50 years ago, Jaws changed the face of American cinema history — but viewers weren’t the only ones who learned that it wasn’t safe in the water. Throughout production, the film’s animatronic sharks (all nicknamed “Bruce”) often malfunctioned in the saltwater of Martha’s Vineyard, shorting out and causing countless production delays and budget overages.
Those finicky sharks may have been beneficial for the production in the end — supposedly, because they were so difficult to work with, Steven Spielberg decided to avoid showing the shark whenever possible, which helped the film create its trademark atmosphere of tension and dread. But what happened to those sharks when filming wrapped? And is it possible to go see any of them?
