Hug a great white?


For anyone over the age of, say, 45, this beat—

bah dum, bah dum, Bah Dum, Bah Dum, BAH DUM—sends chills.

Younger generations who didn’t cringe during the movie Jaws see sharks today less as a fearsome maneater, and more as a dolphin-like character with goofy grin. Case in point: When sharks emerged on Cape Cod a few years ago, sidling up to a smorgasbord of seal, the town’s cop, science geek, and macho seafarer didn’t gather to hunt the Big One. Rather, the mantra became “spread the white shark love!” —Diane Richard, writer, August 4

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Image: Ian Thomas Jansen-Lonnquist for The New York Times

Source: Katharine Q. Seelye, “They’re Going to Need a Bigger Gift Shop,” The New York Times,July 24