50 years after ‘Jaws,’ sharks face their own terror

Read here the story on the changes to the status of sharks and rays in the last 50 years since the movie 'Jaws' was released, featuring information from the Global status on sharks, rays, and chimaeras report.

WRITTEN BY | Brianna Randall
SOURCE | Science News

One June 20, 1975, a fictional great white shark stalked beachgoers on Amity Island — and struck terror into moviegoers around the world. Jaws, based on Peter Benchley’s best-selling novel, was a blockbuster. Its portrayal of sharks as bloodthirsty man-eaters bred widespread mistrust, fear and outright ill-will toward these animals.

In truth, you’re more likely to be struck by lightning than bitten by a shark. Millions of people swim in the seas each year, but an average of just 64 bites are recorded annually worldwide. And only 9 percent of those bites are fatal, equaling about six shark-inflicted deaths globally, according to the International Shark Attack File.

​Rather than worrying about sharks while we frolic in the ocean this summer, we should instead fear for them. Sharks are keystone species that are vital to maintaining the health and resilience of the oceans. But since the 1970s, populations of the world’s sharks and their close cousins, rays, have declined by more than 70 percent, scientists reported in 2021. One-third of shark and ray species are threatened with extinction, according to a report released at the end of last year by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

Read the full story here: ​https://www.sciencenews.org/article/shark-jaws-extinction-conservation-wild