Campaigner urges shark protection on swim for Jaws' 50th

ENDURANCE swimmer Lewis Pugh said “we must stop killing sharks” as he completed an “exhausting” swim in the stormy waters where Jaws was filmed.

- EMILY BEAMENT

The conservationist and UN patron of the oceans has launched a campaign to protect sharks, which are threatened by commercial fishing and what he describes as “indifference” to the fate of an apex predator which helps keep the world’s oceans in balance.

The swimmer, whose father is from Aberystwyth and mother is from Merthyr Tydfil, has completed a 60-mile, 12-day swim around Martha's Vineyard, an island off the east coast of the US, where Jaws was filmed, to mark the 50th anniversary of the Hollywood blockbuster.

He said the swim was a “once-in-a-generation opportunity” to change perceptions of sharks, which were depicted as the ultimate underwater monsters in Jaws, terrifying generations of film fans.

“The movie Jaws was so effective, it shaped the narrative for the past 50 years. The aim of the swim was to change the narrative for a new generation, we need to change the narrative,” said Mr Pugh.