VINEYARD HAVEN, Mass. (AP) — Lewis Pugh has adopted an unstated rule throughout his profession as one of many world’s most daring endurance swimmers: Don’t discuss sharks. However he plans to interrupt that this week on a swim round Martha’s Winery, the place “ Jaws” was filmed 50 years in the past.
The British-South African was the primary particular person to finish a long-distance swim in each ocean of the world — and has taken on excessive situations all over the place from Mount Everest to the Arctic.
Endurance swimmer Lewis Pugh gestures to the place he’ll start his swim round Martha’s Winery island, which is anticipated to take 12 days, close to the Edgartown Lighthouse, Monday, Could 12, 2025, in Edgartown, Mass. (AP Photograph/Charles Krupa)
“On this swim, it’s very totally different: We’re simply speaking about sharks on a regular basis,” joked Pugh, who will, as common, put on no wetsuit.
For his swim round Martha’s Winery in 47-degree (8-degree Celsius) water he’ll put on simply trunks, a cap and goggles.
Pugh, 55, is endeavor the problem as a result of he needs to alter public notion across the now at-risk animals — which he stated have been maligned by the blockbuster movie as “villains, as cold-blooded killers.” He’ll urge for extra safety for sharks.
On Thursday, starting on the Edgartown Harbor Lighthouse, he’ll swim for 3 or 4 hours within the brutally chilly surf, mark his progress and spend the remainder of his waking hours on the Winery educating the general public about sharks. Then, he’ll get within the water and do it once more — and once more, for an estimated 12 days, or nonetheless lengthy it takes him to finish the 62-mile (100-kilometer) swim.
He begins the journey simply after the New England Aquarium confirmed the primary white shark sighting of the season, earlier this week off the coast of Nantucket.
“It’s going to check me not solely bodily, but additionally mentally,” he stated, whereas scoping out wind situations by the beginning line. “I imply each single day I’m going to be talking about sharks, sharks, sharks, sharks. Then, finally, I’ve obtained to get within the water afterwards and do the swim. I suppose you possibly can think about what I’ll be excited about.”
A world with out predators
Pugh stated the swim can be among the many most tough he’s undertaken, which says lots for somebody who has swum close to glaciers and volcanoes, and amongst hippos, crocodiles and polar bears. Nobody has ever swum across the island of Martha’s Winery earlier than.
However Pugh, who usually swims to lift consciousness for environmental causes — and has been named the United Nations Patron of the Oceans for a number of years — stated no swim is with out danger and that drastic measures are wanted to get his message throughout: Round 274,000 sharks are killed globally every day — a fee of 100 million yearly, in response to the American Affiliation for the Development of Science.
“It was a movie about sharks attacking people and for 50 years, we’ve got been attacking sharks,” he stated of “Jaws.” “It’s utterly unsustainable. It’s insanity. We have to respect them.”
He emphasizes that the swim just isn’t one thing nonprofessionals ought to try. He’s accompanied by security personnel in a ship and kayak and makes use of a “Shark Defend” machine that deters sharks utilizing an electrical area with out harming them.
Pugh remembers feeling worry as a 16-year-old watching “Jaws” for the primary time. Over a long time of examine and analysis, awe and respect have changed his worry, as he realized the function they play in sustaining Earth’s more and more fragile ecosystems.
“I’m extra frightened of a world with out sharks, or with out predators,” he stated.
The ‘Jaws’ impact on sharks
“Jaws” is credited for creating Hollywood’s blockbuster tradition when it was launched in summer time 1975, turning into the very best grossing movie up till that point and incomes three Academy Awards. It could influence what number of seen the ocean for many years to come back.
Each director Steven Spielberg and creator Peter Benchley have expressed remorse over the influence of the movie on viewers’ notion of sharks. Each have since contributed to conservation efforts for animals, which have seen populations depleted as a result of elements like overfishing and local weather change.
Discovery Channel and the Nationwide Geographic Channel every year launch programming about sharks to teach the general public in regards to the predator.
Greg Skomal, marine fisheries biologist at Martha’s Winery Fisheries throughout the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries, stated many individuals inform him they nonetheless gained’t swim within the ocean due to the sheer terror brought on by the movie.
“I have a tendency to listen to the expression that, ‘I haven’t gone within the water since ‘Jaws’ got here out,’” he stated.
However Skomal, who revealed a ebook difficult the movie’s inaccuracies, stated “Jaws” additionally impressed many individuals — together with him — to review marine biology, resulting in elevated analysis, acceptance and respect for the creatures.
If “Jaws” have been made at the moment, he doesn’t assume it’d have the identical impact. However within the Seventies, “it was simply good when it comes to producing this degree of worry to a public that was largely uneducated about sharks, as a result of we have been uneducated. Scientists didn’t know lots about sharks.”
A lady views the sundown at Menemsha Seaside, Wednesday, Could 14, 2025, in Chilmark, Mass. (AP Photograph/Robert F. Bukaty)
Skomal stated the most important risk contributing to the decline of the shark inhabitants now could be business fishing, which exploded within the late Seventies and is at the moment pushed by excessive demand for fins and meat utilized in meals dishes, in addition to using pores and skin to make leather-based and oil and cartilage for cosmetics.
“I believe we’ve actually moved away from this sense, or the previous adage that, ‘The one good shark is a lifeless shark,’” he stated. “We’re positively morphing from worry to fascination, or maybe a mix of each.”
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See an AP picture gallery from round Martha’s Winery and the beginning of Pugh’s swim right here.