Da-dum...Da-dum....Da-dum da-dum da-dum da-dum.

The Jaws effect. 

"The single story creates stereotypes, and the problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete. They make one story become the only story."  

- Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie 

The author of Jaws, Peter Benchley has been quoted. "Knowing what I know now, I could never write that book today," he said, years later. "Sharks don't target human beings, and they certainly don't hold grudges. What I now know, which wasn't known when I wrote Jaws, is that there is no such thing as a rouge shark which develops a taste for human flesh, Benchley told the Animal Attack Files in 2000. He spent much of the rest of his life campaigning for the protection of sharks.

Afraid to go into the ocean? Fear of sharks seems to be part of human genes. Prior to the novel and film, sharks were visualized as a mystery predator under the sea with occasionally a fin cutting the surface in a zig zagging motion. But, the entire notion that a Great White Shark could have a thirst for human blood based on a fictional book was not a consideration. Until Jaws. A nerve had been struck. 

"Jaws" directed by Steven Spielberg.  Released June 20, 1975

Fear and trophy mania spurred by the single story and being almost decimated in the 1970's and 1980's - many scientists believe the Atlantic Great White shark population was reduced by almost 80%.  Jaws legitimized hunting sharks. And now they're status in nature has been put in jeopardy to the point where they will diminish if they're not protected. 

While a protected species in Federal waters of the Atlantic Ocean since 1997, it was in 2005 that regulations were passed in Massachusetts to make it illegal to capture a Great White Shark.  In 2015, regulations were passed to make it illegal to actively go out and attract Great Whites.  

Great White Sharks growth rate is much slower and they mature at a much slower than previously thought. According to NOAA Northeast Fisheries Science Center "With lifespan estimates of 70 years and more, white sharks may be  among the longest-lived fishes. Sharks that mature late, have long life spans and produce small litters have the lowest population growth rates and the longest generation times.  Increased age at maturity would make white sharks more sensitive to fishing pressure than previously thought, given the longer time needed to rebuild white shark populations." 

Why is this important to "the single story?" 

The answer is the ramifications of the "Jaws" effect, as a single story, allowed the normalization of great white shark fishing/hunting creating a crisis in population. The success in recent years of conservation education of the oldest and largest top predators of the world have been able to face the only one real threat.... us.