Final summer season, an excellent 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 stunning alternative. Members of the group cautiously approached the shark and pushed it again into the ocean. Video of the event 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 otherwise.
On June 20, 1975, Steven Spielberg unleashed “Jaws” on the world, inventing the trendy blockbuster and launching a world fascination with sharks. It was the primary movie to gross greater than $100 million on the U.S. field workplace, in line with the American Film Institute. Primarily based on the best-selling e-book by Peter Benchley, “Jaws” sparked a surge of curiosity in learning the traditional apex predator — and an obsession with looking sharks as trophies.
“When ‘Jaws’ got here out, there was an uptick in shark tournaments,” mentioned 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 e-book and film one way or the other gave folks 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 as a result 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” might have sparked our collective fascination with sharks, however 50 years later, the truth is much extra sophisticated than Peter Benchley or Steven Spielberg ever may have imagined.
The Affect Of ‘Jaws’
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The primary time she went scuba diving after seeing “Jaws,” Wendy Benchley was admittedly a bit freaked out.
“‘Jaws’ touched our innate concern of being eaten by a monster fish,” she mentioned. “I’m not dismissing the truth that it’s a very actual, visceral concern for folks.”
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 in the three years after “Jaws” was launched.
“One of many issues I nonetheless concern [is] to not get eaten by a shark, however that sharks are one way or the other mad at me for the feeding frenzy of loopy sports activities fishermen that occurred after 1975,” Spielberg said on BBC Radio 4’s “Desert Island Discs” in 2022. “I actually and to at the present time remorse the decimation of the shark inhabitants due to the [‘Jaws’] e-book and the movie. I actually, actually remorse that.”
However whereas that fad rapidly handed, the optimistic impacts had been long-lasting. The film unleashed a wave of marine scientists within the mildew of Richard Dreyfuss’ character, Matt Hooper. Based on 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 grow to be beach-town police chiefs, impressed by Roy Scheider’s protagonist, Martin Brody.)
Shark Populations Are On The Decline
“Jaws” will not be chargeable for it, however there’s no denying the worldwide shark inhabitants has plunged within the 50 years for the reason that movie’s launch. Based on 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 as a result of an 18-fold enhance in fishing.
Based on Benchley, the numbers are much more dire.
“We solely have 10% of the sharks left that we had within the ocean 40 years in the past,” she mentioned.
The trigger is overfishing (large 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 line with Benchley, by means of a publicity marketing campaign that enlisted celebrities like Yao Ming and Jackie Chan.
And in the event you’re questioning why it’s essential to guard dwindling shark populations (apart from basic conservation causes), Benchley put it merely: “You’ve acquired to have apex predators within the ocean to maintain the ecosystem in stability.”
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 line with an annual report from the International Shark Attack 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 almost definitely 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 in the state since the 1950s. Additional north, Cape Cod has grow to be a hot spot for great whites, irritating vacationers and locals who can 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 extra nice white sharks alongside the East Coast, and that’s an environmental success story,” Benchley mentioned.
“Sharks don’t like people. We don’t have sufficient fats on us. They’d a lot reasonably have a seal.”
– Wendy Benchley, ocean conservationist
Nonetheless, local weather change may additionally be partially accountable. Scientists speculate that warming oceans may appeal to different marine life, which might then appeal to hungry sharks. And whereas nice whites had been lengthy believed to want colder water, one 2024 study discovered that the youthful ones take pleasure in 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 presents some sensible recommendation: Keep within the shallow water, don’t swim within the morning or at evening, and most significantly, steer clear of seals.
“Sharks don’t like people,” Benchley mentioned. “We don’t have sufficient fats on us. They’d a lot reasonably 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 posh legacy. The identical film that impressed audiences to hunt sharks for sport additionally persuaded a technology of scientists to check the species and work to put it aside from extinction.
Finally, 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 put it aside. For a lady whose husband taught us all to concern the ocean — and who then spent her life working to protect it — that’s a victory.
“Thank heavens,” she mentioned. “Individuals lastly perceive how very important sharks are.”
“Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story” premieres on Nationwide Geographic on July 10. It’ll stream on Hulu and Disney+ on July 11.
