How were sharks percieved before JAWS?

[Skittl1321]

That video was so sad.

 

[Tigerman]

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

More like what damage it did to the studio

 

[TMHeimer]

I was 22 when JAWS came out. Before JAWS I did a lot of snorkelling, swimming, etc., didn't like sharks and never wanted to be around them. After JAWS (some parts of which we thought were somewhat erronious and at times funny, as did people we talked to in the area it was filmed), I didn't like sharks (especially GWs) and never wanted to be around them. Since becoming a diver in 2005, and after reading tons of info. on what sharks are really like, I don't like them and never want to be around them. Haven't seen ONE yet.

 

[WetLens]

I put together a presentation on sharks and diving through the years, using texts, course material, and magazine articles of that era to sort out how the dive industry viewed sharks. When I started diving (1969) texts and courses really pushed "sharks are dangerous." Couple of examples - initial edition of The Science of Skin and Scuba Diving (1957): drawing of spearfishing skin diver trailing fish on a stringer with shark in background. Caption: "How to Lose Weight." Later editions updated drawing and changed caption to "Trouble." Another 60's textbook, "Handbook of Skin and Scuba Diving" by Jim Martenhoff had several good quotes: "No shark is safe." "I wouldn't get caught dead in the water if I knew a shark was nearby..." "Do not swim when bleeding from a scratch or cut." and my favorite, "If you get attacked by a shark, write your own book. You've got one."

Right before "Jaws" came out as a movie, magazines started publishing articles that discussed positive encounters with sharks and places you could go to dive with sharks. '76 began damage control from the "Jaws" outfall with articles asking how dangerous sharks really were and discussing ways to dive with sharks. By the early 80's, things had changed completely. UW photography had taken over spearfishing as one of the primary activities and photographers everywhere needed sharks in their portfolio. Lots of divers now wanted to dive with sharks. By the early 90's, dive operators found they could make money selling dives with sharks and you know the rest. And, let's not forget 1988 - the start of Discovery Channel's "Shark Week."

Personally, I did not see a shark until the early 80's (not counting nurse sharks) and that was with quite a few trips in various locations throughout the Caribbean and Bahamas. Dive operations either kept us away from areas with known shark activity or the feeding programs that started in the mid-80s really did change shark behavior. We dive some of the same reefs in the Bahamas (Upper Exumas) that we dove in the mid-70's. Never saw a shark. Now it is rare to make a dive on the outer reefs where you don't see several.

High level fly-over, I know, but that is kind of what I gleaned from reviewing dozens of texts and hundreds of magazine articles from the late 50's through the 90's.

 

[Tigerman]

Ill have nightmares about that dutch 1914 movie music now, just for the record..

 

[knotical]

Ill have nightmares about that dutch 1914 movie music now, just for the record..

You joke, but I did have nightmares from Jaws - and I was about 32 years old. Had one nightmare after seeing the movie, and another after reading the book. I don't recall having any other nightmares as an adult. Fortunately the dreams seemed to expunge the fear because I continued to enjoy the occasions when I was lucky enough to see sharks.

 

[doctormike]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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

Yup, an interesting guy. The photosphere was actually an adaptation of his father's invention. Charles Williamson was a sea captain who patented this device in 1903 - it was a flexible, collapsable tube made from iron rings and waterproof canvas with a diving chamber at the end with lights and grasping devices. It could be used for salvage operations to 250 feet...

 

[gypsyjim]

There were sharks BEFORE Jaws? Damn, and I thought they were invented just for that movie!

Seriously, sharks, and other monsters of the sea have always played a villainous role in literature and folk lore. The movie Jaws just taught us to not ignore that music, and get out of the water, quickly!, whenever we hear that score!

 

[Doc]

Exact same point, in a different twist:

What was the lead news story for five days in all media until 08:46 on 09/11/2001 ?

Sharks Infest the Waters of Florida


Then, they magically went away, along with Chandra Levy.

 

[robbcayman]

People in Hawaii, Fiji, Tahiti etc... thought of them as gods and that they were special. People in China wanted them for fin soup. American film makers wanted them as a horror prop to pack theaters.