ones get pleasure from heat, shallow seas.
Whatever the purpose, nice white sharks have returned to the East Coast. Whereas Benchley sees this as a optimistic, she additionally acknowledges why swimmers are involved and gives some sensible recommendation: Keep within the shallow water, don’t swim within the morning or at night time, and most significantly, keep away from seals.
“Sharks do not like humans,” Benchley stated. “We don’t have enough fat on us. They’d much rather have a seal.”
The Legacy Of ’Jaws’
In relation to nice white sharks and our relationship with these magnificent, lethal creatures, “Jaws” leaves behind a fancy legacy. The identical film that impressed audiences to hunt sharks for sport additionally persuaded a era of scientists to review the species and work to reserve it from extinction.
In the end, Benchley takes solace in the truth that, 50 years after “Jaws,” when a random group of individuals discovered a beached shark in Nantucket, their first intuition wasn’t to kill the fish (or to run away screaming), however to reserve it. For a girl whose husband taught us all to worry the ocean — and who then spent her life working to protect it — that’s a victory.
“Thank heavens,” she stated. “People finally understand how vital sharks are.”
“Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story” premieres on Nationwide Geographic on July 10. It’s going to stream on Hulu and Disney+ on July 11.
