How Sharks Got Their Reputation Back From 'Jaws'
In 1975, a mechanical great white shark terrorized beachgoers on the big screen in Jaws, launching a cultural phenomenon and an ecological crisis. The film raked in what would today equal nearly $2.7 billion and left a legacy of fear that fueled shark culls, trophy hunts, and policies rooted more in panic than science. That legacy is still felt in the water and in the public imagination. But in the decades since, researchers, filmmakers, and conservationists have worked tirelessly to change the story. They've had to counteract a narrative etched into pop culture with something far more nuanced and urgent: sharks are not villains. Instead, they are vital ocean predators facing serious threats. And instead of being hunted, they should be protected, because they're worth more alive than dead.
The damage done by Jaws went beyond the silver screen. It gave sharks a brand problem. The irrational fear it sparked led to government-sanctioned culling programs, beach net installations, and recreational killing. Some species were pushed to the brink, their populations collapsing under the weight of fear-driven policy and overfishing. But as scientific understanding of sharks improved and marine ecosystems were better studied, the narrative began to shift. People started to realize that removing apex predators from the ocean had ripple effects throughout entire ecosystems. Coral reefs suffered, fish populations became unbalanced, and the ocean's health declined.
Enter science communication and eco-tourism. A new generation of researchers, often appearing on platforms like Shark Fest, Shark Week or in nature documentaries like Blue Planet, began to reframe sharks not as mindless killers but as essential, often misunderstood animals. Tracking programs tagged great whites, hammerheads, and tiger sharks, producing maps that let the public follow their migrations in near real-time. This gave people a new way to connect with the animals and social media accounts connected to these individual sharks amplified the movements of these animals, demystifying the species while humanizing the work one sassy update at a time.
At the same time, a global shark tourism industry began to grow. Today, shark tourism generates around $314 million annually and supports more than 10,000 jobs. In places like Australia, the Bahamas, Fiji, and South Africa, shark diving has become a major draw, bringing in revenue that helps fund local conservation efforts and research. Some communities that once relied on fishing sharks now make more money keeping them alive and inviting tourists to swim alongside them. It's a powerful economic argument — that a live shark can be worth far more than a dead one — that conservationists have used to shift attitudes. But changing public perception hasn't been easy, especially when a blockbuster like Jaws has left such a long cultural shadow to get out of. However, it seems like consistent messaging and education, especially when tied to real-world experiences, have begun to work. Conservation groups like The Shark Trust and The Atlantic White Shark Conservancy receive millions of dollars in donations and grants to study and protect sharks. Recent campaigns from non-novernmental grganizations and initiatives have focused on science-backed policy changes (such as creating marine protected areas) and free educational outreach content (as seen here by the Australian Marine Conservation Society). Citizen science efforts have also played a role, with divers around the world logging sightings, tagging programs opening to the public to raise money for science, and apps that let anyone contribute to data collection — all of which have helped foster a sense of shared responsibility for the future of these animals.
Still, the contrast between the economic success of Jaws and the current push for shark conservation is stark. Jaws made about $470 million at the box office back in the 70s, which when adjusted for inflation is a few billion dollars. That single film's reach is hard to compete with. But what instead of competing to make all people everywhere not afraid of sharks, a replacement narrative was offered. One that says sharks are complex, diverse, and vulnerable. That humans are far more dangerous to sharks than the other way around. And that the health of our oceans depends on their survival.
That's exactly what conservationists have done, and it seems to be working.
It's fitting that 50 years after Jaws hit theaters, some of the very beaches that once feared shark sightings now advertise them. Shark festivals celebrate them. Dive operators depend on them. And schoolchildren are taught about their ecological importance, not their supposed bloodthirst. It is not a perfect recovery, as many shark species are still in danger from climate change, habitat destruction, and bycatch, but it's a striking transformation to what once was. The road to repairing sharks' reputations has been long and full of obstacles, and in many ways, it's a blueprint for how we might reframe other misunderstood or maligned species. That's the real plot twist.
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Washington Post
an hour ago
- Washington Post
See where your flights will experience this climate-fueled turbulence
It gets bumpy traveling with a toddler. On a descent into JFK airport, we experienced stomach lurching turbulence. The buckle signs turned on, and I secured my 3-year-old daughter, while maintaining a composed face. I checked in to see how she was feeling as the dining carts rattled against the cabin's hollow plastic walls. 'I like the bouncing!' she exclaimed, and we landed without a hitch. It was such a sunny day too, I remembered thinking as we deplaned. I scrolled and learned that turbulence accounts for a majority of weather-related accidents in the United States. Clear-air turbulence, like we experienced, can happen without warning on a cloudless day, injuring passengers and crew by violently throwing them. So I wondered: Should I add severe turbulence to the list of weather events my daughter will experience as the Earth warms? Short answer, yes. Studies show these events are happening more often now than 40 years ago. And a recent study by Mohamed Foudad, a researcher in turbulence modeling at the University of Reading, identified areas where a hotter atmosphere makes for even rougher skies in the following decades. Check how turbulence would change along your route Select departure Select arrival Turbulence at 2°C warming Likelihood of increased severe turbulence along flight routes. Low High Ascents and descents are not calculated. Why the Southwest will experience more turbulence While at the University of Toulouse, Foudad led a study where he combined 11 climate models to predict where more extreme and dangerous forms of clear-air turbulence would increase. He said, 'by using all these climate models … we have now a high confidence at each degree of warming that we have an increase in this turbulence.' The map above simulates the impact of a 2 degree Celsius (3.6 degree Fahrenheit) increase from preindustrial temperatures which, according to some estimates, could fall before 2055. These severe cases are more than a bump in the sky. These conditions result in sudden changes in altitude and loss of airspeed that are a risk for passengers, crew and the plane. A drop like this could throw a person from their seat or send a phone flying. It is the type of incident that is federally required to be recorded in the U.S. Incidents of severe turbulence are in addition to an increasing trend observed decades ago. Paul D. Williams, a professor of atmospheric science at the University of Reading, said 'today there's 55 percent more severe turbulence over the North Atlantic than there was in 1979 and 41 percent more over North America.' At this year's European Geosciences Union conference, Williams predicted that turbulence along the world's busiest routes over the Atlantic Ocean may increase by four times as much over the next few decades. A graphic explaining the clear-air turbulence and how it is created between warmer and colder air currents in the jet stream. Foudad's study found a majority of change in the U.S. appears in the southwest along the subtropical jet stream — a high altitude band of wind that wraps around the globe. Along the edges of this jetstream, two layers of air at different temperatures encounter one another. Extreme weather intensifies temperature differences of these layers, allowing wind speeds to change over short distances. The push and pull of these forces creates turbulence between them. Foudad's study found a majority of change in the U.S. appears in the southwest along the subtropical jet stream — a high altitude band of wind that wraps around the globe. Along the edges of this jetstream, two layers of air at different temperatures encounter one another. Extreme weather intensifies temperature differences of these layers, allowing wind speeds to change over short distances. The push and pull of these forces creates turbulence between them. Foudad's study found a majority of change in the U.S. appears in the southwest along the subtropical jet stream — a high altitude band of wind that wraps around the globe. Along the edges of this jetstream, two layers of air at different temperatures encounter one another. Extreme weather intensifies temperature differences of these layers, allowing wind speeds to change over short distances. The push and pull of these forces creates turbulence between them. Foudad's study found a majority of change in the U.S. appears in the southwest along the subtropical jet stream — a high altitude band of wind that wraps around the globe. Along the edges of this jetstream, two layers of air at different temperatures encounter one another. Extreme weather intensifies temperature differences of these layers, allowing wind speeds to change over short distances. The push and pull of these forces creates turbulence between them. Hotter air moves faster and typically, higher than cold air. As it moves more rapidly, colder air is pulled up to fill in those gaps, causing what's known as 'vertical wind shear.' Aircraft experience these tumbling eddies as turbulence. As climate change strengthens temperatures in the tropics, hotter air is meeting the cooler Northern air in greater contrast. Williams says, 'the temperature drop across the jet stream at cruising altitudes is being made stronger, and that is increasing the wind shear, which in turn is generating more turbulence.' Story continues below advertisement Advertisement Globally, Foudad's research found that northern Africa and central Asia, along the most populated parts of China, the Korean Peninsula, and Japan, will see large increases of severe turbulence in the atmosphere as a result. This doesn't mean the rest of the United States is off the hook. A 2023 analysis of historic changes in clear-air turbulence found that the largest global increases occurred over the continental U.S. and the North Atlantic Ocean. A 2019 paper determined that as temperatures have risen over the past four decades, vertical wind shear in the Northern Hemisphere has increased, as the temperature difference in the polar jet stream has widened. What's at stake Bullet We will face more uncomfortable and dangerous flights. Clear-air turbulence has increased since the 1970s. Researchers agree that the likelihood of severe turbulence will only increase in a warming world, putting passengers and crew at risk. Bullet Flights could take longer or risk more cancellations. Avoiding turbulent air and stronger headwinds means slower flights, delays, or cancellations from threatening conditions. Bullet Flights could cost more. Every report of severe turbulence requires a safety inspection. This means longer times grounded and more hours monitoring an airline's fleet. More exposure to heavy winds, means more hours of fatigue on aircraft. Beyond sparking an existential panic during your flight, the biggest problem turbulence poses is how it harms the plane you're taking. What may be 20-second increases for individual passengers add more than 120 hours of additional strain over the lifetime of the aircraft. Stress on these jets may shorten their expected lifespan by years. Map of the top three routes impacted by length of journey. Routes with the most change in turbulence Routes with the most change in turbulence Routes with the most change in turbulence Routes with the most change in turbulence Routes with the most change in turbulence ... those under 2.5 hours Route Turbulence Houston, TX (IAH) to Los Angeles, CA (LAX) 36 secs Burbank, CA (BUR) to Houston, TX (IAH) 36 secs Burbank, CA (BUR) to Houston, TX (HOU) 36 secs ... those between 2.5 and 4 hours Route Turbulence Jacksonville, FL (JAX) to Santa Ana, CA (SNA) 59 secs Jacksonville, FL (JAX) to San Diego, CA (SAN) 59 secs Charleston, SC (CHS) to San Diego, CA (SAN) 58 secs ... those more than 4 hours Route Turbulence Atlanta, GA (ATL) to Kahului, HI (OGG) 1:46 min Atlanta, GA (ATL) to Honolulu, HI (HNL) 1:45 min Honolulu, HI (HNL) to Kenner, LA (MSY) 1:35 min 'If there's twice as much turbulence, then there's twice as much fatigue, twice as much wear-and-tear,' Williams said, adding that airlines would have to perform maintenance twice as often because the planes have 'effectively flown twice as many hours in turbulence, even though they've flown the same number of hours in the atmosphere.' No one has yet estimated how much more it would cost to increase maintenance to keep airlines safe. Fatal incidents from turbulence are rare, but not unheard of. The 2023 Singapore Airlines experienced severe turbulence that killed one passenger, while injuring 71 others. What can airlines do about clear-air turbulence? Forecasters already make predictions where clear-air turbulence will impact flights, though it is difficult to track with satellite or radar. When Williams started his career in 1999, he said he spoke with pilots who ignored turbulence forecasts, finding them 'rubbish … always wrong.' But the predictions have improved, Williams said, from 60 percent accuracy to 80 percent today. The airline industry is also trying something else: tracking clear-air turbulence in real time. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) offers a platform called the Turbulence Aware, where participating airlines receive live data of incidents along their routes. Story continues below advertisement Advertisement Williams called displaying live turbulence data in the cockpit a 'game changer. It doesn't involve someone picking up a radio and talking to air traffic control, then air traffic control passing it on.' Still, it costs money to reroute a flight, he said, and it adds to the overall journey time, Williams says. Stuart Fox, IATA's director of flight and technical operations, says the data help pilots make informed decisions. 'Safety trumps everything … the information used by the pilots, either before departure or at the flight planning stage, can help the pilots and crew be aware of what to expect.' As turbulence is projected to increase globally by the mid-century, researchers caution that planes being manufactured now should be designed for a more turbulent atmosphere. Meanwhile, air traffic along the U.S. Southwest will only continue to grow, Foudad said. 'It's hard to say that airlines will not be impacted by this extreme weather shifting with global warming.' Given how much turbulence stands to change, it might be hard to avoid at all.
Gizmodo
an hour ago
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A Closer Look At Uranus's Moons Reveals a Surprising Dark Side
The moons that orbit Uranus are already known to have unusual characteristics: some are heavily cratered, others have tectonic features or a patchwork of ridges and cliffs. Using the Hubble space telescope, scientists took a closer look at the surface of Uranus's four largest moons and discovered something rather unexpected. For the study, a team of astronomers went searching for signs of interactions between Uranus's magnetic field and its four largest moons: Ariel, Umbriel, Titania, and Oberon. The moons, all named after characters from the works of William Shakespeare, are all tidally locked. That means one side of the moon, the leading side, is always facing the planet, while the other one, the trailing side, always facing away from Uranus. Scientists had long assumed that the leading side would be brighter, while the trailing side would appear darker. Instead, they found it to be quite the opposite, discovering clear evidence for the darkening of the leading sides of the outer moons. The findings, presented this week at the 246th American Astronomical Society meeting, held in Anchorage, Alaska, indicate that Uranus' magnetosphere might not interact much with its large moons, despite previous data suggesting otherwise. 'Uranus is weird, so it's always been uncertain how much the magnetic field actually interacts with its satellites,' Richard Cartwright, a researcher at the Johns Hopkins University's Applied Physics Laboratory, and principal investigator behind the new study, said in a statement. The ice giant is indeed a certified weirdo. Uranus is tilted 98 degrees, making it the only planet in the solar system with an equator nearly at a right angle to its orbit. A single day on Uranus is around 17 hours, the amount of time it takes for the planet to rotate on its axis. The planet completes one orbit around the Sun every 84 Earth years. 'At the time of the Voyager 2 flyby [in 1986], the magnetosphere of Uranus was tilted by about 59 degrees from the orbital plane of the satellites,' Cartwright explained. 'So, there's an additional tilt to the magnetic field.' Uranus and its magnetic field lines rotate faster than its moons orbit the planet, causing the magnetic field lines to constantly sweep past the moons. As a result, scientists believed that charged particles from the planet's magnetic field, or magnetosphere, should hit the surface of the trailing sides of the moons. Those charged particles would accumulate on the moons' trailing sides, scattering radiation and thereby making them appear darker on the side that's facing away from Uranus. Using Hubble's ultraviolet capabilities, the scientists behind the study found that the leading and trailing hemispheres of Ariel and Umbriel are actually very similar in brightness. For Titania and Oberon, it was the opposite of what they expected. The leading hemispheres of the two outer moons were darker and redder compared to their trailing hemispheres. The team of scientists came up with an explanation for the strange phenomenon. Uranus's irregular moons, small distant bodies with eccentric orbits, are constantly being hit by micrometeorites and ejecting some of that material into orbit around the planet. Over millions of years, that material moves inward toward the orbits of Titania and Oberon. As the moons orbit Uranus, they pick up the dust 'much like bugs hitting the windshield of your car as you drive down a highway,' according to a statement by the Space Telescope Science Institute. All that build-up might be what's causing Titania and Oberon to appear darker and redder. 'So that supports a different explanation,' Cartwright said. 'That's dust collection. I didn't even expect to get into that hypothesis, but you know, data always surprise you.' As for the two other moons, Ariel and Umbriel, it may be that Uranus's magnetosphere does interact with them but not in a way that's resulting in a bright and dark side. The recent discovery adds more mystery to Uranus and its system.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
From Jekyll to Wassaw to Tybee, sea turtle experiences in Georgia and education await
Requiem's flapping flippers almost sounded like bird wings fluttering as Morgan Flannagan, a Georgia Sea Turtle Center hospital technician, pulled the green sea turtle from a rehabilitation tank. Flannagan dried the turtle off and took it inside to the center's hospital room. 'Sea turtles don't have health insurance,' said Michelle Kaylor, the Jekyll Island center's director. She and a crowd of center visitors watched Requiem through the hospital room's public observation window as the endangered turtle was fitted with a microchip on June 6. The turtle, whose sex is not known, was nearly ready to be returned to the ocean since arriving May 3 with a large J hook embedded in its esophagus. Kaylor said Loggerhead and Green Sea turtles account for most of the center's patients, many of which have suffered human-caused injuries. In addition to sea turtles, people bring other wildlife in need of triage to the center. Situations could also involve diamondback terrapins as well as birds such as eagles. Sea turtle cases can come from off the coast of Georgia's 15 barrier islands or as far north as the Massachusetts. Some turtles that travel to the Cape Cod area can get cold-stunned because they get stuck in bay due to the land mass shape and, since they cannot internally regulate their body temperature, become hypothermic. Such situations come to the New England Aquarium, Kaylor said. 'They'll triage them, take them in, and then they, with NOAA, coordinate sending them out to different facilities throughout the U.S.,' she said. Providing emergency and rehabilitation care for Loggerheads, Kemps Ridley, Leatherback and Green sea turtles is merely one element in a series of decades-long conservation efforts made by the center and other organizations within the Georgia Sea Turtle Cooperative, which is coordinated in part by Georgia Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Wildlife Conservation Section Sea Turtle Program Coordinator Mark Dodd. Dodd said some conversation efforts started as far back as the late-1960s under former University of Georgia Odum School of Ecology Professor Jim Richardson, who retired in 2016. His research on shrimping trawls leading to stranded sea turtles helped lead to federal protection. He was also instrumental in the early expansion of the use of TEDs or turtle excluder devices, which prevent turtles from becoming ensnared in shrimping and fishing nets. Throughout coastal Georgia, multiple organizations afford turtle enthusiasts to learn such tidbits and more through educational and experiential opportunities. Home Free: Mystic Aquarium released 22 rehabilitated sea turtles back into the wild on Jekyll Island Pump the brakes: Marine Science Center reminds drivers to slow down for terrapin crossings In addition to the hospital viewing room and the ability to observe turtles in the rehabilitation pavilion, the center offers interactive educational activities. It also features a full scale replica of a prehistoric sea turtle in its gift shop. Proceeds from the shop and admissions tickets help fund the center and its programs. The center has rehabilitated and released nearly 750 sea turtles since it opened in 2007. Where: 214 Stable Road, Jekyll Island, Georgia Cost: $9 for ages 4-12, $11 for teens and adults. Yearly supporter membership options are offered as well as group rates. Website: The Caretta Research Project is not a facility. Education and Outreach Coordinator Kristen Zemaitis said its unique program is volunteer operated. People pay to stay on the Wassaw National Wildlife Refuge for week. On any given week of the program, six volunteers and two biologists collect data for research. "Everyone who comes out there during the summer learns firsthand what it's like to be a biologist, what it is that these turtles need," Zemaitis said. Roughly 100 people can access the experience each summer, and about 40% of them are returner volunteers who share their experience with others and wind up bringing folks back with them. "We've had people from six countries and all 50 states," she said. Caretta also partners with schools to bring sea turtle education into the classroom. All the organization's efforts serve its mission "to ensure the long-term protection and full recovery of the Northwest Atlantic loggerhead population and the ecological roles that it plays through research, conservation and education.' Where: offices located in Savannah, but sea turtle research and protection activities occur on Wassaw National Wildlife Refuge Cost: ranges from $950 to $1,100 per person per week depending on time of registration Website: Tybee Island Marine Science Center's Veterinary Tech Sarah Alley and others offer educational programming for locals and tourists alike. The center's biologists and approved volunteers also actively track and relocate turtle nests on the island, which are up to eight as of June 13. Much like the Sea Turtle Center, the science center on Tybee addresses the needs of and educates the public about more than Loggerheads and Leatherbacks. The public can learn about bird migrations and about wildlife such as horseshoe crabs, sea gulls, diamondback terrapin and more. Tybee's center offers year-round walks on the beaches and in the marshes. It also often shows local artists' works in its Coastal Galleries such as Cat Ward's "Deep Dive" installation. Reach out to see how you might be able to assist with ongoing conservation and research initiatives on Tybee and Little Tybee Islands. Where: 37 Meddin Drive, Tybee Island, Georgia Cost: 4 and under are free while children 5-12, seniors and military personnel pay $12, regular admission is $15 Website: Dodd said all the sea turtle conservation efforts across the state aim to to restore turtles to a "viable population that's fulfilling its role in the ecosystem." He said in some ways the population is getting to that point, noting a recent situation at the Jekyll center where a gravid female had to be euthanized. The turtle was brought in because it was missing significant portions of its front flippers. Unlike Requiem, though, the other turtle's injuries weren't caused by humans. Biologists determine that it had been bitten by a shark. In a way, the biologists let natural selection take its course since the turtle could no longer swim or feed. Dodd said getting ever closer to that viable population would mean humans can start to scale back their interventions while continuing to innovate elements such as the TEDs. Zemaitis said full recovery to the Caretta Project refers to "full recovery of the entire North Atlantic recovery unit." She said while Georgia and and Florida may appear to have huge spokes in nesting, challenges could still be facing turtles on the coasts of North Carolina and South Carolina. Cape Romain, South Carolina, for example, typically sees 1000s of Loggerhead nests, the largest amount outside of Florida. "It is now almost completely inundated at high tide due to sea level rise, and their dunes have been flattened from hurricanes," she said. Over 98% of this year's sea turtle nests in Georgia belong to the Loggerhead species. Six are Green Sea Turtle nests and four are unknown. While Greens and Leatherbacks are commonly spotted foraging off the Georgia coast, they tend to nest elsewhere. Dodd expects this to be an average year, in relation to the last decade's worth of counts, with around 2,500 nests. DNR logged the most nests in a single year back in 2022 with over 4,000 documented throughout the state. When Dodd started at DNR in 1999 the Collective was tracking roughly 1,500 nests a year. Dodd said macro data implies turtles nest about every two to three years, so its not surprising the numbers are average this year. DNR knows this because, every year, the contents of a single egg from each found nest is sent to DNR and University of Georgia (UGA) Senior Research Scientist Brian Shamblin for maternal DNA analysis. All member organizations of the state's Sea Turtle Cooperative contribute to the DNA collection, which now has decades of data that can pinpoint nesting habits of individual turtles, some of which are are 70+ years old. He said while the statistics are complicated, DNR believes it has identified a grandmother Loggerhead. 'So that's a female that's over 100 that is still reproductively active,' he said. Joseph Schwartzburt is the education and workforce development reporter for the Savannah Morning News. You can reach him at JSchwartzburt@ and JoeInTheKnow_SMN on Instagram. This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Sea turtle conservation in Georgia has been decades in the making
