Doomed swimmer on iconic ‘Jaws’ poster denounces shark hate: ‘They’re not there for you’
You go in the water. Shark’s in the water. And that’s OK.
The infamously doomed swimmer moments away from a vicious death on the iconic “Jaws” poster offered a pointed message half a century after posing for the anxiety-inducing image: There’s no reason to fear sharks.
Former model-turned-wildlife advocate Allison Maher Stern warned that the widespread Galeophobia that arises each summer is largely baseless and urged swimmers to embrace the ocean rather than dread it.
“You should always be cautious when you’re in the water. There’s some apex predator there. You have to be careful but basically, they’re not there for you,” Stern said on an episode of Wildlife Conservation Society’s “Wild Audio” last week.
She then added a piece of fashion advice: “Don’t dress like a seal.”
The former Wilhelmina model said the terrifying image of her naked 1974 self swimming above a massive shark has become synonymous with the annual spike in shark fears each summer when beaches open.
The anxiety has not been completely unwarranted in recent years — a woman lost 20 pounds of flesh when she was attacked in shallow New York City waters last month and a Russian man was eaten alive in front of his family during a trip to Egypt in June.
Stern, now a prominent philanthropist with an area named for her at the Central Park Zoo, posed for the picture when it was only intended as the cover of the Peter Benchley book.
The iconic image was picked up for the Steven Spielberg movie the following year and has been featured on a steady stream of T-shirts, posters and other memorabilia in the five decades since.
The “Jaws” film painted an ugly and unrealistic image of shark behavior and has been blamed for contributing to the stigma against the massive fish — which Speilberg himself apologized for last year.
Though the illustrated poster would suggest otherwise, Stern never had a negative interaction with sharks, though she learned to revere them after coming face to face with one during a snorkeling trip on Guana Island in the British Virgin Islands.
“There were a billion little baitfish and in the water and all of a sudden I realized I’m swimming in a cloud. And I said to myself, ‘You know, I really shouldn’t be swimming in the food chain. That’s not a good plan,'” she recalled.
“And as I kicked my flipper, all the fish parted, and I was eyeball to eyeball with this huge shark and he was lying in the water. We looked at each other … He brought his tail to his nose and shot over my shoulder when he brought it back. That was really eye-opening.”
