Fifty years ago, the iconic movie Jaws was filmed on a touristy New England island. Endurance swimmer Lewis Pugh, like other conservation-minded people, still wonders how the film affected our treatment of sharks. To raise awareness about how sharks have been put in danger by humans over the last half-century, Pugh went for a historic swim around Martha's Vineyard. In doing so, the 55-year-old became the first person to swim the full length around the island off Cape Cod. Pugh said the swim was not easy. The water was very cold. The windy weather kicked up high waves. And, of course, Pugh was concerned about the possibility of an attack from a sea animal, such as a shark, from below. Pugh is an experienced endurance swimmer. He takes on difficult routes in oceans and seas across the planet. He was the first athlete to swim across the North Pole, and he has finished long-distance swims in each of the world’s oceans. Still, he said, the 62-mile Martha’s Vineyard adventure was a huge challenge. It took 24 hours over 12 days. “It’s been a long journey, it really has — 12 days, cold water, constant wind, waves and then always thinking of what may be beneath me. It’s been a big swim. A very big swim,” he told The Associated Press (AP). Pugh said he took it on in hopes of changing public opinions of sharks. He wants more protections for them. About 274,000 sharks are killed each year by human-made causes, the American Association for the Advancement of Science reports. “We’ve been fighting sharks for 50 years,” he told the AP. “Now, we need to make peace with them.” Reflect: How can we encourage others to help protect animals that people are often afraid of? Photo of Lewis Pugh from Instagram courtesy of @lewis.pugh.
