Monster shark movies harm shark conservation efforts

[Still Waters]

Undeniably the shark movie to end all shark movies, the 1975 blockbuster "Jaws" not only smashed box office expectations, but forever changed the way we felt about going into the water—and how we think about sharks.

Now, more than 40 years (and 100+ shark movies) on, people's fear of sharks persists, with researchers at the University of South Australia concerned about the negative impact that shark movies are having on conservation efforts of this often-endangered animal.

In a world-first study, conservation psychology researchers, UniSA's Dr. Briana Le Busque and Associate Professor Carla Litchfield have evaluated how sharks are portrayed in movies, finding that 96 percent of shark films are overtly portraying sharks as a threat to humans.

https://phys.org/news/2021-07-monster-shark-movies-efforts.html

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10871209.2021.1951399

[SHaYap]

The same applies to African Americans, Middle Eastern persons, gorillas, spiders, snakes, bearded men and women, kids with empty stares among other things... 

~

[Brandy333]

Jaws, even though it was a smash hit, has done much damage to the shark species.   Peter Benchley said if he had known what he came to know about sharks compared to when the movie came out he never would have written the book.   There was also disinformation in the movie.   

Like many I loved the movie and sequels, but after learning of the damage to sharks, etc., I won't watch it again.

Spoiler

't

it.

[Myles]

This is the same with anything.   I don't think the movie led to more killings of sharks than shark fin soup.  Not even close.  

 

[Brandy333]

35 minutes ago, Myles said:

This is the same with anything.   I don't think the movie led to more killings of sharks than shark fin soup.  Not even close.  

 

Sharks Before and After Jaws | JSTOR 

Yes, shark fin soup has done damage to the shark species, but so has people's wrong interpretation of what sharks are all about created by the movie Jaws.

[jethrofloyd]

You're twice as likely to be killed by a vending machine than a shark! According New England Aquarium.

So when is Discovery Channel premiering their "Vending Machine Week?"

 

[Myles]

55 minutes ago, Brandy333 said:

Sharks Before and After Jaws | JSTOR 

Yes, shark fin soup has done damage to the shark species, but so has people's wrong interpretation of what sharks are all about created by the movie Jaws.

Personally, I know many people who may have extra fear because of the movie but I don't know anyone who killed sharks because of it.   

[Brandy333]

11 minutes ago, Myles said:

Personally, I know many people who may have extra fear because of the movie but I don't know anyone who killed sharks because of it.   

You just haven't met any personally, but they're out there.

[GlitterRose]

I'll have to play devil's advocate here and remind everyone that Jaws was based off of actual attacks. 

[Brandy333]

1 minute ago, GlitterRose said:

I'll have to play devil's advocate here and remind everyone that Jaws was based off of actual attacks. 

Yes, you are right.   However, I think the shark that was doing the attacks was thought to have been a Bull Shark, as it had gotten into a fresh water bay.   Bulls are able to to convert from saltwater to fresh water for a short while.   

[GlitterRose]

The hellish creature didn't come solely from writer Peter Benchley and director Steven Spielberg's imaginations: It was in part based on a shark that killed four people along the New Jersey coastline in 1916.

The spate of attacks that partially inspired "Jaws" culminated in the town of Matawan, where a 10-year-old boy was killed on July 12, 1916, while swimming in an inland creek more than 10 miles away from the nearest ocean bay.

https://www.businessinsider.com/jaws-movie-inspiration-deadly-new-jersey-attacks-2019-8#:~:text=The movie 'Jaws' was inspired,shark that killed four people&text=In 1916%2C four people — including,along the New Jersey shore.

[GlitterRose]

1 minute ago, Brandy333 said:

Yes, you are right.   However, I think the shark that was doing the attacks was thought to have been a Bull Shark, as it had gotten into a fresh water bay.   Bulls are able to to convert from saltwater to fresh water for a short while.   

Bigger plays better, and bigger sharks can do greater damage.

There are some places where people should be aware that they can't swim or surf, but usually one doesn't think they will be attacked by a shark in fresh water.

Humans will always fear the unknown, and in deep water, we can't see what's in there with us. 

The films just exploit a fear that already exists. 

[Myles]

57 minutes ago, Brandy333 said:

You just haven't met any personally, but they're out there.

I doubt that many are out there killing sharks because of the movie Jaws.   I'm sure there have been some.  

 

[GlitterRose]

I remembered that they killed a white after the attacks and it had human remains in its stomach. 

They still debate whether it was a bull or a white due to the salinity of the water increasing at the time.

Here is the wiki:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jersey_Shore_shark_attacks_of_1916

It was only a juvenile shark...a "small" 8 footer.

The attacks did stop after they killed it.

These bits are interesting:

The bull draws a lot of votes because the location, Matawan Creek, suggests brackish or fresh waters, a habitat that bulls frequent and whites avoid. However, our examination of the site reveals that the size of the "creek," its depth, and salinity regime were closer to a marine embayment and that a smallish white clearly could have wandered into the area. Since an appropriate sized white shark with human remains in its stomach was captured nearby shortly after the attacks (and no further incidents occurred), it seems likely that this was the shark involved in at least the Matawan fatalities. The temporal and geographical sequence of the incidents also suggests that earlier attacks may have involved the same shark.^[44]

The casualties of the 1916 attacks are listed in the International Shark Attack File—of which Burgess is director—as victims of a great white.^[45]

Whereas sharks had previously been seen as harmless, after the Jersey Shore attacks of 1916 the pendulum of public opinion swung to the other extreme, and sharks quickly came to be viewed not only as eating machines, but also as fearless, ruthless killers.

Edited July 15, 2021 by GlitterRose

[Brandy333]

One of the greatest aids that will save the shark species is education in the fact that all sharks are important for the ecosystem in the oceans to stay in balance.   Presently man kills an estimated 100 million sharks per year.   There are over 400 species of sharks, and of those maybe only about 10% are known to be dangerous to man.   Much of the decimation of sharks is due to the demand for shark fin soup.   The sharks are caught, fins cut off, then thrown back in alive to die.  I've never eaten it and never will. 

The other large percentage of sharks are killed due to ignorance, the belief every shark is a dangerous killer.   Some are only a few inches long, and the largest, the Whale Shark, is known as a gentle giant.   I belief all it eats is krill.

Edited July 15, 2021 by Brandy333

[GlitterRose]

I don't eat them because they could eat me.

I'm hoping that if I find myself in the ocean, that some kind of ethereal karmic factor will protect me. 

[TashaMarie]

4 hours ago, Myles said:

This is the same with anything.   I don't think the movie led to more killings of sharks than shark fin soup.  Not even close.  

 

 

2 hours ago, Myles said:

Personally, I know many people who may have extra fear because of the movie but I don't know anyone who killed sharks because of it.   

From my understanding of the articles, the concerns do not come from people killing sharks instead about their lack of concern for sharks and their conservation. 

[Myles]

53 minutes ago, Brandy333 said:

One of the greatest aids that will save the shark species is education in the fact that all sharks are important for the ecosystem in the oceans to stay in balance.   Presently man kills an estimated 100 million sharks per year.   There are over 400 species of sharks, and of those maybe only about 10% are known to be dangerous to man.   Much of the decimation of sharks is due to the demand for shark fin soup.   The sharks are caught, fins cut off, then thrown back in alive to die.  I've never eaten it and never will. 

The other large percentage of sharks are killed due to ignorance, the belief every shark is a dangerous killer.   Some are only a few inches long, and the largest, the Whale Shark, is known as a gentle giant.   I belief all it eats is krill.

I don't believe that is true.  I do think fishing is a large killer of sharks but I don't believe a "large percentage" of sharks are purposely hunted and killed.

[GlitterRose]

1 hour ago, Brandy333 said:

One of the greatest aids that will save the shark species is education in the fact that all sharks are important for the ecosystem in the oceans to stay in balance.   Presently man kills an estimated 100 million sharks per year.   There are over 400 species of sharks, and of those maybe only about 10% are known to be dangerous to man.   Much of the decimation of sharks is due to the demand for shark fin soup.   The sharks are caught, fins cut off, then thrown back in alive to die.  I've never eaten it and never will. 

The other large percentage of sharks are killed due to ignorance, the belief every shark is a dangerous killer.   Some are only a few inches long, and the largest, the Whale Shark, is known as a gentle giant.   I belief all it eats is krill.

I doubt there are many people who don't know the big three...whites, tigers and bulls. 

If so, then they need to watch more shark week. 

Just because we know those three can be killers, it doesn't mean people shouldn't care about conservation. 

They're awesome animals.

[ThereWeAreThen]

Humans are the problem, not films.