While the movie “Jaws” seemed like a harmless and fun film at the time of its release, it has been one of the greatest factors that has led to mass shark hunting all over the world. In the movie, after a shark attacks on a beach in New England, the mayor posts a reward to anyone who kills the 25 foot great white. The movie depicts the thrilling chase of hunting and catching this bloodthirsty monster shark.
Based on a book written by Peter Benchley, the movie was mostly filmed by two Australians, Valerie and Ron Taylor. When making the movie, everyone involved thought that it would be a great fictional story. At the time, the Taylors were at the head of shark research and learning. Both started out as spear fishers, and then decided the oceans were too beautiful and the animals too special to kill for sport. Little was known about sharks at this time. They existed, but nobody thought to learn anything about them because they were believed to be too dangerous. It was crazy to think someone would purposefully get in the water to swim with them. Both Taylors lived in a time where the oceans were so full, anybody could take anything they wanted and it would “never make a difference.”
However, their story and movie had the opposite effect of what they hoped. After the movie was released it gained popularity extremely quickly and was soon one of the most popular films ever seen. After viewing it, instead of moving on with their lives, people decided that all sharks were like the fictional one in the movie. A new sport was invented; killing sharks became the most heroic thing that a person could do, and it instilled a lot of fear in the population. There were many people who became too scared to go near water at all, let alone the ocean. It seemed like the best thing for people to do to ensure everyone's safety was to kill every shark in the ocean.
Valerie and Ron Taylor have spent the rest of their lives trying to undo the unintended consequence of the film. From going on talk shows, to sharing photography and videos of what real sharks are like, they did everything they could to prove that sharks are not the monsters the movie made them out to be. Valerie sent many letters, and succeeded in getting the grey nurse shark protected. In the same place in southern Australia where “Jaws” was filmed, there is now a marine reserve specifically to protect the sharks that were once abundant there.
Though it may seem ridiculous that a shark lover and conservationist would think to make a movie like “Jaws,” the damage caused was unforeseeable. While Ron Taylor has passed away, but Valerie, now 89 years old, is still writing letters, advocating for sharks and diving anytime she can. While the movie harmed shark conservation at the time, it was the spark for one of the world's great marine science leaders.