Fifty years ago, a mechanical shark named Bruce terrified audiences in Jaws. The movie was so convincing that both the author Peter Benchley and director Steven Spielberg later apologized for decimating shark populations.
In 2000, Benchley wrote he "couldn't possibly write Jaws today...not in good conscience." Spielberg added in 2022: "I truly, to this day, regret the decimation of the shark population because of the book and the film."
But here's what's wild. Despite half a century of being Hollywood's go-to villain, great whites are now flourishing in places like the Gulf of Maine. The 1972 Marine Mammal Protection Act accidentally saved them by protecting seals—their favorite meal. Sometimes the best conservation happens when you're not even trying.
by JS
for the AdAI Ed. Team
