Endurance swimmer Lewis Pugh is known for taking on daunting challenges, from Mount Everest’s icy waters to the vast Arctic.
But he’s also adhered to an unspoken rule throughout his career: avoid talk of sharks.
This week, however, Pugh plans to break that silence as he embarks on a swim around Martha’s Vineyard – the very location where the iconic thriller “Jaws” was filmed 50 years ago.
This swim marks a significant moment for Pugh, who was the first person to complete long-distance swims in every ocean across the globe. His venture around the island adds another layer to his impressive resume of extreme swims.
“On this swim, it’s very different: We’re just talking about sharks all the time,” joked Pugh, who will, as usual, wear no wetsuit.
For his swim around Martha’s Vineyard in 47-degree (8-degree Celsius) water he will wear just trunks, a cap and goggles.
Pugh, 55, is undertaking the challenge because he wants to change public perception around the now at-risk animals — which he said were maligned by the blockbuster film as “villains, as cold-blooded killers.” He will urge for more protection for sharks.
On Thursday, beginning at the Edgartown Harbor Lighthouse, he will swim for three or four hours in the brutally cold surf, mark his progress and spend the rest of his waking hours on the Vineyard educating the public about sharks. Then, he’ll get in the water and do it again — and again, for an estimated 12 days, or however long it takes him to complete the 62-mile (100-kilometer) swim.
He begins the journey just after the New England Aquarium confirmed the first white shark sighting of the season, earlier this week off the coast of Nantucket.
“It’s going to test me not only physically, but also mentally,” he said, while scoping out wind conditions by the starting line. “I mean every single day I’m going to be speaking about sharks, sharks, sharks, sharks. Then, ultimately, I’ve got to get in the water afterwards and do the swim. I suppose you can imagine what I’ll be thinking about.”
Pugh said the swim will be among the most difficult he’s undertaken, which says a lot for someone who has swum near glaciers and volcanoes, and among hippos, crocodiles and polar bears. No one has ever swum around the island of Martha’s Vineyard before.
But Pugh, who often swims to raise awareness for environmental causes — and was this year named the United Nations Patron of the Oceans — said no swim is without risk and that drastic measures are needed to get his message across: Around 274,000 sharks are killed globally each day — a rate of 100 million every year, according to the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
“It was a film about sharks attacking humans and for 50 years, we have been attacking sharks,” he said of “Jaws.” “It’s completely unsustainable. It’s madness. We need to respect them.”
He emphasizes that the swim is not something nonprofessionals should attempt. He’s accompanied by safety personnel in a boat and kayak and uses a “Shark Shield” device that deters sharks using an electric field without harming them.
