{"id":42324,"date":"2025-05-15T02:37:00","date_gmt":"2025-05-15T07:37:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/?p=42324"},"modified":"2025-05-15T04:50:02","modified_gmt":"2025-05-15T09:50:02","slug":"endurance-athlete-to-swim-around-marthas-vineyard-to-change-public-perception-of-sharks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/?p=42324","title":{"rendered":"Endurance athlete to swim around Martha\u2019s Vineyard to change public perception of sharks"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

VINEYARD HAVEN, Mass. \u2014 Lewis Pugh has followed an unspoken rule during his career as one of the world\u2019s most daring endurance swimmers: Don\u2019t talk about sharks. But he plans to break that this week on a swim around Martha\u2019s Vineyard<\/a>, where \u201c Jaws\u201d was filmed 50 years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The British-South African was the first person to complete a long-distance swim in every ocean of the world \u2014 and has taken on extreme conditions everywhere from Mount Everest to the Arctic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOn this swim, it\u2019s very different: We\u2019re just talking about sharks all the time,\u201d joked Pugh, who will, as usual, wear no wetsuit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For his swim around Martha\u2019s Vineyard in 47-degree water he will wear just trunks, a cap and goggles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pugh, 55, is undertaking the challenge because he wants to change public perception around the now at-risk animals \u2014 which he said were maligned by the blockbuster film as \u201cvillains, as cold-blooded killers.\u201d He will urge for more protection for sharks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Thursday, beginning at the Edgartown Harbor Lighthouse, he will swim for three or four hours in the brutally cold surf, mark his progress and spend the rest of his waking hours on the Vineyard educating the public about sharks. Then, he\u2019ll get in the water and do it again \u2014 and again, for an estimated 12 days, or however long it takes him to complete the 62-mile (100-kilometer) swim.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He begins the journey just after the New England Aquarium confirmed the first white shark sighting of the season, earlier this week off the coast of Nantucket.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s going to test me not only physically, but also mentally,\u201d he said, while scoping out wind conditions by the starting line. \u201cI mean every single day I\u2019m going to be speaking about sharks, sharks, sharks, sharks. Then, ultimately, I\u2019ve got to get in the water afterwards and do the swim. I suppose you can imagine what I\u2019ll be thinking about.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pugh said the swim will be among the most difficult he\u2019s undertaken, which says a lot for someone who has swum near glaciers and volcanoes, and among hippos, crocodiles and polar bears. No one has ever swum around the island of Martha\u2019s Vineyard before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Pugh, who often swims to raise awareness for environmental causes \u2014 and was this year named the United Nations Patron of the Oceans \u2014 said no swim is without risk and that drastic measures are needed to get his message across: Around 274,000 sharks are killed globally each day \u2014 a rate of 100 million every year, according to the American Association for the Advancement of Science.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was a film about sharks attacking humans and for 50 years, we have been attacking sharks,\u201d he said of \u201cJaws.\u201d \u201cIt\u2019s completely unsustainable. It\u2019s madness. We need to respect them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He emphasizes that the swim is not something nonprofessionals should attempt. He\u2019s accompanied by safety personnel in a boat and kayak and uses a \u201cShark Shield\u201d device that deters sharks using an electric field without harming them.<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pugh remembers feeling fear as a 16-year-old watching \u201cJaws\u201d for the first time. Over decades of study and research, awe and respect have replaced his fear, as he realized the role they play in maintaining Earth\u2019s increasingly fragile ecosystems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m more terrified of a world without sharks, or without predators,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cJaws\u201d is credited for creating Hollywood\u2019s blockbuster culture when it was released in summer 1975, becoming the highest grossing film up until that time and earning three Academy Awards. It would impact how many viewed the ocean for decades to come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both director Steven Spielberg and author Peter Benchley have expressed regret over the impact of the film on viewers\u2019 perception of sharks. Both have since contributed to conservation efforts for animals, which have seen populations depleted due to factors like overfishing and climate change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Discovery Channel and the National Geographic Channel each year release programming about sharks to educate the public about the predator.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Greg Skomal, marine fisheries biologist at Martha\u2019s Vineyard Fisheries within the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries, said many people tell him they still won\u2019t swim in the ocean because of the sheer terror caused by the film.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI tend to hear the expression that, \u2018I haven\u2019t gone in the water since \u2018Jaws\u2019 came out,\u2019\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Skomal, who published a book challenging the film\u2019s inaccuracies, said \u201cJaws\u201d also inspired many people \u2014 including him \u2014 to study marine biology, leading to increased research, acceptance and respect for the creatures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If \u201cJaws\u201d were made today, he doesn\u2019t think it\u2019d have the same effect. But in the 1970s, \u201cit was just perfect in terms of generating this level of fear to a public that was largely uneducated about sharks, because we were uneducated. Scientists didn\u2019t know a lot about sharks.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Skomal said the biggest threat contributing to the decline of the shark population now is commercial fishing, which exploded in the late 1970s and is today driven by high demand for fins and meat used in food dishes, as well as the use of skin to make leather and oil and cartilage for cosmetics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think we\u2019ve really moved away from this feeling, or the old adage that, \u2018The only good shark is a dead shark,\u2019\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re definitely morphing from fear to fascination, or perhaps a combination of both.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

nbcnews<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

VINEYARD HAVEN, Mass. \u2014 Lewis Pugh has followed an unspoken rule during his career as one of the world\u2019s most daring endurance swimmers: Don\u2019t talk about sharks. But he plans to break that this week on a swim around Martha\u2019s Vineyard, where \u201c Jaws\u201d was filmed 50 years ago. The British-South African was the first person […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":42325,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5782],"tags":[33294,33295,33293],"class_list":["post-42324","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ep","tag-endurance","tag-swim","tag-vineyard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42324","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=42324"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42324\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":42326,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42324\/revisions\/42326"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/42325"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=42324"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=42324"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ustower.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=42324"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}