In the 2021 documentary Playing With Sharks, Australian shark hunter turned conservation crusader Valerie May Taylor discusses her regrets over working with Steven Spielberg on the film Jaws. Not to put too fine a point on it, but there’s an argument to be made that Jaws is largely responsible for New Englander’s fear of sharks in general and Great White sharks in particular. Taylor helped shoot live footage of sharks for the film, and the more she learned about sharks, the more she turned away from hunting them and focused her passion on saving them. The friction over sharks in Cape Cod reads like a draft of the script from Jaws.
It is an established fact that the presence of apex predators like Great White sharks is a sign that an ecosystem is healthy and balanced. One problematic aspect of the Cape Cod community argument is that they are not differentiating shark species. Most sharks would never attack a human. Great Whites normally won’t, but if you look like a seal, they might take a bite and see if you are one. There are recreational divers who seek gatherings of sharks and dive with them. As long as they are the right kind of sharks and the divers are not aggressive, they are perfectly safe. I have friends who make these trips regularly and come back with wild footage of sharks cruising around them. The fear of sharks and some ancient beliefs in the medicinal properties of shark fins are causing sharks to be hunted to extinction, so the conservation of sharks is a significant issue.
“…a master class on what a documentary can be…”
Great White Summer is a beautifully shot film with breathtaking beach and ocean cinematography. Budabin keeps the pace, clicking along smartly with expertly edited interviews and sound bites, shifting between the lab setting, community meetings, and stories from people impacted. The consensus on both sides of this issue, which neither can definitely say is a disagreement but rather more of a shared frustration, is that there may not be a solvable problem. Life is not risk-free.
Budabin has created a compelling, entertaining, and informative work in Great White Summer that is a master class on what a documentary can be.
"…compelling, entertaining, and informative..."
