Sharks: the Silliest Sensationalized Species

Believe it or not, World War II played a pivotal role in America’s obsession with sharks. Newspapers across the country highlighted the fact that servicemen were traveling on ships and airplanes across the open ocean. Journalists wrote about people being rescued or dying in “shark-infested waters,” whether or not sharks were visibly present or not. It made the articles even more terrifying, and there was a growing cultural anxiety around these terrifying monsters hunting humans in the water. 

American servicemen became so scared of being eaten by sharks that the U.S. Army and Navy intelligence operations engaged in a publicity campaign to combat the fear of sharks. A 1944 pamphlet called “Shark Sense” released by the Navy advised wounded servicemen stranded at sea to attempt to stop the flow of blood as soon as they disengage the parachute to avoid hungry sharks. This pamphlet also noted that hitting an aggressive shark on the nose might stop an attack; however, it also told servicemen they should try to hitch a ride on the pectoral fin and hang on for as long as possible without drowning. 

The Navy also worked with the Office of Strategic Services, which would later become the Central Intelligence Agency, to develop a shark repellent. Julia Child worked for the Office of Strategic Services and worked on this project specifically. She tested various recipes of clove oil, horse urine, nicotine, rotting shark muscle, and asparagus in hopes of creating the shark repellent. 

This resulted in the creation of the Shark Chaser, which was a pink pill that produced a black inky dye when released in the water as a way to hide the servicemen from sharks. 

The Most Famous Shark in the World 

Jaws, the novel, was written by Peter Benchley and released in February 1974. Benchley also wrote the screenplay for the film Jaws, directed by Steven Spielberg, which was released in June 1975 and is celebrating its 50th anniversary this summer. 

Jaws was so popular that it coined the term “blockbuster” because it had audiences lining up around the block. It surpassed The Godfather to become the highest-grossing movie ever made, and it wouldn’t be topped until the release of Star Wars in 1977. 

During its original theatrical run in 1975, the film grossed over $260 million, which translates to $1.52 billion when adjusted for inflation. What inspired the story is often up for interpretation. But if you look at Peter Benchley’s website, the inspiration is very straightforward. 

He wrote: “Sharks have always played an important part in my life. I spent my young summers on Nantucket Island, off the coast of Massachusetts, and when, on calm days, I would go sailing or fishing–or even, sometimes, just swimming in the surf–black dorsal fins of sharks could be seen slicing through the surface of the sea.” 

His passion for sharks continued through his years at Phillips Exeter Academy and Harvard College and even through his career, where he took every opportunity to write articles about sharks. 

He wrote: “In 1964, I read a newspaper item about a fisherman who caught a 4,550-lb. Great White Shark not far offshore from Montauk, Long Island, and I wondered what would happen if such a huge shark were to appear in a seaside resort community. I did nothing with the idea then, but seven years later I began to weave it into the story that would become the novel Jaws.”

That fisherman’s name was Frank Mundus. Although he has never been given official credit, it's rumored that the character Quint in Jaws was inspired by Mundus. Peter Benchley even spent several trips aboard the Cricket II, and elements of his fishing methods were put into the story and movie. While these aren’t written on Peter Benchley’s website, there are shark attacks that are rumored to have inspired the story as well. 

These are the Jersey Shore Shark Attacks of 1916, which took place between July 1 and July 12, 1916, during a deadly summer heat wave and polio epidemic that drove thousands of people to the Jersey Shore. Five people were attacked in total, and only one victim survived. 

The first major attack occurred on Saturday, July 1, at Beach Haven on Long Beach Island. 23-year-old Charles Vansant was on vacation with his family. Before dinner, he decided to take a quick swim with a dog that was playing on the beach. Shortly after entering the water, he began shouting. People thought he was calling to the dog, but a shark was biting his legs. He was rescued by a lifeguard and a bystander who claimed the shark followed them to shore. He later passed away from blood loss. 

Despite this attack and reports of shark sightings, beaches along the Jersey Shore remained open. The second major attack occurred on July 6, 1916, in Spring Lake, New Jersey, which is 45 miles north of Beach Haven. The victim was 27-year-old Charles Bruder. A shark bit his abdomen and severed his legs. After hearing screams, a woman notified two lifeguards that a canoe with a red hull had capsized and was floating at the water's surface, but once the lifeguards rowed out to him, they realized it was a shark attack victim. 

The next three attacks took place in Matawan Creek near the town of Keyport on July 12. A group of local boys, including 11-year-old Lester Stillwell, were playing in the creek together. A dorsal fin appeared in the water, and the boys realized it was a shark. Before Stillwell could climb out of the creek, the shark pulled him underwater. 

The boys ran to town for help, and several men, including 24-year-old Watson Stanley Fisher, came to investigate. Fisher and others dove into the creek to find Stillwell, thinking he had suffered a seizure. After locating the boy's body and attempting to return to shore, Fisher was also bitten by the shark in front of the townspeople, losing Stillwell in the process. Fisher later passed away due to blood loss. 

The fifth and final victim was 14-year-old Joseph Dunn, who was attacked a half-mile from the Wyckoff dock nearly 30 minutes after the fatal attacks on Stillwell and Fisher. The shark bit his left leg, but Dunn was rescued by his brother and friend. He was taken to the hospital, where he was treated and released. 

The attacks were reported in major American newspapers, including the Boston Herald, Chicago Sun-Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Washington Post, and San Francisco Chronicle. 

The growing panic cost New Jersey resort owners an estimated $250,000 in lost tourism. This translates to $7.2 million today. Sunbathing declined by 75 percent in some areas. Some towns even enclosed their public beaches with steel nets to protect swimmers. After the attacks at Matawan Creek, residents of the town lined the creek with nets and detonated dynamite in an attempt to catch and kill the shark. 

The attacks also led to shark hunts, which are also featured in Jaws. In 1916, a group of men caught and killed a baby great white in the area, and the remains in the shark’s stomach were identified as human. However, we are not sure if that is the shark that attacked all or any of the humans. Scholars often debate whether or not the responsible shark was a great white or a bull shark. 

Shark Week HOO-HA-HA

Shark Week started in July 1988, when Caged in Fear aired on the Discovery Channel, followed by nine other shows. According to the Discovery Channel, the ratings during the very first Shark Week almost doubled the network's primetime average. 

The event was brought back for the following year, and it soon became an annual summer event, hosted by different celebrities and experts. The first ever person to host was Peter Benchley in 1994. 

While the week has turned more entertaining than educational, it started dedicated to conservation efforts and highlighting sharks as beautiful, essential creatures and not bloodthirsty, vengeful monsters. Programs like African Shark Safari, Sharks on the Brink of Extinction, The Man Who Loves Sharks, Sharks: Hunters of the Ocean, The World of Sharks and Barracuda, and Sharks of Polynesia were designed to defuse the cultural stigma around sharks.

In the 1990s, the Discovery Channel heavily invested in Shark Week. The network sent its top documentarians, photographers, and videographers out on assignment. Shark Week's programming featured some of the best footage of sharks in their natural habitat ever caught on video. 

A 2022 study reviewed trends in the content covered by Shark Week. Of the 272 Shark Week programs produced, 43% had titles using words with negative connotations such as attack, fear, and deadly. Of the 201 shows that were included in the study, around 74% referenced shark bites or other negative portrayals of sharks.

About 37% of shows are research-oriented, though in some years, the most recent being 2020, less than a quarter of shows involved research. And those reporting the research are rarely experts, and the shows make little distinction between non-scientific and scientific experts. To make matters worse, several non-doctorate men were referred to as "Dr.", and several doctorate-holding women were not labelled with their title in the programs. 

Last year’s Shark Week was hosted by John Cena and featured 21 hours of new programming. Throughout the week, Discovery owned seven of the top 10 telecasts among adults aged 25-54, with Expedition Unknown: Sharks vs. Nazis in Paradise as #3, Jaws vs. Leviathan at #4, Caught! When Sharks Attack at #6, Great White Serial Killer: Sea of Blood at #7, Great White Danger Zone at #8, Makozilla at #9, and Belly of the Beast: Bigger and Bloodier at #10. There was an over 250% increase in ratings on the Discovery Channel during this time. 

This year’s Shark Week begins this Sunday, July 20, with Dancing With Sharks, hosted by Tom Bergeron. Other shows in this year’s lineup include: Great White Assassins, Great White Sex Battle, Jaws vs Mega Croc, Alien Sharks: Death Down Under, and Franksenhark. 

Save Some Sharks 

It’s estimated that between 73 and 100 million sharks are killed by direct commercial fishing, shark finning, and as bycatch every year. This is when we get back to Frank Mundus, that guy who caught the shark that inspired Jaws. 

According to the Frank Mundus Collection Exhibit at the Living Sharks Museum in Rhode Island, Mundus hooked a large shark by accident, and realized that he could take patrons shark fishing and give them a big show by having them reel in a big ass fish.

The only problem was that sharks were not considered a mainstream consumable product in the US. So, the fishing trip relied on the promotion of adventure. Mundus would promote said adventure by finding and catching the biggest sharks and hanging them from the dock. Hundreds of people would come from all around to see his catches, translating into free advertising. And what was called Monster Fishing was born.

Before he passed, Mundus realized sharks were disappearing from fishing grounds and began to advocate for catch-and-release tournament methods. He also offered his experience in the early development and deployment of shark tagging technology, as well as improved fishing gear that was safer for sharks. 

The man who inspired the film, the man who wrote it, and the man who directed it have all spoken out about their regrets about spreading false information about sharks, increasing trophy hunting, and damaging shark conservation efforts. I hope that’s talked about this 50th anniversary! 

Besides trophy hunting, another way people kill sharks is through shark finning. This involves catching sharks, removing their fins, and discarding them back into the ocean, where they often die slow, painful deaths. An estimated 73 million sharks are killed for their fins each year. 

Bycatch is another way sharks are killed by humans. This is the unintentional catching of sharks in fishing nets. Sharks are also hunted for their meat, internal organs, and skin to make food, leather, and other products. However, shark meat carries toxic amounts of substances like mercury, so it’s not the best decision to eat it. 

As of July 7, there have been 31 shark attack bites and 8 fatal shark attack bites worldwide. Each year, there are approximately 100 reported shark attack bites worldwide. Most of these incidents are considered minor, and patients tend to recover rapidly. 

There are over 300 species of sharks, but only about a dozen have been involved in shark attacks. They are opportunistic feeders, but most sharks prefer small fish. Large sharks may prey on seals, sea lions, and other large marine mammals, which is probably what they see when they attack a human. 

More than one-third of shark species are threatened with extinction as of 2025. Between 1970 and 2020, the population of sharks in the open ocean declined by 71%. Happy 50th Anniversary, Jaws! 

So while we enjoy our Shark Week programming this summer, let’s remember the reality of the situation and keep in mind that the stars of the show are on the brink of extinction.