Great white sharks are increasingly congregating in the waters that inspired ‘Jaws,’ with a growing presence observed along the northern Atlantic Coast.
Recent data reveals a growing presence in the cooler waters off New England, the setting for Steven Spielberg’s legendary 1975 film’s fictional Amity Island, where sightings were historically infrequent.
The Associated Press reported that the Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR) documented 93 great white sharks off its coastline between 2020 and 2024. The Spielberg film, which depicted a massive shark menacing a small fishing community, was shot in Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, situated a short distance along the coast.
Furthermore, the AP referenced a study published in the journal Marine Ecology Progress Series, which determined that white shark detections off Halifax, Nova Scotia, surged approximately 2.5-fold from 2018 to 2022.
Heading south to Long Island, the location of Peter Benchley’s original novel that Spielberg later adapted for cinema, shark sightings are also on the rise.
The increase in these predators along the coast is attributed to a combination of factors. Studies conducted by the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy (AWSC) indicate that initiatives aimed at conserving sharks and their seal prey in coastal areas might have contributed to the growth in the shark population.
Sharks are migratory creatures, spending their summer months in temperate waters before migrating to significantly warmer areas for winter. However, the AWSC points out that sea temperatures in the Gulf of Maine are rising faster than in 99% of the world’s oceans, which implies that several shark species are remaining in the area for considerably longer periods.
The DMR commenced monitoring shark activities in the state after Maine’s inaugural fatal shark attack in July 2020, where a 63-year-old woman lost her life while swimming only 20 yards offshore. Following the example of other regions, emergency bleed kits—first-aid provisions for shark attack victims—have since been installed on these coastal Maine beaches.
Despite their fearsome portrayal in ‘Jaws,’ shark attacks are remarkably infrequent. According to the Florida Museum of Natural History in Gainesville, which compiles shark encounter data via the International Shark Attack File (ISAF), the 2020 attack marked only the in Maine since 1837.
Gavin Naylor, director of ISAF, indicated that sharks generally maintain their distance, and that people often swim near them unknowingly, as sharks typically remain 100 to 200 yards offshore.
Furthermore, it was observed that the global total of unprovoked shark bites in 2024 registered significantly lower than the average over the past five years—though the United States once more led internationally, recording the highest number of unprovoked shark bites in 2024, with 28 confirmed instances. While sharks are migrating northward more frequently, Florida’s warm waters still accounted for the majority of unprovoked shark attacks last year.