Jaws dropped in 1975, and with it came decades of public shark hysteria. Now, on the 50th anniversary of that blockbuster’s release, Lewis Pugh — legendary endurance swimmer and Patron of the Oceans for the UN Environment Programme — is diving headfirst into the belly of the beast to flip the script. From May 15–26, 2025, Pugh will swim the full 60-mile circumference of Martha’s Vineyard, the same cinematic hunting ground of Spielberg’s mechanical monster, not to survive the sharks, but to save them.
Pugh isn’t swimming to tempt fate—he’s swimming to raise hell over what’s actually killing sharks: us. According to the Lewis Pugh Foundation, shark populations have nosedived by 70% since 1970, with 100 million sharks slaughtered annually for fins, meat, oil, and trophy bragging rights. That’s 274,000 sharks every single day, gutted for greed and ignorance. The result? Marine ecosystems are on the verge of collapse, and if you eat seafood or breathe oxygen (yes, phytoplankton produce half our oxygen), this is your problem too.
“I’m frightened of sharks,” Pugh admits. “But I’m more terrified of a world without them.” Without apex predators like sharks to maintain balance, oceans spiral into chaos, and a sick ocean means a sick planet. Pugh’s “Shark Swim” isn’t just a stunt — it’s a rallying cry.
The campaign kicks off a global, three-year effort by the Lewis Pugh Foundation to reach over a billion people with science, education, and ocean advocacy. At its heart is the 30×30 initiative: to protect 30% of the world’s oceans by 2030. It’s ambitious. It’s urgent. It’s non-negotiable.
“Without apex predators like sharks to maintain balance, oceans spiral into chaos — and a sick ocean means a sick planet.”
The irony? While Martha’s Vineyard became infamous as the fictional Amity Island, today it’s one of the few places where white sharks are bouncing back, thanks to conservation work and new Massachusetts policies banning shoreline fishing of Great Whites. But globally, the species is still getting hammered.
Pugh isn’t new to high-stakes swims. In 2023, he swam the entire 315-mile length of the Hudson River to celebrate its clean-up and spotlight how rivers bleed into ocean health. But this challenge hits differently. He’s swimming in waters that Hollywood once weaponized against sharks — to change the narrative before the real horror unfolds.
“When we damage the environment, we create conditions that are ripe for conflict,” says Pugh. “We must learn to make peace with nature for the sake of future generations.”
As the UN’s Inger Andersen puts it, sharks are “nature’s messengers,” warning us of the ocean’s declining health. Lose them, and we lose balance. We lose biodiversity. We lose everything.
So while the studios keep churning out CGI shark horror cash-grabs, Lewis Pugh is out in the real ocean doing what they won’t: fighting for the future of our seas, one brutal swim at a time.
Follow the mission, get involved, and help flip the script on sharks: lewispughfoundation.org/campaign/shark-swim-2025/
