Great White Lies... the Legend & Legacy of Jaws

A chapter from my book Sharks Forever

Jaws almost ended sharks.

When Jaws was released in 1975, it was one of the most popular movies ever—the first-ever summer smash hit. There was no social media, but Jaws made news everywhere. Not only were there sequels, but suddenly there were all sorts of movies about killer sharks. The real damage Jaws did to sharks by turning them into the stuff of nightmares was creating a media feeding frenzy that hasn’t stopped since 1975. Any shark bite anywhere—and every shark sighting near a beach—is reported as if sharks declared war on swimmers or surfers.

“Sailors have been wary of sharks for centuries. But the rest of the world? Not so much. Most people never thought about sharks. And when people did talk about sharks they weren’t always considered scary.”

“American businessman Hermann Oelrichs was so sure no shark had ever bitten a human that in 1891 he put up a cash prize for anyone who could prove they had. When he saw a shark, Hermann jumped into the water to prove his point. The shark swam away, like sharks usually do. Many people back then thought stories of sharks attacking humans were fish tales. And if sharks were a threat, it was only to fishers. But that was before people around the world started to think it was fun to vacation on the beach, and surfing became a sport.

Jersey Shore Sharks

In 1916 five people were bitten by a shark, or sharks, off the shores of New Jersey. Four of them died. The incidents took place over about two weeks. This was long before the internet, long before television news, but the story still went viral. People were so doubtful sharks could do this, they originally suspected that sea turtles had bitten the humans!

“When an 8-foot (2.4-meter) great white shark with a stomach full of pieces of people was caught near New Jersey, everyone assumed this was the killer. No one knows if that shark killed anyone or just ate the people after they were dead. But this was the original killer great white. Experts still aren’t sure if the shark—or sharks—responsible for the deaths were great whites or bull sharks.”

“The New Jersey incidents inspired what became known as “rogue shark theory.” Australian scientist Victor Coppleson came up with the term. He also wrote a book called Shark Attack and claimed “rogue” sharks had developed a taste for eating humans. What used to be called shark bites suddenly became known as shark attacks.”

Jaws writer Peter Benchley said the New Jersey events didn’t inspire his book or screenplay—but a couple of other real events did. In 1971 the documentary Blue Water, White Death showed a great white who looked determined to snack on the filmmaker in a diving cage. Of course, the people making the movie were feeding the shark at the time. The images were terrifying. They were perfect for a horror movie.”

In Jaws, the captain of the boat chasing the monster shark tells a story about his ship being sunk and his being stranded in the water for four days as sharks attacked his drowning friends. This story was based on an incident in World War II. The USS Indianapolis was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine. At least 300 men died when the ship went down. About 800 sailors tried to keep afloat—with and without life jackets—for four days before rescuers arrived”

“Sharks definitely circled the survivors, but they were also circling hundreds of dead bodies, wounded sailors and all the food that had spilled from the ship. It is likely that with no access to help and with the sailors fighting exhaustion and dehydration, any bite would have been fatal. A Discovery Channel Shark Week documentary called this “the worst shark attack in history.” There are claims that as many as 150 men were killed by sharks, likely whitetips and tigers. As far as I can tell, this number is based on…wanting to make it sound very scary. No one knows how many sailors died because of shark bites or how many died of dehydration, starvation or exhaustion. That’s why this horrible incident is not included in the International Shark Attack File’s official records of shark-related deaths.

Thanks to Jaws, great white sharks became the most famous—and feared—animals in the world. We know great whites are smart, because they are able to catch and eat some of the smartest animals in the seas, including seals and dolphins. Researchers who study them say whites sometimes hunt cooperatively, working together like orcas and wolves do. They will also breach—jump up out of the water—to stun their prey. The only animals who hunt whites are orcas and humans.”

Humans against Nature

People who hunt for “sport” often chase animals known for their deadly skills as predators. These hunters want to boast about killing animals who are capable of killing them. In Africa, the lion, leopard, rhino, elephant and buffalo were considered “the big five” by trophy hunters. Hunters who wanted to show off their skills were determined to kill at “ least one of each. Wherever humans live, trophy hunters—who like to pretend it’s a fair fight when they chase unarmed animals with expensive, fancy weapons—attack the local apex predators.”

“Sportfishers tend to have a better reputation than hunters. This may be because most humans aren’t emotionally attached to fish. It’s also because people who hunt big, fast fish often eat them. Yes, you may still see huge trophy fish stuffed and mounted on walls, but the fish were likely dinner first. Not many hunters eat lions, tigers or bears. Some sportfishers are keen on chasing fast fish like marlin and makos. Others get their kicks chasing the deadliest fish—which is bad news for great whites.

From the moment Jaws debuted, great white sharks became the planet’s most feared predator. This turned sharks into the ultimate trophy for some sportfishers, who wanted to prove they could kill these deadly beasts. This is kind of ironic, because the shark in Jaws was almost impossible to catch and kill, but that story was fiction. Whites are easy to catch, because they’re not afraid of boats or humans.

“Sportfishers aren’t as bad for sharks as industrial fishing operations are. There aren’t that many people chasing sharks for fun. They don’t catch anywhere near as many sharks as industrial fishers. But they are chasing and killing the biggest, oldest, healthiest sharks out there.”

“Years after the movie based on his book was one of the biggest hits in the world, Peter Benchley said that in a new version of Jaws, the shark wouldn’t be the monster. “The shark in an updated Jaws could not be the villain; it would have to be written as the victim, for, worldwide, sharks are much more the oppressed than the oppressors.”

And an interview with shark expert David Shiffman on the latest episode of Skaana…