Dun Done

The iconic “Jaws” poster by artist Roger Kastel was not based on a great white shark, but rather a shortfin mako head that Kastel studied at the American Museum of Natural History, where the specimen remains today.

Looking back on the artistic choice 50 years after the film first thrashed into theaters, it’s hard to second-guess it. The image is chilling, menacing and easily the most instantly recognizable film poster in cinema history.

But the poster, depicting a larger-than-life shark lunging upward, toothy mouth open, toward a woman doing the freestyle stroke, is also one of the ways that “Jaws” and the book that inspired the movie have contributed to misconceptions about great white sharks in particular, and sharks in general.

“Bruce” kills five people — and a dog — over the course of the film, which spans a period of less than a month and takes place on one island and in its surrounding waters, a New England town based loosely on Wainscott. In all of 2024, worldwide, there were only four recorded (human) deaths attributed to shark bites.

The fact is, humans are a greater threat to sharks than sharks are to humans — or dogs. The International Union for Conservation of Nature lists the great white shark as vulnerable, with a decreasing population. Poaching, by-catch and habitat degradation are main drivers of the decline.

As Shark Stewards, a project of the Earth Island Institute, put it in a headline: “Blockbuster book and film spawned an industry, and an unwitting backlash that killed sharks.” “Jaws” led to great whites becoming subject to fishing tournaments and vendetta killings, according to Shark Stewards.

As apex predators, great white sharks maintain balanced populations of prey species such as elephant seals and sea lions, which ultimately increases species stability and the diversity of the ocean, according to the international organization Oceana. Without great white sharks, the ocean food chain would be in tatters.

“You’ll never go in the water again!” is the most memorable of the original taglines from the film, and it wasn’t overselling it for many filmgoers, who really did develop an unfounded, lifelong fear of sharks and the ocean.

A half century on, “Jaws” should continue to be appreciated as a cinematic masterpiece, but, simultaneously, attitudes and beliefs regarding sharks must be reexamined.