You go into the water. Shark in the water. And that’s OK.
The famously cursed swimmer far from a violent death in the iconic “Jaws” poster offers a poignant message half a century after posing for the disturbing image: There’s no reason to fear sharks.
Former model turned wildlife advocate Allison Maher Stern warns that the rampant Galeophobia that arises every summer is largely unfounded and urges swimmers to embrace the ocean rather than fear it.
“You should always be careful when you are in the water. There are some apex predators there. You have to be careful but basically, they’re not there for you,” Stern said on the Wildlife Conservation Society’s “Audio Liar” episode last week.
She then added fashion advice: “Don’t dress like a seal.”
The former Wilhelmina model said the harrowing image of herself in 1974 naked swimming over a large shark has become synonymous with the annual spike in shark scares each summer when the beaches open.
Those concerns aren’t entirely unwarranted in recent years — a woman lost 20 pounds of flesh when she was attacked in New York City’s shallow 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 him at the Central Park Zoo, posed for the picture when it was only intended as a Peter Benchley book cover.
Allison Maher Stern posed for the cover of Peter Benchley’s 1974 book “Jaws”, which was also used for Steven Spieberg’s blockbuster the following year. Everett Collection / Everett Col
The iconic image was captured for Steven Spielberg’s film the following year and has been featured on a steady stream of T-shirts, posters and other memorabilia in the five decades since.
The movie “Jaws” paints an ugly and unrealistic image of shark behavior and has been blamed for contributing to the stigma against the big fish – which Speilberg himself apologized for last year.
Despite the illustrated poster to the contrary, Stern has never had a negative interaction with sharks, although he learned to respect them after coming face-to-face with one during a snorkeling trip on Guana Island in the British Virgin Islands.
Stern said he once came face to face with a shark during a snorkeling trip in the British Virgin Islands. @euanart/ Magnus News
“There were a billion little bait fish in the water and suddenly I realized I was swimming in a cloud. And I said to myself, ‘You know, I shouldn’t be swimming in the food chain. That’s not a good plan,’” he recalled.
“And as I kicked my fins, all the fish separated, and I was eye to eye 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 a real eye-opener.”
Categories: Trending
Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
