Last summer, Americans didn't worry about terrorists. Last summer, Americans feared sharks. Headlines churned a blood-red frenzy over the ocean and the evil unknown. Five fatalities were enough to tag carcaradons as public enemy number one.
But now, with the return of vacation, comes an unlikely ambassador for the much maligned shark, the creator of Jaws. Peter Benchley, the man who scared swimmers out of the water, who transformed three tons of tooth and cartilage into one of the great terrors of the century, now wants to set the record straight, to exonerate the Great White, the Tiger, the Thresher and kin.
They're not evil, he says, they're victims of circumstance. Very dangerous, unpredictable "victims of circumstance."
