Shark whined, pathetic.
“Let me gooooo!
I promise to be goooooood!”
But they could never trust
his hard and sharkly heart.
from Shark at Sister Tea
written by Barbara Joosse
illustrated by Sergio Ruzzier
Annie Schwartz Books/Random House Children’s Books, 2025
This summer celebrates the 50th anniversary of Jaws! I didn’t see the movie 50 years ago, and I just found out that I missed the actual anniversary, too. It was last week (June 20).
The first film Steven Spielberg released, The Sugarland Express (1974), was a critical success but bombed at the box office. Jaws was already in production. It could have been made in a tank in Hollywood, or even in a protected lake somewhere, but being young (only 25 years old at the time of filming) and inexperienced (Jaws was only his second movie), he knew if he did that, it wouldn’t have looked the same.
Jaws was filmed on location on Martha’s Vineyard from May to October 1974. It was the first major movie to be filmed on the ocean, which caused its own set of problems.
Early on, the producers thought they’d be able to train a real great white. When they quickly realized how foolish (and dangerous) that idea was, three full-sized pneumatically powered “prop” sharks were built.
And into the Atlantic they all went: actors, two identical (just in case) 42-foot models of the Orca, and the three model sharks, a "full-body" with its belly missing and two “platform” sharks, one showing a view of the left side and another of the right. The pneumatic hoses that made them move were hidden.
Problems and “fixes” of the mechanical sharks ran the film way over budget and pushed the time to film it back, too.
The foam used for sharkskin took on water, even though it was marketed as non-absorbent. The pneumatic hoses were not made for use in salt water.
Also, shooting at sea meant working around stray sailboats that drifted into the frame.
But all these delays made more time to refine the script. Often, the writers were only one day ahead of the shoot. Richard Dreyfuss famously said, "We started filming without a script, without a cast, and without a shark.”
Despite all this, or maybe because of it, Jaws changed American cinema. It introduced the idea of a “summer blockbuster,” a high-budget film released during the summer to maximize viewership and the box office returns that went with it. Rocky (1976) and Star Wars (1977) used the same marketing strategies.
Blockbusters played well to audiences. Suspenseful storytelling and innovative use of music kept audiences engaged and influenced a new way to produce thrillers and horror films.
Peter Benchley’s book and Spielberg’s movie are fiction. But how about real sharks that live in the ocean? Do they really swim close to shore?
The simple answer is yes. Professionals and an increasing number of amateurs are using drones to document just how close and how often sharks and humans share the shore. The answer is very close and very often.
But far from being alarming, Chris Lowe, professor of marine biology and director of the Shark Lab at California State University, assures us, “when there are a lot of people and sharks in shallow water together, most of the time nothing happens.”
Sensationalized stories and stereotyping have turned sharks into fearsome, dangerous, indiscriminate killers. In reality, according to the World Wildlife Federation (WWF), “sharks are a critical part of the marine environment and must be protected.”
With over 400 different species, sharks come in all sizes, from the 8-inch deepwater dogfish to the 40-foot-long whale shark. Here are a few more facts about sharks from WWF.
Humans are not natural prey for sharks. They most often are mistaken for something of a similar size, like a dolphin or seal.
Sharks are hunted illegally and especially for their fins to make soup. They grow slowly and bear few young. Many species are in sharp decline, including hammerheads, blue sharks, mako sharks, and nurse sharks.
Shark attacks are extremely rare. You are more likely to be struck by lightning than attacked by a shark.
I haven’t been to Martha’s Vineyard, where Jaws was shot, but my husband and I stayed a few days on nearby Nantucket about 25 years ago. It’s a beautiful and historic island, the setting for Herman Melville’s Mody Dick. We were there in October, after tourist season, when the weather was a little chillier and the prices were a little more reasonable. We visited a whaling museum and several shops and restaurants. We walked around the island at night to see so many, many stars. More than I ever thought could light up the sky.
We did not venture near the beach.
“Jaws" was inducted into the National Film Registry in 2001. I’m waiting for the copy I reserved at my library.
When a shark unexpectedly visits a tea party, two sisters bravely hurl him back to the sea where he belongs. Full of sisterhood devotion, bravery, tension, and tenderness, Shark at Sister Tea (attributed above) is a picture book that deserves a look.
Be curious! (and keep cool)
“Let me gooooo!
I promise to be goooooood!”
But they could never trust
his hard and sharkly heart.
from Shark at Sister Tea
written by Barbara Joosse
illustrated by Sergio Ruzzier
Annie Schwartz Books/Random House Children’s Books, 2025
This summer celebrates the 50th anniversary of Jaws! I didn’t see the movie 50 years ago, and I just found out that I missed the actual anniversary, too. It was last week (June 20).
The first film Steven Spielberg released, The Sugarland Express (1974), was a critical success but bombed at the box office. Jaws was already in production. It could have been made in a tank in Hollywood, or even in a protected lake somewhere, but being young (only 25 years old at the time of filming) and inexperienced (Jaws was only his second movie), he knew if he did that, it wouldn’t have looked the same.
Jaws was filmed on location on Martha’s Vineyard from May to October 1974. It was the first major movie to be filmed on the ocean, which caused its own set of problems.
Early on, the producers thought they’d be able to train a real great white. When they quickly realized how foolish (and dangerous) that idea was, three full-sized pneumatically powered “prop” sharks were built.
And into the Atlantic they all went: actors, two identical (just in case) 42-foot models of the Orca, and the three model sharks, a "full-body" with its belly missing and two “platform” sharks, one showing a view of the left side and another of the right. The pneumatic hoses that made them move were hidden.
Problems and “fixes” of the mechanical sharks ran the film way over budget and pushed the time to film it back, too.
The foam used for sharkskin took on water, even though it was marketed as non-absorbent. The pneumatic hoses were not made for use in salt water.
Also, shooting at sea meant working around stray sailboats that drifted into the frame.
But all these delays made more time to refine the script. Often, the writers were only one day ahead of the shoot. Richard Dreyfuss famously said, "We started filming without a script, without a cast, and without a shark.”
Despite all this, or maybe because of it, Jaws changed American cinema. It introduced the idea of a “summer blockbuster,” a high-budget film released during the summer to maximize viewership and the box office returns that went with it. Rocky (1976) and Star Wars (1977) used the same marketing strategies.
Blockbusters played well to audiences. Suspenseful storytelling and innovative use of music kept audiences engaged and influenced a new way to produce thrillers and horror films.
Peter Benchley’s book and Spielberg’s movie are fiction. But how about real sharks that live in the ocean? Do they really swim close to shore?
The simple answer is yes. Professionals and an increasing number of amateurs are using drones to document just how close and how often sharks and humans share the shore. The answer is very close and very often.
But far from being alarming, Chris Lowe, professor of marine biology and director of the Shark Lab at California State University, assures us, “when there are a lot of people and sharks in shallow water together, most of the time nothing happens.”
Sensationalized stories and stereotyping have turned sharks into fearsome, dangerous, indiscriminate killers. In reality, according to the World Wildlife Federation (WWF), “sharks are a critical part of the marine environment and must be protected.”
With over 400 different species, sharks come in all sizes, from the 8-inch deepwater dogfish to the 40-foot-long whale shark. Here are a few more facts about sharks from WWF.
Humans are not natural prey for sharks. They most often are mistaken for something of a similar size, like a dolphin or seal.
Sharks are hunted illegally and especially for their fins to make soup. They grow slowly and bear few young. Many species are in sharp decline, including hammerheads, blue sharks, mako sharks, and nurse sharks.
Shark attacks are extremely rare. You are more likely to be struck by lightning than attacked by a shark.
I haven’t been to Martha’s Vineyard, where Jaws was shot, but my husband and I stayed a few days on nearby Nantucket about 25 years ago. It’s a beautiful and historic island, the setting for Herman Melville’s Mody Dick. We were there in October, after tourist season, when the weather was a little chillier and the prices were a little more reasonable. We visited a whaling museum and several shops and restaurants. We walked around the island at night to see so many, many stars. More than I ever thought could light up the sky.
We did not venture near the beach.
“Jaws" was inducted into the National Film Registry in 2001. I’m waiting for the copy I reserved at my library.
When a shark unexpectedly visits a tea party, two sisters bravely hurl him back to the sea where he belongs. Full of sisterhood devotion, bravery, tension, and tenderness, Shark at Sister Tea (attributed above) is a picture book that deserves a look.
Be curious! (and keep cool)
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