White sharks resurfacing; Eastport family involved in making of iconic Jaws movie

Filled with thrills and spills, Jaws opened 50 years ago in cinemas, changing the world's view of sharks and instilling a fear in people of going swimming in the ocean. The movie had a significant negative impact on the public perception of sharks and on their population, as shark killing soared globally. However, over time the movie also led to shark conservation efforts and to a greater understanding of the role they play in the marine environment.

But while the iconic film directed by Steven Spielberg is well-known, an Eastport family's role in the making of the movie is not. One member of the family worked on the set during the filming, while other relatives built a boat especially for the movie, with another one of their boats used in the sequel.

From late spring through October 1974, Skip Harris of Eastport worked as a boat captain for the special effects crew during the filming of Jaws on Martha's Vineyard. He was living at the time on the island, where he was the captain of a boat that went longlining for swordfish out to the Grand Banks and the Flemish Cap.

During the filming, he would use his boat to tow one of the three 25-foot, three-ton mechanical sharks that were mounted on sea sleds, where they were remotely controlled to open their jaws and look menacing. His boat also towed barrels that were rigged through anchored pulleys to move through the water as though being dragged by the harpooned shark. In addition, Harris rigged up a series of anchors and pulleys on a beach for the shooting of the opening scene when a girl is attacked by a shark and towed through the water. "She was tied to a piece of line, so they could pull her along," he recalls. Harris says the system he devised worked well, and the film crew was able to capture the scene on the first take.

"It was quite an education for me, watching all of that going on. I was impressed by the special effects people," Harris says. "It was great working with them. They were all a bunch of nice people." He also worked with all of the actors, including one of the stars, Richard Dreyfuss, who Harris says is "a really nice guy."

When Harris later ran a shop in Eastport, Fundy Breeze Charters, one of the people who worked with him was Dennis Dorsey, who was a dive master when Harris took people out to go diving. Dorsey also worked during the winter as a dive master on charter boats in Key West, Fla., and while there he once ran into Richard Dreyfuss on the boat. He asked Dreyfuss if he remembered Skip Harris, and Dreyfuss replied that Harris had "saved" the movie. Before Harris had been hired, the film crew was using a West Coast captain to help with the special effects work, and "he couldn't pull if off." The crew asked around the island who they should hire, and they all recommended Harris.

Locally built boats in the movie

Other members of the Harris family of Eastport were boatbuilders, and two 24-foot "Eastporter" boats constructed by the Passamaquoddy Yacht Company in Quoddy Village were involved with the film. The fiberglass boatbuilding company was located in two quonset huts and started in 1965 by George Harris and his nephew Chester Harris.

George Harris' son Butch, a cousin of Skip Harris, says a 24-foot Eastporter that was purchased by Universal Studios from a man in the Cape Cod area was in Jaws II as the police boat that was used to help kill the giant shark. Butch's older brother Lee, who was working with his father at Passamaquoddy Yacht at the time, says the film's producers also asked them to make a boat that was "paper thin" in some places, so they made it with only two layers of fiberglass. That way, it would break apart and quickly sink. Lee Harris remembers that they had to place a lot of bracing around the boat for when it was placed on a trailer to be shipped out for the film location. That boat reportedly was used as a back-up for the final scenes in the sequel film.

Butch Harris has been looking for where the boat that was used in the movie is now located but hasn't been able to find it. "I wanted to buy it and bring it back here," he notes.

Seeing the films that scared many away from going swimming in the ocean did not affect the Harrises, who have spent their lives on the water, commercial fishing and running whale-watching trips. While going out on whale-watch cruises, Butch Harris has been noticing more great white sharks in the Quoddy area, although he observes that many of the sharks being seen are porbeagles. The great whites are in the 10- to 18-foot range, he estimates. Last year he saw two seals eaten by great whites and the year before another seal taken. "You can tell when they're being attacked, as they move from one ledge to another one."

Of the Jaws II film with the Eastporter boat, he says, "I've seen it at least a dozen times," adding that his father also saw the Jaws films. "We were proud to see them representing Downeast."