But it now appears that Steven Spielberg’s 1975 summer blockbuster, which has terrified cinemagoers and film fans for half a century, did these creatures a grave disservice and depicted them in an entirely false light.
Nobody who watched, mesmerised, as police chief Martin Brody tried to outwit his man-eating nemesis would ever describe sharks as ‘cute’, ‘calm’, ‘serene’ or ‘peaceful’. And certainly not ‘scared’.
Yet these are all the adjectives Worthing scientist and author Sophie Maycock uses to describe sharks, with whom she has had a lifelong obsession. And now after writing her book Shark: The Illustrated Biography about the iconic creatures, she hopes to show the public that the stereotype of evil and killer sharks is not true and that they are nothing like they have been misrepresented in mainstream media.
‘I’m busting myths in my book,’ says Sophie, 36. ‘Sharks are so cute in the water, really inquisitive, and some genuinely like to be stroked. They are very calm and serene most of the time.’
And perhaps surprisingly to many in Sussex, local ‘shark whisperer’ Sophie adds: ‘A lot of people are shocked when I say I have been in the water with sharks hundreds of times. But then if you have swum off Worthing, you have swum with sharks!
‘You’ll find shark eggs year-round locally around Worthing and the Sussex coast, probably from the lesser spotted cat shark which are 1.5 metre in length, or black mouth cat sharks.
‘They’re not bothering you but there are about 40 species of sharks and rays that live off the UK coasts.
‘I have seen cat sharks in Worthing and fishermen catch them all the time so there is a decent sized population out there.’
Sophie has also come face-to-face with 20 species of sharks around the world, but says she only counts those she has physically ‘100% locked eyes with’ when free diving, cage diving or swimming. These include Great Whites – which can be between 2.5 – 5m in length – Blacktip Reef sharks, White Tip Reef sharks, Caribbean Reef sharks, Ragged Tooth sharks, Zebra sharks, Whale sharks (which can be up to 18m long), Bull sharks, Nurse sharks, Emon sharks, as well as several species of stingrays, eagle rays and guitarfish.
In total there are more than 550 species of shark globally but only a handful that can cause harm, Sophie explains.
The Florida Museum of Natural History International Shark Attack files, the official monitoring agency of shark incidents world-wide, name The Big Three species that are responsible for the most bites and fatalities. These are the Great White, Bull shark and Tiger shark. Additionally, Oceanic Whitetip sharks are cited as man-eating sharks because they have been implicated in attacks upon shipwreck victims. ‘This is a massive minority of sharks,’ Sophie insists.
And in her bid to calm the public’s nerves, she describes how they range ‘from the biggest fish in the sea, to animals that could fit in the palm of your hand’. Sharks can be grey, brown, yellow, blue and even pink, with spots, stripes or carpet patterns, she says. Some have whip-like tails, others glow in the dark and a few have flattened bodies, like a ray. ‘They are very diverse and very few fit the classic Jaws portrayal’.
So why they killer hype? ‘Remember we are in their world when we are in the ocean,’ Sophie says. ‘They are not vindictive. Most are really scared of you and won’t come near.
‘Sharks don’t eat people. In a rare case of mistaken identity, they might bite and swim off.
‘They either think you are prey because you look like seals in the water or a more modern theory is that bites are by young sharks not familiar with people in the water. They are curious and it is their way of investigating to mouth at things to get a sensory feeling.
‘People are surprised to find creatures in the ocean that bite. Yet you wouldn’t jump out of a jeep on a safari with lions, so it makes sense to be careful and think about where you’re swimming and what lives there before you dive into their habitat.’
So which of the 550 types of shark is Sophie’s choice?
‘I always come back to the Zebra Shark,’ she says. ‘There are lots of facts I like about it – it’s bright yellow with black spots, very gentle, no threat and very relaxed.
‘They are capable of virgin births – I like that girl power!’
She explains that when certain species of sharks, such as the Zebra sharks, are not able to find a mate – either because the sexes are housed in different tanks in captivity or because they have such low numbers that they never bump into each other in the wild – the females are able to swap to asexual reproduction and breed without a male. This is possible because the cells that normally turn into the sex cells instead form embryos that are identical clones of the mother. It allows for bolstering of the population numbers, but over the long term, it is problematic because it reduces the amount of genetic variation, so the pups are all vulnerable to the same threats – for example they could be wiped out by a disease.
Zebra sharks have black and white stripes when they’re born and mimic venomous sea snakes to protect themselves. As they get older, they change colours to look like leopards as adults.
‘But there are so many weird and wonderful species – most are not stereotypical ‘James Bond’ sharks – and their diversity is fascinating,’ Sophie smiles.
She first encountered sharks at 19. ‘I had no idea what I wanted to do so I took a year out and volunteered to go cage diving with Great White sharks in South Africa,’ she explains. ‘I had no idea it was going to be a life-changing moment.
‘My first encounter with a wild shark was a little 2.5 metre young female Great White.
‘Interested in the food we had spread in the water, she cruised past, underneath the front of the boat. I had imagined thrashing, splashing, teeth and jaws, but that could not have been further from the reality. She was serene, gentle and absolutely mesmerising. In that moment, I knew I wanted to devote my life to working for sharks.
‘Everything I thought about these creatures was wrong. Then I felt dedicated to tell other people about what they are really like – which is intelligent and curious. They are fascinating not frightening.’
Sophie went on to study Biological Sciences at the University of East Anglia and Adelaide in Australia before she completed a Masters in ecology, biodiversity and conservation at Leiden in the Netherlands, determined to pursue a career studying sharks and promoting their cause.
‘I started to get involved in the international shark research environment, meeting people in the field and teaching as well and I really thought I wanted to do a PhD. Then lockdown hit and it was a real sliding doors moment.
‘I came back to the UK just before COVID hit with the intention of applying for a PhD programme. My family were near Oxford but it was too landlocked for me, so I looked at coastal towns and chose Worthing. I wanted to be close to the ocean and to be part of a community that cherishes the seas – and yes, sharks have chosen the area as their home too!’
Bored with her inability to travel due to lockdown restrictions, Sophie decided to turn her attention to launching a pro-shark website and sophiemaycocksharkspeak.com/ was born.
The site, she explains, is for ‘curious adults or teenagers’ wanting to focus on science or adults who don’t work in this field but are interested.
She says: ‘There are heavy articles with a lot of science written in a way that shouldn’t be too intimidating to read then there’s also some bite size fast facts with science and infographics to be easily digested and promote everything that’s good about these amazing creatures.
‘I want as many people as possible to understand how fascinating they are and to dispel some of the myths that surround them.’
Dr Dan Abel, one of the world’s most eminent shark scientists, came across her site, and, impressed with her writing and background, offered her the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to co-author a book about the species.
Shark; The Illustrated Biography came out in March and international publishers are keen to translate the book into different languages.
Sophie has now started researching a second book – this time on the way sharks’ brains work, ‘something no one knows much about’.
‘Sharks are really intelligent but no one thinks of them like that,’ she says. ‘Through my studies and research – lab-based, in the ocean and via underwater video footage – I have become increasingly aware of how poor science communication is regarding sharks, especially surrounding the huge threats they face and how seriously endangered they are.’
Sharks are threatened by habitat loss and degradation caused by pollution: litter, microplastics, oil spills and discarded fishing gear. Their critical habitats are disappearing thanks to dredging, land reclamation and coastal urban development.
They are also at risk from climate change – altering their habitats, behaviour and the distributions of their prey species.
Noise pollution is also having an impact on their natural behaviours and boat strikes are thought to responsible for some species failing to recover despite being protected by strict conservation measures.
‘But by far the greatest threat comes from massive over-fishing,’ warned Sophie. Sharks are fished for their fins, meat, liver oils, cartilage and skin.
‘Some estimates put shark fatalities at human hands at 273 million per year, so today it is estimated that 1/4 of sharks and their relatives are threatened with extinction. Some populations are thought to have declined by as much as 90%.
‘I decided to pivot in my career and focus more on public outreach and science communication – rather than working with sharks in the field,’ Sophie explains.
‘They have friends and personalities, but people see Jaws and shark attacks and malign them – but there is a lot more to them inside.’
So just how likely is a shark attack?
‘You are statistically more likely to win the lottery several times over or be killed by your toaster,’ Sophie says. ‘For every person bitten by a shark there are five people bitten from someone in New York!’
But in that unlikely scenario, just how should we react if we spot that famous fin coming towards us?
‘In that moment, people can be really scared but you mustn’t act like prey which is to thrash and swim away.
‘Just stay calm, still and stand upright in the water because things in the ocean don’t stand up. You look big and not like their prey.
‘If you can think on the spot, look directly at the shark because they’re intimidated by being stared down. They will back off and swim away.
‘People love lions and bears but they are much more dangerous. With sharks, there’s this disconnect, an irrational fear. They are definitely cute.’
Sharks are also critical to our oceans. ‘It sounds counterintuitive, but sharks keep fish stocks healthy by picking off the sick or weak in the population,’ Sophie explains. They also contribute very important top-down control over their ecosystems; keeping algae to a healthy level on reefs.’
Sophie is keen to finish her next book and to continuing learning more about sharks from her Worthing home where she is delighted to know that while she might not see a shark every day, it is enough to know they are living on her doorstep.
‘You can even see some small spotted Catsharks swimming around Brighton Pier!,’ she laughs. ‘Don’t worry though, they are very small and completely harmless, but nonetheless, if you have ever taken a dip off the Sussex coastline you can officially say you have swum with sharks!’
*The book in available on stores and online, priced at £25
https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691261676/shark