--- description: The warnings in LIFE Magazine would have rung true for the people of Amity Island title: Celebrate the 40th Anniversary of 'Jaws' With These Vintage Shark Photos image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2576858ebbd4dea9/6987efe42dce0175619e1d78/150515-sharks-01.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [animals](/tag/animals/) ## animals Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Celebrate the 40th Anniversary of _Jaws_ With These Vintage Shark Photos  by [Eliza Berman](/author/eliza-berman/)  ## Eliza Berman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Berman is a senior editor at TIME. Jun 19, 2015 12:00 PM CUT  Caption from LIFE. Lemon shark, a captive in Florida's Marineland, is one of a small, pig-eyed species, seven to 11 feet long, which often haunts docks and beaches at night. Caption from LIFE. Lemon shark, a captive in Florida's Marineland, is one of a small, pig-eyed species, seven to 11 feet long, which often haunts docks and beaches at night.Peter Stackpole—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  by [Eliza Berman](/author/eliza-berman/)  ## Eliza Berman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Berman is a senior editor at TIME. Jun 19, 2015 12:00 PM CUT When LIFE’s editors titled a 1960 feature on sharks “Look Out For Sharks,” they weren’t thinking about fictional fish—but when _Jaws_ hit theaters 15 years later on June 20, 1975, the movie proved that a shark didn’t have to be real to be scary. The film was more than the first big hit for a young director named Steven Spielberg; it was the first summer blockbuster, period. It also made moviegoers that summer a tad nervous to swim at the beach. LIFE’s attitude toward sharks was similarly cautious. “A shadow in a wave, a fin above the surface, a wide mouth nosing up from below”—the “gruesome menace” could be anywhere water is warm, though some species proved a greater danger to swimmers and sailors: --- > “” --- The article went on to describe how different kinds of sharks might attempt to kill unsuspecting bathers, featuring the stories of victims who survived attacks, and one who didn’t. One survivor, 16-year-old Suzanne Theriot, had her leg amputated after a bite. Another, Eddie Dawkins, required 100 stitches from his chest to his ears after a shark had most of his head inside its mouth. The magazine refrained from ending on a morbid note, instead offering tips for how to avoid an attack: Don’t swim alone. Don’t swim at night. Don’t swim with a bleeding wound. And if all else fails, as Martin Brody would have said, perhaps try a bigger boat.  Page layout from the July 11, 1960 issue of LIFE Magazine. LIFE Magazine _Liz Ronk, who edited this gallery, is the Photo Editor for LIFE.com. Follow her on Twitter_ [_@lizabethronk_](https://twitter.com/LizabethRonk "undefined")_._  Caption from LIFE. Lemon shark, a captive in Florida's Marineland, is one of a small, pig-eyed species, seven to 11 feet long, which often haunts docks and beaches at night. Peter Stackpole—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Tiger shark, difficult to keep in captivity, devours lemon shark at Florida's Marineland. Untempted by other foods, this tiger would have starved without lemon shark. But when free, tigers are undiscriminating scavengers, scouring the sea bottoms near shore and swallowing anything from turtle shells to tin cans. Peter Stackpole—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Blue shark, 1960. Peter Stackpole—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Unidentified shark, 1960. Peter Stackpole—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Unidentified shark, 1960. Peter Stackpole—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Unidentified shark, 1960. Peter Stackpole—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Unidentified shark, 1960. Peter Stackpole—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Unidentified shark, 1960. Peter Stackpole—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Unidentified shark, 1960. Peter Stackpole—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Unidentified shark, 1960. Peter Stackpole—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. White-tip shark prowling open sea was photographed by Peter Stackpole from cage sunk in Gulf of Mexico. White-tips stay at sea, do not molest beaches. Peter Stackpole—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Unidentified shark, 1960. Peter Stackpole—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3860496/jaws-anniversary-sharks/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3860496/jaws-anniversary-sharks/"},"headline":"Celebrate the 40th Anniversary of Jaws With These Vintage Shark Photos","datePublished":"2015-06-19T12:00:55.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:47:35.924Z","description":"The magazine's warnings would have rung true for the people of Amity Island","url":"https://time.com/3860496/jaws-anniversary-sharks/","keywords":["animals","Newsfeed","Sharks","photography","LIFE Magazine","Peter Stackpole","1960"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2576858ebbd4dea9/6987efe42dce0175619e1d78/150515-sharks-01.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eliza Berman","jobTitle":"Berman is a senior editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/eliza-berman/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2576858ebbd4dea9/6987efe42dce0175619e1d78/150515-sharks-01.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"1960 Shark Essay","caption":"Lemon shark, a captive in Florida's Marineland, is one of a small, pig-eyed species, seven to 11 feet long, which often haunts docks and beaches at night.","creditText":"Peter Stackpole—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/animals/","name":"animals"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3860496/jaws-anniversary-sharks/","name":"Celebrate the 40th Anniversary of Jaws With These Vintage Shark Photos"}}]}] ```