How were sharks percieved before JAWS?

[CAPTAIN SINBAD]

Hello:

I am from the Jaws generation and was born a month after the release of the movie. I opened my eyes in a world where sharks were believed to be evil. Now people are beginning to realize that sharks are not as dangerous as we believe them to be. For those divers who were around before the movie, how were sharks perceived? Was the fear of sharks something that Spielberg and Benchley invented or was it something rooted in human psychology from much earlier that they capitalized on?

Would love to hear peoples personal stories / experiences.

Thanks.

 

[Ste Wart]

At a PADI forum they showed a chart for certifications over the years.

There was a massive slump the summer Jaws came out

 

[Jim Lapenta]

Look up some of the old Sea Hunt or Cousteau videos. People were not AS scared but still scared and considered them pests that could be dangerous so best to shoot em.

 

[archman]

Great Whites' certainly gained more notoriety post-Jaws.

Previously, the public was less discriminating at the species level. Ha.

 

[rhwestfall]

IIRC, there was a recent documentary of the "Jaws Effect" where Peter Benchley (or maybe it was Speilberg) described the result as a tragedy. Sharks went from "general obscurity" to "need to erradicate".......

http://www.cracked.com/article_19135_6-hugely-popular-books-that-accidentally-screwed-world.html

 

[Byrdie]

I read that Peter Benchley stated he would have never written the book if he would have known that damage that it would do to the reputation of sharks. He later became a conservationist.

 

[archman]

God knows what damage Sharknado will do to Los Angeles tourism...
Sharknado (TV Movie 2013) - IMDb

 

[doctormike]

[VIMEO]21137464[/VIMEO]

If you go to around 5:42, and watch the segment entitled "under the sea with the devourers of man: sharks", you will get an idea of how things were in 1914.

Interestingly, this is one of the first underwater movies ever made. It was shot in Nassau by John Earnest Williamson, and I use a clip from it in my lecture on underwater video.

 

[archman]

That was awesome. I loved how they used the *whole horse* as bait, and it farted underwater.

 

[Sam Miller III]

[VIMEO]21137464[/VIMEO]

If you go to around 5:42, and watch the segment entitled "under the sea with the devourers of man: sharks", you will get an idea of how things were in 1914.

Interestingly, this is one of the first underwater movies ever made. It was shot in Nassau by John Earnest Williamson, and I use a clip from it in my lecture
on underwater video.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Suggest that you invest in "20 Years Under the sea" J.E. Williamson, 1936, published by Hale Cushman and Flint

The book documents the difficulty photographing under the water a century ago. Note Chapter three " A duel with a Man eater" which addresses the sequence you so graciously shared.

It should be recognized that Mr. Williamson shot the underwater sequences from the security and comfort of his four ton "photosphere. " Safe and secure except when he and the native divers jumped in to the water---Perhaps the first "Shark dive?"

Mr. J.E. Williamson should be also recognized and certainly remembered as the gentleman who gave us the first full length movie of Jules Verne's Classic "20,000 leagues under the sea" photographed underwater utilizing his Photosphere..........

SDM