Shark Scientist Reacts To JAWS

[@drsammunroe]

Hi There! Quick Note! A few of you quite rightly pointed out that "Isurus glaucus" was an old name for a shortfin mako shark (Isurus oxyrinchus). I was right that the name "Isurus glaucus" is no longer in use, it is a defunct or "dead" name. But a long time ago it was one name for this species. Fun Fact, the shortfin mako has had at least 30 different scientific names over the years! As far as I can tell, the name Isurus glaucus was no longer the accepted name by 1984, so when they made the movie, it was probably still in use! My bad!

[@jimmyj5035]

I absolutely enjoyed your review but I had to add a little bit of factual information... in 1983 a 23ft Great White Shark was accidentally caught in some fishing nets and there is a Taxidermy of it hanging from the ceiling in the Long Island Aquarium in Riverhead, NY. I've seen it with my own eyes and it is absolutely amazing to see that the "REAL JAWS" is literally only 3ft shorter than the giant Robot used in the movie. Secondly everything about the 3 Barrells is exactly what happened to Captain Frank Mundus in the 1960s when he harpooned a 21ft Great White Shark off the coast of Montauk Point in NY. This was a world record Great White and it weighed over 6,000lbs. The character of Captain Quint is based upon Captain Mundus and his experience trying to catch this massive Shark so YES a huge heavy 3 Tons+ 21ft or larger Great White has the power to drag 3 Air Barrells underwater... as far as the Scuba tanks exploding Yes they can!
"Scuba tank explosions are not a myth. Under the right set of circumstances, the highly pressurized air in a scuba tank could explode, causing as much damage as approximately 300 grams of dynamite. While scuba tanks can explode, it is extremely unlikely that scuba tanks will explode...
Scuba tanks have been tested as safe and effective over many years of use. Nonetheless, the safety of any object, especially those containing 3,000 psi of pressurized air, diminishes rapidly if not used properly, so safe handling is essential when using scuba tanks."
aquasportsplanet.com/scuba-tank-explosions-myth-or-fact/
The rifle bullet fired from Chief Brody was very powerful with 2,870ft/lbs of energy at the muzzle and has a hard copper jacket that definitely would've pierced the tank because it's already been proven to penetrate Police body armor and various steel plates.

[@wolfpackgaming1361]

You should have also talked about the greatest shark attack in human history of the sinking of the USS, Indianapolis

[@ERAUsnow]

@@jimmyj5035 A punctured HP air tank does not explode. It will turn into a rocket, but unless a serious catastrophic failure occurs (like splitting along a weld), you won't get a TNT type explosion like the movie.

[@Thurgosh_OG]

@@ERAUsnow True but the rocket type force released, by the tank in the film, would cause the tank to blow through the sharks body and due to the pressures involved would rip it apart, the film just used a bigger boom to finish.

[@ashleyspitzer6672]

Was said salt water crocodiles or salties could only get up to 16ft. Well that's not true when a salt water crocodile was captured jn the Philippine Islands. It was dubned the name Lo-Long.
And when Lo-Long was captured he was measured 21ft long. So maybe Great Whites can get over 20ft too as long one is healthy and live long enough they probably can.

[@amymoquin8636]

Peter Benchley, author of the book Jaws, said his the story is a "monster story" and felt terrible when people took it as fact. He and his wife spent the rest of their lives helping to undo the damage that the book/movie did.

[@drsammunroe]

It's true! Thanks for the comment!

[@Theomite]

I'd say he largely succeeded given that fandom of the movie heavily contributed to the conservation efforts that have brought most shark species back from the brink of extinction. Now even people who have never swum in the ocean know about a dozen things about sharks that movies keep getting wrong for dramatic purposes.
Good man, though, to acknowledge his mistakes and then work to correct them.

[@nigeh5326]

I watched the film and read the book when I was at school.
It led me onto read more about sharks and I soon realised what a bad press they had 😔

[@amymoquin8636]

@@highcountrydelatite Yeah. Benchley was inspired by those attacks. Kinda like the way Dracula was inspired by Vlad the Impaler. Taking a historical event and creating a monster story.

[@dennygamble4520]

Tigers and Crocodiles actively hunt humans.

[@freespirit5466]

When the film was being made, people told Spielberg that the exploding tank at the end was unrealistic ( though more satisfying than the end of the book ) his response was "If I've got them for 120 minutes I can do what I want during the last five."

[@lloyddobler2227]

I watched this as a young kid (5 years old) and it scarred me for life. It's not so much that I'm afraid of being attacked by a Great White Shark, but more of what I can't see in that vast ocean.

[@lloyddobler2227]

@@DIRTYdeeds613 That's a whole other level of bravery.

[@terrencewalker1982]

I just wouldn't get in the water with sharks. Best advice is to stay close on shore because sharks wouldn't go that far to the shore.

[@WilliamTheUnkownShoutout]

​​@@lloyddobler2227 hello there my friend anyway The Thing (1982) that one scared me a lot more as a little kid than Jaws (1975) did in the 1990s I even showed my whole family and all of my friends The Thing (1982) and they gave it a 10/10 oh and yes they saw Jaws (1975) before I did and they gave it a 9.8/10 and they all weren't the same when I showed them The Thing (1982) as well:).

[@YonkoLuffySenpai]

Regarding the 25 foot estimate, the model for the shark Bruce was actually 25 feet. From what I heard, they wanted him to be a bigger size than recorded sharks for that monster status.

[@crazydud3380]

The movie's legacy for science is complicated. In the short term, it did a lot of harm, but it is now part of why so many people know so much about them, it inspires people to learn about them. I think people need to remember that a movie is just a movie, and with a movie like this, its chief goal is to entertain.

[@StCerberusEngel]

Absolutely. Media has the power to influence, but only the audience can control to what end.
Now, if this were claiming to be a documentary or based on true events...that's a whole other bucket of chum.

[@jackbluehq6653]

Problem is that even today the face of sharks has still been ruined by jaws, its an amazing film/book but unfortunately it's done alot of irreversible damage to how the mainstream audience thinks of sharks.
To this day most films that feature sharks in them are portrayed the same as jaws, jaws influence on sharks Is still as relevant as it was back in the 70s
Only now we actually have abit more people that understand more about sharks and see how bad their represented, but the influence is still mainstream to this day

[@crazydud3380]

@@jackbluehq6653 I love sharks, and want to protect them. They are innocent. They do, also, make fun movie monsters. My love of shark monster movies exists alongside my deep compassion for real life sharks. I think you can have it both ways, but most people don't really take the time to educate themselves.

[@libertydensinger3583]

There's a fun story about the "need a bigger boat" line. According to the actors everyone really liked the line but couldn't figure out where to put it, so the actors began randomly tossing it into scenes they thought it might fit

[@chandlerburse]

This cant be true because it makes little sense and i heard roy improv it

[@TheNicodemus1984]

The main idea behind the yellow barrels was to use them to indicate the presence of the shark without actually showing it, as the fake shark often wasn't functioning properly. Spielberg had to find a way to continue shooting his movie regardless, and The result is even better in my opinion because suggestion is always a more effective technique to induce fear than actually showing something.

[@lazymansload520]

I just thought of something. The mayor says that it’s psychological, people don’t panic for a barracuda but they panic for a shark. This would imply that people were afraid of sharks before this movie was released, maybe not as much as they are now, but it is still worth noting. Then again, this fear may have been localized, as some in New Jersey may have still remembered the series of shark attacks in 1916.

[@lyndoncmp5751]

Yep. Jaws capitalised on a fear that was already there. Jaws didn't invent people being scared of sharks.

[@cjpreach]

As a child in elementary school, a SCUBA diver visited and told a story of how one diver dropped an oxygen tank (during training) on the floor by the swimming pool. It struck the hard floor valve-end first, damaged the valve, and the tank rocketed across the room and through a wall. No explosion, however. But we all learned a lesson in oxygen tank safety.

[@drsammunroe]

Yikes, that sounds terrifying! Glad no one was hurt and thanks for the comment!

[@stefanlaskowski6660]

Mythbusters did an episode on SCUBA tanks exploding or turning into a missile. They knocked the valve off a tank laid on the ground and it took off so forcefully it punched completely through a cinder block wall. They couldn't get one to explode though.

[@IACORAU]

Jaws still remains the best shark movie of all time.
A masterpiece!

[@jamesmorant1406]

It will never be topped

[@Komet163B]

It was surpassed, in 1981, by the Italian Masterpiece, that is Enzo Castellari’s L’ULTIMO SQUALO!

[@animaltvi9515]

​@Komet163B is it in Italian ?

[@ferox965]

​@@Komet163B No, it wasn't. "Great White" and the studio that made it was sued by Universal for basically plagiarizing JAWS. And Universal won.

[@ferox965]

​@@animaltvi9515 It's also known as Great White. Universal sued this movie and studio for ripping off JAWS and won. The entire movie is on RUclips.

[@Blazingstoke]

One thing I love is that when this movie was filmed, great white sharks were indeed extremely rare in the waters around the island (Martha's Vineyard, MA). Starting about 30 years later, they began showing up in increasing numbers, to feast on the seal population along Cape Cod, and now are a regular feature off the coast of southern Massachusetts every summer.

[@nkjmeh]

lol they heard we was talking shit and rolled up to see what was up 😂

[@AlexSDU]

@@nkjmeh LOL. Probably they follow where their food source, the seals, congregate.
Guess before that, some seal told it's buddies that there's a new place that don't have sharks, so it become a popular spot for the seals.
Then some shark told it's buddies of a new eating spot it just discovered, and it become viral.🤣

[@johnmason9655]

The scene with Hooper in the cage had a script change. The real shark getting tangled up looked so good, they amended the. storyline. Ron Taylor said it was one of the scariest things he saw underwater.🦈

[@susanmacdonald4288]

Plus the fact that the stunt diver refused to go back in the cage after they saw the damage done after it got trashed by the shark. I don't blame him.

[@johnmason9655]

@@susanmacdonald4288 Carl Rizzo was his name I think. Don't blame him.🦈🦈

[@mikelmacrichard4772]

First as a diver when I was in the U.S. Navy thanks for clarifying the Tank issue.
On the movie errors of Shark behavior, considering they left out the reason the shark was larger smarter and more aggressive from what the original book explains (Deep Blue Sea would serve as prequel) your expertise on "Normal" sharks serves well.
Peter Benchley did call the book "A Monster Story" but it was humans he was referring to being monsters not the shark. Like most creature features I find myself rooting for the creature most the time.

[@chaoticiannunez2419]

The ending was a big point of contention between author and Screenwriter, Peter Benchley and Spielberg. In Benchley’s novel, as well as early drafts of the script, the shark died from blood loss and exhaustion from harpoon wounds and dragging those barrels for hours. Spielberg felt this ending was a downer and thought that he needed something big and rousing to cap the movie off. So he proposed the Scuba Tank Explosion. Benchley balked at that idea. He felt that it was too ludicrous to be believable. But Spielberg disagreed. “If I got them at this point, they’ll accept whatever I can throw at them in the last 10 minutes” or something like that, was Spielberg’s response. Obviously it worked out, cuz it became one of the most iconic hero victories in movie history.

[@simongiles9749]

It's been years since I read the book, but doesn't Quint get tangled up in the harpoon lines and drown, rather than eaten? And so echoing Ahab in Moby-Dick.

[@chaoticiannunez2419]

@@simongiles9749 Yes, that's right. Quint harpoons the shark in a fit of rage after the shark crashes on the boat, and as the shark swims off, that happens.

[@JamesThomasJeans]

Spielberg and Benchley notoriously argued about the exploding oxygen tank in the finale. Benchley insisted that the tank wouldn't explode, and Spielberg told him, "I don't care. If I've had the audience for this long, they'll accept it."
And they did. My mother saw this at the cinema when it originally came out, and she said the audiences cheered.
A good filmmaker can get you to accept anything.

[@manuelk1853]

I mean this movie is literally about a giant aggressive men-eating shark that destroys a boat and targets humans, so yeah come on people lmao

[@jackbluehq6653]

Although obviously still very unrealistic, the novel version does feel alittle more realistic than the film
In the book the shark dies of its injurys just before eating Brody, aside from the plot convenience its a pretty realistic way for a shadk to die
The ending of the book was very scary and gritty
While the movies ending was more climatic and satisfying

[@TopsyTriceratops]

One of the biggest things to bring up about man conflicting with nature is opportunity. And I mean from the perspective of the animal.
Remove what benefits the animal; food source, place to reside, water, ect. When the animal has no reason to stay, 99% of the time they will do what makes sense and move on. This applies for many problems; bears, sharks, big cats, wolves, raccoons, snakes, the list is huge. Move the animal and they WILL come back because they know there's something they need at the place they were moved from.
Very educational and a fun reaction, two things I love coupled together. Loved it!

[@presencerocks2224]

Definitely one of my favorite movies. Nothing you said surprised me as I have done some shark research. That said, I always loved the ending where it blows up. No matter how inaccurate it is, it’s awesome!

[@drsammunroe]

It is one of my favorite movies too! I think that is why I obsess over the science it in. Thanks for the comment!

[@PickledEggs4]

Are you rich?
Yeah
How much?
Well, me or the whole family?

[@alucardbloodream2013]

The one thing I like best about the shark cage scene, is there's no sound. That errie silence unlike land you hear something stomping or rustling through bushes.

[@drsammunroe]

very much agree, it is a great jump scare!

[@edgarcia4794]

JAWS was the first giant shark movie. Up until this time sharks in movies and tv shows were these dolphin sized fish. Many people were surprised to find out that while the Great White in Jaws at 25 feet in length was bigger than the record it wasn't that much bigger.

[@crazydud3380]

What is amazing is no other killer shark movie comes even close to the quality of this one. It simply cannot be replicated!
The Shallows probably comes closest, but even that one is only probably a 7/10. Open Water might be an 8, but the primary antagonist in that movie is not the sharks, but rather the ocean itself (which is certainly true to real life).
As to the size, 25 feet has never been recorded and is unlikely, but technically plausible. Gigantism exists in most species.

[@n0tk0sher]

​​Have you never seen Deep Blue? That's a shark, not a movie title. Go watch clips of her. That's not gigantism in her case, she's just old, well-fed and pregnant in some of the footage.

[@edgarcia4794]

@@n0tk0sher At the time my dad owned a fishing trawler converted to sport fishing out of Oceanside Ca. After Jaws came out people used to pay me to take them out looking for Great Whites. When I was around Guadalupe island I coaxed one 17 footer up to the surface. I'd like to believe that was a younger Deep Blue.

[@edgarcia4794]

Deep Blue is 20 feet long Many fisherman have claimed seeing Great Whites at the same length for decades. The average mature size is 17 feet for a female and 12 feet for a male.

[@n0tk0sher]

@@edgarcia4794 I don't want it to happen, but that naive diver Ocean Ramsey is gonna get taste-tested one of these days.

[@addz8032]

I really enjoyed this reaction take to Jaws (1975) by a trained professional. You mention many times that there are a few inaccuracies in Shark behavior depicted in this film. For this reason I would like to request that you make another reaction video about The Shallows (2016). I found much of the shark behaviors in that film accurate. Of course there are a few far fetched things but not many. It is a movie so that will happen. I really hope you make that reaction video. Thanks so much Dr. Munroe.

[@jaysonpida5379]

Ah...you are correct for scuba tanks from the 1980s onward that have safety-relief items incorporated. But earlier tanks were reported to have exploded/peeled apart from impact accidents.

[@ThisIsEloy3]

Fun fact to those who don’t know, Bruce the Shark isn’t just some random nickname Spielberg gave to the animatronic Sharks on set, if you pay close attention to the stock footage of real sharks and the corpse remains at the end of the film, you’ll see claspers on our leading actor, which means that Bruce is the rare “Male Mega Shark” something incredibly unlikely and uncommon. Though some fisherman stories around the 30’s and 40’s documented sighting of much larger male White Sharks, even today we still have larger males, such as Phred, who is a 20ft Male who has made quite of bit of headlines on SharkWeek. Very interesting to say the least.

[@briannichols4807]

I don't know if you have heard of the true story about the sinking of the USS Indianapolis right before the end of World War 2 . The survivors who were in the water for 5 days all said that there were at least 100 sharks swimming under them and that the sharks were deliberately attacking them , either dragging their shipmates underwater or biting them in half . This is probably the only case of mass shark attacks that I am aware of . Other than that , you are right , on average , they don't happen a whole lot .

[@drsammunroe]

Hi Brian, thanks so much for watching and I hope you enjoyed it. In an early version of my reaction video I actually talked about the USS Indianapolis, but my video just seemed way too long so I cut it out. The story of the Indianapolis is incredibly sad, but there is a lot we don't know about what really happened in regards to the shark attacks after the sinking. Although there is no doubt some of the men in the water were attacked by sharks, the current opinion is most of the men died from exposure, like dehydration and hypothermia. In most cases, the sharks scavenged the bodies after they died. However, we don't have good estimates either way. Reports suggest anywhere from a dozen to 150 men were killed by sharks. Nonetheless, you are right, this is considered to be the worst shark attack event in history.

[@deaconvelos8352]

Sounds about right, sharks tend to follow ships in the open ocean for the easy and frequent meals as the open ocean is pretty barren as far as prey opportunities, and even more would have been drawn in by the sounds of the explosion and sinking of the Indianapolis. And sharks tend to get more bold and aggressive at night when they know their prey can't see them as well

[@johnnyskinwalker4095]

If there were a ton of blood from the explosion then it makes sense that sharks would be attracted to it.

[@deaconvelos8352]

@@johnnyskinwalker4095 it wasn't the blood, sharks are attracted to the sounds of sinking ships, plane crashes and explosions. It was tested in the Caribbean

[@mookiestewart3776]

@@highcountrydelatite i would say the large amount of marine scientists know quite a bit more than you. I've been attacked by a dog that doesnt make me an expert on knines

[@JesseClark83]

The news reporter in that one scene is actually a cameo made by Peter Benchley, author of Jaws; and I LOVE that despite its inaccuracies, you still love the movie!
After all, that's all it is: entertainment.

[@CheyenneG94]

You should totally watch Deep Blue Sea and The Shallows!! Also, you have my dream job! I've been obsessed with sharks since I was really little and I have always hated how the movies portrayed them as killing machine monsters, when that is just not the case! Anyways, loving your reactions!

[@Yamp44]

Same here with the love-hate relationship with this movie. It's such a great movie, but it did so much harm to sharks.

[@apollosaturn5]

Peter Benchley got into an argument with Steven Spielberg because of the ending scene. He said to him that scuba tanks don't explode like an oil refinery when you shoot them. Spielberg said he didn't care if it was fake, and as long as he has the audience hooked for two hours, he can make them believe anything he throws at them. Spielberg was right. The audiences were ecstatic when the shar blew up.

[@Spills51]

When you were talking about the tiger shark they caught I couldnt help but think of that horrific attack on the guy in Egypt....bever seen video of a dead man still alive like that....too far from the beach, injured and zero chance he was getting out of there alive.....terrible way to die.
They apparently did kill that shark cause they said it wasnt leaving and hanging around that area.
That video is really rare in seeing such a clear and horrifying example of what its like to feel helpless and have zero chance of survival.

[@matthewmutchman6360]

I have always loved Jaws from a very young age, but as I have gotten older and my love for sharks has grown even more over the years, I do have beef with parts of Jaws for giving people the wrong idea about sharks

[@kevinnorwood8782]

I actually wasn't super-afraid of Sharks before or after I watched the Jaws films. I was born two years after the fourth one came out, and I never saw any of them until many years later. However, I did get exposed to sharks themselves before I ever saw the Jaws movies, and it was through Discovery Channel documentaries (I believe it was Shark Week 1993 that was my first real exposure to sharks and just how epic they really are). And one thing all those documentaries I would watch that was constantly made clear to my young mind was that the Jaws movies were the primary source of not only a huge amount of fear towards sharks, but also a huge amount of genocidal HATRED for sharks. So I went into watching the first Jaws knowing right out the gate "This is a monster movie. Real sharks do NOT act like this shark is acting. Real sharks are NOT mindless serial killers."

[@drsammunroe]

Thanks for your comment! I think it is so important to remember exactly what you say here, it is ok to enjoy the movie, as long as we understand it is not an accurate representation of shark behaviour. Thanks again :)

[@ferox965]

​@@drsammunroe That's my take. JAWS is a near perfect monster movie. But it's not hard to read up and learn where the movie exaggerates. The sad thing is that getting people to actually read something is a lot to ask.

[@B-a-t-m-a-n]

@@drsammunroe Very important to remember that this is an extraordinary shark in size, strength, intelligence and overall the most badass shark in history. So any science we had before can pretty much go out the window while we suspend disbelief.

[@PickledEggs4]

$3,000 buys an awful lot of roast.

[@Gregbaltzer]

From what I remember reading, or watching, they came up with the barrel idea because the shark wouldn't work most of the time. It's basically a substitute to let you know the shark is coming.

[@SimonCowie86]

A show called mythBusters proved that you can’t blow up a scuba tank with a gun shot.
The only way they could blow it up was by tampering with the scuba tank to make it blow up.

[@waynezimmerman1950]

Ron and Valerie Taylor were known by some of us; pre-JAWS, for their involvement with Peter Gimbels 1971 white shark documentary film: Blue Water, White Death, as well as Jacques Cousteau's television series. The one story I recall about their work on JAWS was Valerie remarking on sitting with a general audience where several movie fans were making rude comments about how fake the shark looked; except they were actually watching scenes of real animals shot by the Taylors.

[@johnmarks227]

A note about the so-called Jersey shore shark attacks. A number of them happened in the Matawan creek, which is brackish water and not real deep. We used to fish there when i was a kid. It also has a herring run, (or did back then) that may have pulled a shark up there.

[@Spills51]

In the end I would hope people at least today would realize this isnt a documentary...its a movie, it never claims to be accurate....it claims to be entertaining and is exactly that.
Thanks for the vid!!

[@Komet163B]

In addition to the tank not exploding when shot, a shark would never hold a scuba tank in its mouth for such a long amount of time, like it was a cigar. It would expel the tank from its mouth long before Brody would have had an opportunity to shoot at it.

[@1969utube]

Probably my favourite movie but also acknowledge the tragedy it caused. As I understood it, the New Jersey attacks are thought to have been Bull Sharks as a result of one of the attacks occurring upriver. I operate by 6 basic rules to avoid risk of shark attack - not sure if you agree?
1) Never Swim at dawn or dusk
2) Never swim alone (a good rule for many reasons)
3) Don't swim in murky water
4) Don't swim near river mouths
5) Don't swim near bait balls or seal colonies
6) Don't swim around fixed structures (wharves, etc)
The last one may be a bit of overkill but a combination of these factors (swimming alone, swimming near fixed objects, swimming at dusk) were involved with the recent Bull Shark attack in Elizabeth Bay, Sydney Harbour.

[@drsammunroe]

These are all good rules to follow, and it is what I often advise people as well. Swimming after floods can also be problematic, but this relates to you rule about river mouths. Floods push nutrients and prey out into an estuary, potentially attracting more sharks than usual. I would also add always swim with a life guard present, and never swim under the influence, of course these have more to do with drowning than sharks!

[@TheLegendOfRandy]

You skipped the part where the shark leapt up onto the boat and gobbled up Quint.
What should I do if such a common, mundane occurrence happens to me while I'm out fishing with the lads?
_This information could save lives, Dr Munroe..._

[@SuperRodriguez2005]

You forgot the drinking song!❤ you cant have a good shark monster movie without a sea chanty----" i had a drink about an hour ago, and it went straight to my head! "

[@aaronpatton814]

Playing the Jaws theme to your students before a sea expedition 🤣That is brilliant.

[@Haplo699g]

All I could think during your commentary of the cage scene was: "Man, how annoyed would Quint be, if Hooper just stabbed it in the brain." LOL

[@SuperRodriguez2005]

All I can see is when the scuba tank "explodes" a balloon loosing air all over the place. But Jaws is the balloon whipping around crashing into things, slowly dying as the tank empties. Like a "Bugs Bunny" cartoon!😂

[@acarter4173]

His two species Hooper mentioned were Carcharhinus longimanus (Oceanic Whitetip) and Isurus glaucus, which, I believe, is just a defunct classification for the Shortfin Mako, now I. oxyrhinchus; I have seen it in the old literature. Years ago, the Oak Bluffs shark derby at the Vinyard did yield a monster tiger shark, but they caught it very far out, probably in the Gulf Stream. Interesting that two pelagic species were suspects. Finally, Squalus was a bad choice of words. Maybe since Hooper was a rich kid, he was a C student. I mean, he did drink a lot.

[@bluesteeltraining]

I was a funeral director, the embalming products on the shelf are real brands made by Dodge chemicals.

[@sparky6086]

The sequence with the shark attacking the cage was real. It was filmed in Australian waters using a small diver, to make the shark look bigger. It was filmed specifically for "Jaws", and they got lucky, and an actual great white shark attacked the cage.

[@drsammunroe]

Hi and thanks for the comment! It is true, it can and does happen. What is hard to know is what causes the shark to behave more aggressively with the cage. One of the things I really love about this movie is it's use of real footage, much better than in other movies that are 100% CGI!

[@Jompani42]

@@drsammunroe The story goes that the shark got stuck in the wires of the cage which caused it to go into a frenzy. The cameras were rolling, but there was no doll in the cage as was originally intended. So the story got changed to have Hooper survive the attack.

[@waynezimmerman1950]

@@Jompani42 Thankfully the shark managed to free itself; apparently without serious injury.

[@JesseClark83]

Yes, but not the ENTIRE cage sequence if you look closely.

[@erikbjelke4411]

On the idea of "rogue sharks." The novel is partially based on the famous "Jersey Shore maneater," which from what I have gathered is suspected to have been a bull shark, not a great white. But that specific incident provides (to my knowledge, the only) backing for the idea of something somewhat like a "rogue shark." The first few attacks seemed to be standard "bump-n-bite," where the shark wasn't sure what it was dealing with and took a taste test to find out, went "ugh, human, gross" and swam away. But it was a big enough shark that these single bites were still fatal (one guy lost a leg, bled out in a few minutes on a hotel lobby desk while help was on the way). But it seems as though, especially at the point it swam upriver (attesting to the idea the culprit was a bull shark), that it learned that humans were pretty easy prey, and became willing to hunt us because we were just easier meals than its usual prey.
But that's a VERY edge case, and if something somewhat resembling a "rogue shark" exists, it is EXTREMELY rare, and I wholeheartedly agree that the damage humans do to sharks is vastly out of proportion to the damage sharks do to humans. "Dangerous" sharks are so because they are large, powerful predators, wild in their natural environment. Any large, powerful predator should be treated with extreme respect and caution when encountered in its natural environment.
And of course, my understanding of the "Jersey Shore maneater" may be very flawed. I find it a fascinating story, but I admit I have not done thorough research on it. You may well know far more about it than I do.
EDIT: And you do! All the information I've heard pinned the attacks on a single shark, and the narrative does suggest a pattern. I'd heard oblique references to "it might have been more than one shark," but nothing as well-reasoned as this. Still, it's rather scary that "we don't know what provokes shark attacks." Seems like an arena crying out for more research.
23:35: Seriously? And it WORKED? Me, I hear "Jaws" music, on a boat, with the goal of FINDING sharks, I'm entirely with Brody. "YOU'RE gonna need a bigger boat, because *I* very much want to go home now, please and thank you."
24:45: "They did not like it." Okay. So it's not just me.

[@TheLisa-Al-Gaib]

What a great video! Thank you so much for doing this. It was both fun and educational. 🦈💕

[@drsammunroe]

Thanks Lisa, glad you enjoyed it :)

[@patrickperalta59]

@@drsammunroe what are your thoughts on Great White Sharks and Orca's or as they are more well know as the Killer Whale.........I've seen videos of a Killer Whale attack a great white shark and while it seems the Great White Shark is not afraid of anything..............I hear they tend to avoid Killer Whales and are afraid of them... the Great White shark as far as I know just avoid the Killer Whale and do not attack them

[@timmitchell3870]

I learned to scuba dive in the late 80s. I remember our instructors saying that scuba tanks were basically portable land mines that would go off if you dropped them, or got in an accident while they were in your car ("Always load them with the valve facing the back of the car. At least that way you'll avoid the main blast"), or just shook them really hard. So many things you hear and just assume they're true until you find out they're not.

[@ericmatthews6735]

We never saw a 25 feet white shark but it could exist! This is the true story of 24 year old Lewis Boren, who in December of 1981 was attacked by a Great White Shark while surfing alone in Spanish Bay off South Moss Beach, near San Francisco. He and a friend met to surf on the morning of December 19 and after several hours of riding waves, parted ways at around 2pm. Instead of leaving, Lewis decided to stay for a while longer to take advantage of the storm swell drummed up by the rough weather. He had no idea that just off the beach was what could potentially be the largest Great White Shark ever recorded, estimated at more than 7 meters (or 23ft +) by the Global Shark Attack File. The shark was so large and powerful that, in a single bite, it removed Lewis's entire left chest cavity, along with a massive perfectly crescent shaped section of his surfboard. The board was discovered by surfers the next day and turned over to authorities, who submitted it to the Monterey Marine Resources Lab to be examined. The size of the shark was estimated based on the measurements of tooth impressions on the board. Lewis was reported missing by friends the following day, and his remains were discovered and identified on Thursday, Christmas Eve. The shark was never caught or identified.

[@lyndoncmp5751]

Also the Jack Rochette attacker was said to be 25ft according to witnesses and the bite mark on Jack and a tooth fragment confirmed that ballpark length.

[@Dmessengah]

I also became interested in sharks because of this movie (despite them coming out years before I was born). I also became a huge movie nut too so I actually now understand why they made certain choices for the movie. Example the big tank scene was great movie magic, but not realistic. While in the original novel the shark simply rolled onto its back and died of its injuries while charging at Chief Brody.
Also the 3 animatronic sharks (who were all nicknamed Bruce) we made to be 25 ft long each to make it bigger than a normal great white.
I did enjoy analysis of the movie and hope you do more with other movies like Deep Blue Sea, the Meg, or (more for laughs and a serious analysis) Sharknado.

[@drsammunroe]

I must confess I have not read the original novel, but I certainly agree that while not very realistic, a shark exploding certainly makes for a spectacular finish! I am so glad you liked the video. I am hoping to do more like this in the future, so I will add your suggestions to the list!

[@Dmessengah]

@@drsammunroe I didn't fully read the book either but I did come across this RUclips video( ruclips.net/video/va8cCNCR8XY/видео.html ). this video explains all the changes from the book to the movie.

[@spinzig]

Prediction of the video:
Sam: 'A sharknado is 100% possible, great science!'

[@johnturnbull5971]

Irukandji jellyfish's stings are so severe they can cause fatal brain hemorrhages

[@nickbuchanan190]

Doctor, I really enjoyed your research and knowledge of sharks! A lot of stuff I was not aware of. Thank you for enlightening me!

[@drsammunroe]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@troykoba2053]

​@drsammunroe I've have loved Jaws ever since I was a little boy. What I personally do is that I treat this film as part fiction and that this killer shark is a freak of nature that doesn't obey the rules like other sharks do. So it makes sense to pick apart the film for its inaccurate bits but in my opinion, I just see it as a fun but not realistic or accurate film.

[@manuelk1853]

I think what we also have to take into mind is that the movie sometimes heavily implies that the shark is more of an intelligent monster, than your ordinary instintive shark. That is what I love about Jaws, is that they gave the shark so much personality but also mystery around it. Is it just an aggressive animal? Is it a sentient being that hates humans and wants to kill them all? We never know for sure.
So yeah, we could analyse it as much as we want from a scientific view, but it's just a movie and movies are never really fully realisitic and much things in it is just fiction. So yeah, it would make sense that this shark in the movie is a "Rogue Shark". I even think it makes it quite apparent that this shark is different than real life sharks, which shows just more how dumb humans are at hunting these animals just because of a movie lol
It also kinda disappoints me that you said this was the worst and most unlogical thing in the movie, when literally the shark takes down the boat at the end or destroys the pier or how he targets the three men on the boat.

[@miamicool666]

It's like asking a zoologist to comment on the King Kong movies...

[@massimosaffioti8798]

Very cool review. I love the idea of viewing films from a scientific lens.
There are a great deal of movies that fall into the man v nature sub-genre of horror. Jaws is one of my favorites, second only to The Birds. Some other favorites are The Naked Jungle, The Edge and this year's Beast. There are a lot of dogs out there, but these, though not particularly accurate, are excellent films.

[@drsammunroe]

Thanks so much for the comment and glad you liked the review. Yes, there are a lot of movies on this theme out there. I wonder if any bear ecologists have ever reviewed The Edge? Surely someone has!

[@massimosaffioti8798]

@@drsammunroe If they did I'd love to see it, or, for that matter, any movie featuring Bart the Bear or Bart the Bear II. It's always a treat any time I see either one on the screen.

[@wikilore8774]

I remember watching jaws as a kid, like 6 to 8 years old and I was like "that's a sea puppy", while my grandma was like "hell no it isn't"

[@cainealexander-mccord2805]

P.S. The story is that Spielberg was with Benchley, showing the film to a bunch of marine biologists, and Benchley was upset about the scientific wrongs, particularly the exploding oxygen tank. Through all his protestations, all Spielberg would say was "Trust me". Over and over. And sure enough, when that tank exploded, the whole place erupted. The scientific truth doesn't matter in a great movie. Like those old vets who complain about "those tanks weren't in use until 1947." I get the same thing watching "Bohemian Rhapsody". Just enjoy it and watch the fun.

[@BlueBlazer47]

Loved Benchley's account of his initial reaction to Spielberg's ending idea: "The notion that a shark might bite down on a scuba-tank and explode like an oil-refinery is beyond ridiculous!"😄 But it worked. I worked for the National Health Service for twenty years, and remain terrified of oxygen/air-cylinders.😅
This video answered so many questions about the plausibility of these scenes. Would've loved to see Dr Munroe's reaction to the Indianapolis story, though.
This is my favourite movie, though, so no over-riding facts could dent my enjoyment of it. The one reservation I have is that sharks are NOT evil, and they have many more reasons to be afraid of ruthless humans than we have to be afraid of them.

[@b.t.harris9005]

I enjoyed your reaction videos to both Jaws and the Meg. There is a childhood movie I watched in the 90s called "Flipper". I think it was release in '96(?) It is a dolphin movie remake, and one of the "antagonists" is a hammerhead shark. If you haven't reacted to it yet, I recommend watching it. Bonus: it stars a very young Elijah Wood.

[@josephhlebica5507]

The actual white shark footage interspersed during the cage scene was from a very dangerous incident during shooting in South Australia when the stunt double (a little person with no diving experience) nearly drowned by running out of air due to the small volume of the prop scuba tank he wore. Also the live white shark became entangled in the cage mooring causing the white pointer to panic.

[@dondragmer2412]

You skipped over Bruce jumping into the boat to kill Quint. Don't know how realistic that might be but smaller sharks have been known to jump into boats, but not to deliberately attack people.

[@whensomethingcriesagain]

Great whites have been known to breach as a means of hunting prey, but that's more common in South Africa specifically.

[@nutluck]

I saw this movie in theaters when it came out in 1975, when I was 5 years old, it scared the hell out of me at the time. But it also started my love of sharks, I read every book I could read as a kid and even now as a adult i watch documentaries about sharks, I find them very fascinating. With that said am I afraid of sharks? Yes but the same way I am of any big predator, shark, crocodile, tiger, bear, etc. While i know they are actually very unlikely to attack even if you come face to face with one, I would rather not play the odds and lose, if that make sense.
Interesting video, I actually learned most of what you said on my own from reading but still a nice watch.

[@smokingzombiefilms]

Dreyfuss is a squalus and a nightmare to meet

[@ChristinaHeadley-sk2ig]

In the scene where Hooper is in the shark cage, he actually has a good interaction with BRUCE, the shark, he even touches the shark, BUT the shark becomes aggressive when QUINT starts shooting at him.

[@RicardoCon94]

I do like how you take the time of when this movie was made into account. Most people would just ignore obvious context clues about a movie and scream about it's inaccuracies. Jurassic Park for example makes it perfectly clear the dinosaurs are not 1 to 1 identical to what they actually were when they were alive but yet people still scream at it and demand feathered dinosaurs when apparently that discovery wasn't made till after the film was made.

[@godmagnus]

Being afraid of sharks because of Jaws is like being afraid of hockey players because of Friday the 13th

[@charlieorgan1382]

Since you did the first “Jaws” I would love you to do the 3 Jaws sequels. :-)

[@kevinnorwood8782]

If you react to any other big shark movies, Dr. Munroe, I sincerely hope that one of them will be 2018's "The Meg", based on the first book in the Meg novel series by Steve Alten.

[@lisamaitland157]

They had a few shows that tried to put a hole in a real tank, and could not do it with a 22 or 33 round. The bottom of the tank seem to be the strongest part of the tank, and trying the sides made the bullet many times wrap around the tank and just glance off. They did punch a hole in it with a 50 caliber on the 3rd try. The 50 caliber had the same issue from the sides. Once a indention was made in the bottom of the tank from the first 2 shots, the third struck the weak spot made by the 2 bullets. "and went in" The tank was being held by large vice gripes and made a massive loud sound of rushing air. They tried the top of the tank and could only wreck the valve. Once the valve is closed they are closed, the weapon could not breach the valve. The 50 cal gun had the worst time hitting the top\valve area, the bullets just glanced off almost all the time. I also noticed it seems like the top and bottom, are the strong points of a tank.

[@jthompson7175]

If a Great White Shark is in you D&D party, they're probably an Assassin Rogue with 3 levels of Gloomstalker Ranger for that first round ambush.

[@jackepong6300]

I think the most interesting thing about the movie is that it made the shark's size 25 feet long which at the time was thought impossible for a great white only decades later to find examples that go beyond that size.

[@gluuuuue]

It's certainly a fantastic film and still one of the best in cinematic history. It did spur the same fear in me of sharks as it probably did with most people in the '80s. But I also did spot at my local library, a book about the 'Shark Lady', Eugenie Clark, which I read and got to learn a lot more actual things about sharks, which made me a lot less afraid.
And I think over the years even with the later films of the franchise (which obviously weren't received as well as this original), more in the public began to gain a better understanding of what science actually said and didn't say and what was myth for the purposes of popular entertainment.
(Also, puncturing the scuba tank while in the shark's mouth seems like it would've still been potentially quite damaging or fatal to the shark, just not in the way of such an explosive finale as we've grown to expect from Hollywood.)

[@mrghiax]

Maybe Matt Hooper said it best "Err I think you are going to continue to ignore this particular problem until it swims up and bites you on the arse"!

[@falcon3268]

Peter Benchley also makes a appearance in the movie as the newscaster who talks about the form of a killer shark.

[@donovandelaney3171]

I personally wouldn’t go into the water unless there’s a dolphin or a Mermaid.

[@ridleysaria]

I enjoyed your analysis quite a bit. Jaws is one of my favorite films but I’ve always known it’s not realistic. I see all kinds of inaccuracies when movies depict what I do for a living too. Like you said, this movie made me unfairly scared of sharks. I probably should be more afraid of hippos.
I would have liked to see what you thought about Quint’s retelling of the Indianapolis event. Quint’s monologue is terrifying but I have no idea how accurate it really is.

[@drsammunroe]

Thanks for your comment. You are not the only one who wanted to know my thoughts on the USS Indianapolis, so I think I will have to make a video on this topic. I originally did talk about it in my review but I had to cut it for time. I will try at some point in the next 6 months to do a video on this scene and talk about the facts of the disaster.

[@Theomite]

I thought "rogue shark" in this context was exactly what they described: a shark that stays in an area where there's lots of prey and sticks around until it consumes itself out of a supply, similar to how humans do to natural resources. I never interpreted it as "shark prefers humans" I thought of it as "shark abandons nomad life for homesteading" which would be weird and significant.
I've watched this film hundreds of times over my entire life and I never once, even as a kid, thought the shark was "normal." I always thought this shark was one of those extremely rare cases where an animal like Mocha-Dick, The Ghost and The Darkness, goes crazy and starts attacking humans. Not at all representative of normal behavior. The fact that it's so big, so aggressive, and so smart made it an outlier to me.
Then again, I was one of those "Dinosaur Kids" and knew way too much about sharks and dinosaurs before I was old enough to ride a bike.

[@TheGrayMysterious]

The little kid Alex Kintner's death is a classic case of mistaken identity. He's on a raft, which bloats his outline and makes him look like a seal from below, he's making a lot of splashing, etc. In the real world, a shark would likely attack him, thinking he's a seal, before biting or touching him and realizing he's not prey. A lot of the shark's attacks aren't unreasonable for a normal shark to do at first, but the creature seems to get more monstrous and fantastical every time it shows up in the movie until it's smashing diving cages apart and torpedoing boats like an aquatic battering ram.

[@drsammunroe]

That's a really interesting observation that I have never thought of before, that the shark behaviour becomes more and more unrealistic as the movie goes on. But I guess that is how you convince the audience to come on the journey with you, start subtle and get totally crazy near the end.

[@lyndoncmp5751]

Based on the tiger shark attack on Billy Weaver off Hawaii in 1958. 15 year old Weaver was on an air mattress. Weaver lost a leg and died.
There have been a number of total consumption great white shark attacks. It's not always mistaken identity where they reject the victim. Sometimes they eat them. Completely.

[@Weaseldog2001]

Back in the 80s, when I was doing some diving in the Lakes in Texas, there was a story flowing around about divers who got into and auto accident.
They had their tanks aligned with the motion of travel.
They were rear ended, and one of the tanks shot out like a rocket, out the front windshield.
It was told as a precautionary tale, to store your tanks perpendicularly, to the direction of travel, so occupants aren't injured by the tanks, in an accident.
Is this an urban legend, or based in fact?

[@kimpritchard4322]

Their robotic shark didn't work as planned. The barrels were a way to represent shark movement during the movie because of the problems they were experiencing.

[@SurvivorBri]

You shared a wealth of information. First saw this movie when I was around 8 years old. This was back in the early 80's and watched it with my family on HBO. So damn terrifying. Although it didn't scare me away from the beach. My grandparents had a summer house along the bay at Wildwood Crest, NJ. I could never swim in the bay. At the beach, I was fine but not the bay. Strange, I know.

[@jshound1508]

Back in the day, Hollyweird didn't care about historical accuracy or complete realism. They cared about actually entertaining folks and telling a grand tale...as it SHOULD be.

[@janstan8407]

What makes me more afraid (even though he recovered and wasn't after) was the Henri Bource attack because of what footage survived. Especially the iconic short clip of his left leg in the white shark's wide open mouth, then the footage of him on the boat (minus the left leg at the knee) and him bleeding out. Yes, I understand this was only one case, but it's powerful. His friends said the shark followed him to the boat, so they had to keep pushing it away with "shark sticks" (I forget what they called them). Had he been alone I believe it would have continued feeding. "Great White Death" mixes re-enactment footage with the underwater attack to lengthen it, but there IS real footage there. One NOT real, is of a sand tiger being substituted for a white shark while talking about holding the shark at bay in "Great White Death". I never understood how that got by the producers, or they just didn't think people would notice. Henri's narration of the attack is very good. "Savage Shadows" also covers it. But you know all this.

[@Don-lg3oy]

I love JAWS and I know there’s not accuracies within the movie but it’s still a damn good film. My all time favorite movie to be exact. The size of the shark and being able to take 3 barrels under is just an exciting element they added. I never looked at it as fact but showing that this is a one of kind shark.

[@Silverserri]

I don't know if this is accurate, because no one can interview a shark, but I remember hearing some time ago, is that humans actually taste terrible, from a shark's perspective. They're used to fish, seal, whathaveyou. So they mistake a surfboard with a person on it for a seal, they do the attack, and suddenly, "bleugh! Yuck!" they basically spit the human out, and don't eat the whole of the human because that's not what they want to eat. The majority of the fatalities come from the initial attack, which causes the most damage and blood loss.

[@johnturnbull5971]

the 1916 shark attacks in new jersey i think were done by a bull shark for this reason: The next two major attacks took place in Matawan Creek near the town of Keyport on Wednesday, July 12. Located 30 miles (48 km) north of Spring Lake and inland of Raritan Bay bull sharks to my knowledge the only sharks that can survive in both sea and fresh water

[@nightshade7240]

The weapon used to shoot the tank is an M1 Garand chambered in .30-06 which is sometimes referred to as a "sniper calibre" (it is no longer used in that capacity in modern firearms.) He didn't have to shoot the tank at all. He could have just shot it through the eyes or the skull. Dependent on the type of round, a .30-06 would puncture a SCUBA tank but even that small amount of water would have diminished the energy of the round to actually pierce the tank. If a round can pierce a metal tank it sure as hell can pierce a shark.

[@christiantidball6121]

There's a town in Oregon called Charleston. It's where many of the crab boats come into the fisheries there near the ocean. When I was a kid they had a Shark Festival. They had a lot of touristy memorabilia and a couple booths selling shark dishes. This was in the early 1980s before shark conservation became common. The sharks would get tangled in the nets and drown. I had some smoked shark and shark fin soup. It wasn't really appealing, tough and sinewy. I still went to the festivals, but never ate shark meat again. In the late '90s the festival was cancelled indefinitely. It was believed the conservation effort and the Oregon Institute of Marine Biology there rightly put pressure on the city to help save the sharks.

[@EMarvinJohnson]

Peter Benchley, who wrote the book, told the script writers that the exploding air tanks were bs. Movie goers bought into it though.

[@Kel_Surprise]

My favorite movie of all time. Love it to the point that I named a kitten Amity and a venus flytrap Bruce.

[@animaltvi9515]

All we need now are reactions to sharknado and sharktopus 2 excellent documentarys.

[@maschwab63]

The metal really messes up their sense of the electric field in the water. Even a metal chainmail glove will get a vicious attack.

[@liamdacre1818]

The great white shark is dark on top to blend in with the darkness of the water and they are white at the bottom so they blend in with the sunlight and the lighter water on top. This gives them camouflage and makes them harder to be seen by prey.

[@UralicFreak]

Fun fact: the actual animatronic was 25 feet. In Jaws 2 the animatronic was 30 feet. In the 3rd film it was cgi, but was said to be 35 feet. Then in Jaws The Revenge the animatronic was 28 feet.

[@joshuah9109]

Does anyone remember Hitchcock's "THE BIRDS"? I always viewed "JAWS" the same way.
It's been rumored, Hitchcock based "THE BIRDS" loosely on an actual event. It was reported that a sudden, unexplained outbreak of bird attacks took place on a small tourist island. "THE BIRDS" took inspiration (again, allegedly) from that story and exaggerated it for effect.
Peter Benchley based the novel "JAWS" loosely on an actual report of a series of shark attacks that took place in 1919 (on a beach in the Jersey Shore, i believe).
Spielberg stayed (somewhat) faithful to the 1st act of the novel (removing side plots involving Mafi ties and Ellen Brody having an affair with Matt Hooper) but largely changed the second half.
Birds don't normally act as they did in "THE BIRDS," but what if they did?
Sharks Don't usually act as they did in "JAWS," but what if they did?
The shark is like a far less emortal version of Jason Voorhees or Michael Myers, THE DAMN THING JUST WON'T DIE!😆

[@harrybuilder5670]

5:34
There's also the fact that if the Shark realizes there's no prey near the beaches he'll have to move on.

[@meee4217]

My god, your name is Salmon Roe! Lol

[@guyw3648]

I just watched your video about the movie Jaws, very interesting. The one thing that got me about that movie was at the end after he had blown up the shark, they began swimming toward Shore which look like they would be going through all that blood and guts. And I'm no genius, but I'm pretty sure that much blood in the water would attract plenty of other sharks in pretty short order. I'm starting your video on the Meg right now. Thanks for educating us.

[@drsammunroe]

Thanks so much for watching and leaving a comment. You make a really valid point. I wasn't thinking about it during my review but absolutely, eventually, the sent of the blood could attract more sharks into the area. But it wouldn't be immediate. The blood would have to dissipate through the water, then the shark would need to pick up the sent, follow the trail, and eventually reach the site. This could take a while, depending on how close another shark might be.

[@jamesswainston826]

A marine biologist named Dr. Salmon Roe?? Sorry Doc, I'm sure you've heard it before. Couldn't help it. Subscribing now. 😄