Steven Spielberg: " I really regret it!"

The famous director Steven Spielberg sincerely regrets the impact of his cult film "Jaws" on the shark population.

Namely, in an interview with the BBC Radio 4 program Desert Island Discs, the 76-year-old Spielberg talked about how he feels guilty about the dwindling shark population after the great popularity of his 1975 thriller.

"I really, to this day, regret killing sharks for the sake of the book and the movie. I really, truly regret it," said the director, almost half a century since he made the Oscar-winning blockbuster. "That's one of the things I'm still afraid of. Not that I'm going to get eaten by a shark, but that the sharks are kind of mad at me because of the crazy sport fishing craze that happened after 1975."

Spielberg is not alone in his regrets. Peter Benchley, the author of the book on which the film was based, spent most of his life fighting for the protection of sharks.

"Knowing what I know now, I could never write that book today," Benchley said. "Sharks don't target human beings and they certainly don't hold a grudge against them," he added.

Despite Spielberg's claims, experts are divided on the film's impact on shark survival. While it's a statistical fact that shark populations are declining — a 2021 global study published in the journal Nature found that the world's oceanic shark and ray populations have dropped by 71%. Some experts say it's not because of a book or a movie. Paul Cox, chief executive of the Shark Trust, said that placing the blame on "Jaws" was "giving the film too much credit".

"Shark populations are declining due to overfishing," he explained.

Still, he's grateful for the positive PR stemming from Spielberg's comments. "It's very welcome that someone with his fame is taking on the challenge of communicating about sharks in a more positive way," Paul added.

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Post By: Vanessa F.