Retracing 'Jaws' Waters: Lewis Pugh’s 60-Mile Swim to Highlight Shark Crisis
Fifty years after Steven Spielberg’s thriller “Jaws” cast sharks as villains, endurance swimmer and UNEP Patron of the Oceans Lewis Pugh is preparing to rewrite that tale. From 15–26 May 2025, Pugh will swim the 60-mile (96 km) circumference of Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts, retracing the very waters that stirred terror in 1975 audiences. His aim is to shine a spotlight on the slaughter of sharks worldwide and the cascading effects of their decline on ocean health.
Reframing Sharks
Although ocean swims carry inherent risks, Pugh’s team will employ safety measures to minimise shark encounters. “I’m frightened of sharks,” Pugh readily admits. “But I’m more terrified of a world without them, and that’s what we’re looking at if we don’t act now. Without sharks to keep them in balance, marine ecosystems are unravelling at frightening speed. We need a new narrative about these magnificent animals because the one we’ve been hearing for the past 50 years threatens our oceans.”
Shark Populations in Decline
According to the Lewis Pugh Foundation [LINK NEEDED: Link to foundation's data], shark populations have plummeted by approximately 70 per cent since 1970 through overfishing and habitat destruction. Each year, an estimated 100 million sharks—roughly 274,000 a day—are killed for their fins, meat, oil and sport. The result is not only the loss of species but an accelerating ecological collapse, with dire implications for ocean resilience and global food security.
Local Recovery Amid Global Threats
Despite gloomy global trends, Great White Sharks have rebounded around Martha’s Vineyard in recent decades thanks to conservation efforts, and Massachusetts has strengthened protections against on-shore fishing. Yet, Pugh warns, “this is not the case worldwide, where Great White Sharks are under increased threat.”
Launching a Three-Year Campaign
This “SHARK SWIM” launches a three-year campaign by the Lewis Pugh Foundation to engage over a billion people through science, education and advocacy. It forms a cornerstone of the Foundation’s 30×30 initiative [LINK NEEDED: Link to 30×30 details], which seeks to safeguard 30 per cent of the world’s oceans by 2030. Pugh’s previous feats include a 507 km swim down the Hudson River in 2023 to celebrate its clean-up and underscore the link between river and ocean health.
A Call for Harmony with Nature
“For centuries we have not only been fighting over the environment, we have been fighting against it,” Pugh reflects. “We must learn to make peace with nature for the sake of future generations.”
Global Leaders Weigh In
Echoing his call, Inger Andersen, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme [LINK NEEDED: UNEP website] said, “Migratory species like large sharks are nature’s messengers – they reveal the health of our oceans and, by extension, our planet. Their decline is a clear signal that we are pushing marine ecosystems to the brink. We need ambitious action to protect all marine biodiversity – and we need it now.”
Carlos Manuel Rodríguez, CEO and Chairperson of the Global Environment Facility [LINK NEEDED: GEF website], added: “Apex species like sharks not only signal the health of our oceans, they help maintain it. When sharks are at risk, so are we. Lewis’s shark swim and his 30×30 efforts are essential for our collective efforts to ensure the next generation of surfers, swimmers, and ocean conservationists can follow in our footsteps.”
This article was curated, reviewed, and verified by the Conservation Mag team.
Based on publicly available information.
