On June 20, 1975 a movie about a giant fish changed everyone’s view of swimming in the ocean but it also made an imprint on pop culture forever.
“When Jaws came out, it put sharks on the map, but not necessarily in a good way,” recalled Dr. Steve Kessel, shark researcher, Shedd Aquarium.
“Their populations really did take a big hit back then and Jaws was partly responsible for that. They were able to see that particularly in the Northeast they became the big trophy fish following the movie. You can see a genetic bottleneck in the population following the release of Jaws, very problematic.
The film was based on a book of the same name published in 1974.
“Peter Benchley felt very guilty about the negative affects to shark after he wrote the book and the subsequent film and he spent most of the rest of his life pursuing shark conservation and advocating for sharks traveling around the world. Jaws was the peak of interest and it did have some negative consequences but it helped put sharks on the map and on the global stage in pop culture. It was one of the most popular films. It was the first film to be heavily merchandised and still has.”
Since then thought, Dr. Kessel says the species has significantly recovered.
“Since then though, particularly in the U.S. and Australia and South Africa, they have received protections and right now we are seeing a really big resurgence in their population. It is a combination of more affective protections for the species and the marine mammals that are aslo protected-and the consequence of that- is that most Great Whites are eating marine mammals and there is a lot more food for them. There are more resources so there are more sharks.”
But for better or for worse, Dr. Kessel says the movie put sharks on the map.
“Things we don’t understand can be scary. When JAWS came out in 1975, we knew very little about sharks but now we know a lot more through places like the Shedd, where people can learn about sharks and see them,’ he said.
“Here at the Shedd, we have about 20 sharks of different breeds, the biggest and largest being our Sandbar sharks. The females grow larger than the males. They have the girth.” He smiled.
In 2003, Shedd opened Wild Reef, a permanent exhibit located two levels below the main building. The exhibit contains a total of 525,000 gallons and recreates a Philippine coral reef on the Apo Island marine reserve, complete with living coral, multiple species of fish and rays, and a collection of sharks such as sandbar, zebra, blacktip reef sharks, white-spotted guitarfish, Spotted wobbegongs, and Japanese wobbegongs.
The main draw of this attraction is the shark tank with 12-foot high curved windows, allowing visitors a diver's-eye view.
Kessel says the Great White Shark is the largest of the species.
Bruce, the model in the film, was about 25 feet and they can grow that large.
“We call them White Sharks now. They can be found from the equator up to temperate waters, some species can be found in cold waters predominately in the Northeast, the U.K and Scotland but contrary to what many think, sharks don’t eat humans.”
“There are incidents and fatalities but they are incredibly rare. Sharks have been around for 450 million years and as they say in Jaws, they are the perfect engines, they are feeding machines and if we were on the menu, we wouldn’t be able to go into the ocean because we aren’t too hard to catch,” he laughed.
But over the years, Dr. Kessel says the perception has changed completely.
“I believe since that time, opinions have changed. I see kids in shark pajamas, in shark hats, and T-shirts. When Jaws come out, no parent would ever put a shark on their child because there was an association that sharks are monsters. Now, there is such love for sharks. Baby Shark is the most watched video on YouTube. I think the perception has really shifted.
There’s still some fear but we shouldn’t have fear but we should have healthy respect but the perception has completely changed.”
The anniversary serves as a reminder of the importance of accurate information and responsible storytelling when it comes to wildlife representation.
“Since humans are solely responsible for sharks’ population through fishing, we are the only thing that can help them. We need to be responsible and we need to better understand and conserve them because it is largely our responsibility to do that. The movie is still so iconic and we are still talking about it. 50 years and I still see people wearing Jaws t-shirts.
I had that big of an influence on pop culture and on marine biology. It’s allowed us to answer the questions, talk about them and address inaccuracies and unsubstantiated fears to the point so we can really highlight how incredible these species are.”
Kessel has now dedicated his career-studying sharks to advance scientific knowledge of these animals through fieldwork and published research.
“I’ve probably seen the film 100 times but it sparked my fascination with sharks and inspired many marine biologists and researchers like me to dedicate their lives to educating people about these beautiful species.”