During an appearance on BBC Radio 4’s “Desert Island Discs,” the prolific filmmaker discussed his 1975 hit movie, Jaws, which he says he feels remorseful about due to the profound impact it had on the shark population after its release. The horror film—which was based on the 1974 book by Peter Benchley—broke box office records after its premiere, but it also ignited a major surge in sport fishing by portraying sharks—especially Great Whites—as dangerous, vengeful creatures that set out to kill humans. When asked about whether or not he would fear sharks if he lived on a desert island, Spielberg told podcast host Lauren Laverne, “One of the things I still fear [is] not to get eaten by a shark, but that sharks are somehow mad at me for the feeding frenzy of crazy sports fishermen that happened after 1975.” “I truly and to this day regret the decimation of the shark population because of the [‘Jaws’] book and the film,” he lamented. “I really, truly regret that.” The lasting aftermath from the film has since been dubbed “The Jaws Effect,” a term coined by scientist Christopher Neff that refers to the beliefs that “sharks intentionally bite humans, that human-shark encounters are always fatal, and that sharks should be killed to prevent future attacks,” per Mongabay News. Now, more than 100 million sharks are slaughtered every year, despite the odds of humans actually getting killed by sharks, which is statistically considered to be extremely rare. Benchley, the late author of Jaws—spoke out before his death about his remorse for writing the book, even though the bestseller turned him into a millionaire. “‘Jaws’ was entirely fiction,” he said during an interview back in 2006. “Knowing what I know now, I could never write that book today.” “Sharks don’t target human beings, and they certainly don’t hold grudges,” he explained. There’s no such thing as a rogue man-eater shark with a taste for human flesh. In facts, sharks rarely take more than one bite out of people, because we’re so lean and unappetizing to them." Shark populations are now in “rapid decline,” with overfishing being their most severe threat. To read more about the endangerment of many shark species, or find out how you can help, visit the World Wildlife Fun’s website.
