South African swims around Martha's Vineyard to raise awareness of need to protect sharks

Fifty years ago, the small island of Martha's Vineyard on America's East Coast was brought to the big screen when it served as the location of the 1975 blockbuster Jaws. The film changed how the public viewed the ocean, stoking widespread fear of sharks. Now a South African endurance swimmer has become the first person to swim all around the island in an effort to help raise awareness of the need to protect the ocean predators.

Lewis Pugh began the record-breaking swim on May 15 and spent several hours in the water each day before completing the gruelling 100-kilometre circuit on Monday.

“It's been a long journey, it really has," Pugh said on exiting the water. "Twelve days, cold water, constant winds, waves and then, always thinking about what may be beneath me, it's been, it has been a big swim, a very big swim.”

The swimmer stated that in his 40 year career, this swim around Martha’s Vineyard was one of the most difficult.

“The biggest challenge on this swim has been the wind. I mean, we've had unrelenting wind day after day after day, and when you have wind day after day, day after day you have waves. And I always knew this swim was gonna be a tough swim, but when you put the wind and then the waves, and then, the distance, and then thinking about what is beneath you all the time, it adds up, it becomes attritional after a while.”

'Magnificent creatures'

Jaws, which was filmed in Edgartown, renamed Amity Island for the movie, created Hollywood’s blockbuster culture when it was released in summer 1975, setting new box office records and earning three Academy Awards. The movie would shape public perception of the ocean and sharks for decades to come.

Both director Steven Spielberg and author Peter Benchley expressed regret that viewers of the film became so afraid of sharks, and both later contributed to conservation efforts as their populations declined, largely due to commercial fishing.

Immediately after walking out the ocean, Lewis Pugh reiterated his message to the Associated Press: “This is about explaining just how important sharks are for all of us. Sharks are the most magnificent creatures. They're absolutely essential for life on Earth.”

Pugh's endeavor also coincides with the New England Aquarium's first confirmed sighting this season of a white shark, off the nearby island of Nantucket.

The swimmer expressed he would have loved to see sharks along his journey, and while there were no sharks, Pugh still admired what the island had to offer, “There on the corner we saw lots of seals which are also just absolutely wonderful. This is a truly beautiful part of the American coastline.”

Just in case, he was accompanied by safety personnel in a boat and a kayak, whose paddler is using a “Shark Shield” device to create a low-intensity electric field in the water to deter sharks without harming them.