jaws powerboats

• Jun 23, 2020

Famous Boats: The Strange Saga of the 'Orca' from JAWS

By: Scott Way

Jaws was released on June 20th, 1975, and to celebrate its 45th anniversary as one of cinema's best aquatic thrillers we dove into the fascinating backstory behind what became of Quint's disheveled but beloved boat: the Orca .

The surly Quint, played by the inimitable Robert Shaw, is a fully unhinged boat captain with a wild-eyed charisma that somehow convinces Amity's level-headed police chief Brody (Roy Scheider), and smug marine biologist Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss), to hop aboard the Orca in search of a 25-foot murder fish with a penchant for beach-goers. As we all know, things went awry in the sunny waters off the fictional Amity Island (which was filmed off the real Martha's Vineyard). Based on Peter Benchley's 1974 novel of the same name, the hysteria created by the film moored itself firmly in the psyche of anyone dipping a toe in the water. 'The Jaws Effect' was real, and it had a pronounced effect not just on the future of filmmaking, but on the psychology of water enthusiasts everywhere . Swimmers, divers, and boaters suddenly became acutely aware (and very paranoid) about the unseen danger lurking below the surface. The bedraggled Quint and his decrepit Orca became mystic: his name and boat a part of aquatic lore like Blackbeard and The Queen Anne's Revenge , Jack Sparrow and The Black Pearl, and of course Captain Ahab and the Pequod.

(Fun Sidenote- my parents watched Jaws on its release date in theaters in 1975 while living on a tiny freshwater lake in Northern Ontario. They swore off swimming in the lake indefinitely, even though it was barely larger than a pond and the biggest thing in it were leeches. It was weeks before they went in again.)

In the film, the Orca , with its peeling paint and rotten deckboards, is besieged and ultimately destroyed by both the stubbornness of the Ahab-esque Quint and the bloodlust of the shark. Quint's mission for glory slowly unfurls as his insatiable thirst for revenge, and he tosses any semblance of logic overboard while John Williams' legendary musical score slowly builds (dun dun.... dun dun....). Quint eventually fries the radio, cooks the motor, and rattles his crew with a chilling tale about his time aboard the USS Indianapolis and the shark-infested waters that haunt his mind. His mission to hunt down and kill Jaws is his personal white whale, and there was no bigger boat than the Orca, and no shark scarier than Jaws, to captivate audiences.

We know what becomes of dear old Quint. His monologue and death scene were revered by critics and earned him legendary status (although the outtake reel wasn't without its humorous moments). Now 45 years later, we're taking a look back at Jaws to uncover what became of Quint's beloved Orca and the shark-fearing culture it spawned.

The filming of Jaws off New England's coast presented unique challenges for young director Steven Spielberg. With salt water wreaking havoc on the hydraulics used to maneuver both the Orca and its sinkable stunt double Orca II , not to mention the full-size electronic faux-shark (nicknamed "Bruce"), much of the machinery was abandoned or sold off to locals when filming wrapped. At least, at first. This is where the stories of Orca I and Orca II diverge into two drastically different endings that seem strangely fitting for the famously troubled production.

Orca I , the actual functioning fishing boat was originally purchased by production designer Joe Alves in nearby Marblehead, Massachusetts for use in the film. It was a lobster boat under the name Warlock before being renamed and refitted with a mast pulpit. It was repainted in burgundy and black and had oversized windows installed to make it more identifiable as an intimidating shark hunting vessel.

Orca II was merely a fibreglass replica of the original Orca I . Made strictly for the film, it was a sinkable set piece put in place anytime "Bruce" attacked the boat. With a complicated system of hydraulic barrels that allowed the boat to be tilted and 'sunk' on command, it was essentially a showpiece for shark attacks. The stern was made to break away during the attack on Quint and had to be rebuilt multiple times to get the right take. The Orca II was itself a difficult vessel- it reportedly sunk properly on more than one occasion, taking two expensive cameras on loan from Universal Studios with it. Its fragile wood components required the importing of wood from California to get the right destructive sequence.

After filming wrapped, Universal Studios shipped Orca I back to Hollywood with the bulk of the movie's equipment. For unknown reasons, shortly thereafter they sold it for $13,000 to a special effects technician in Los Angeles who wanted to use it for sword fishing. A year later, when the movie became a massive hit topping $100 million at the box office, Universal raced to buy the boat back and capitalize on its mystique- allegedly paying 10 times what they'd sold it for. In a fitting end to Orca I , it became the backdrop to the 'Amity Island' ride at Universal Studios. In another strange twist, legends persist that Spielberg used to visit the set at night to reminisce or find inspiration before it was unceremoniously chopped up and destroyed without warning when it became too rundown to show. No one really knows, or is willing to talk about, how exactly Orca I met its end.

The Orca II went a much different, and even sadder, route. It was scuttled by a series of petty thefts, disillusionment, and eventually abandonment. As a fibreglass replica of the Orca I hull with no motor- plus a complicated system of hydraulic barrels and lifts- it had little nautical value. A local marine mechanic named Lynne Murphy who'd been hired to work on the film purchased it for the hefty sum of $1. Murphy was familiar with the Jaws equipment, having been hired to assist with everything from towing the robotic shark to fixing the machinery that failed regularly during production (which went vastly over its initial $3.5 million budget- eventually totaling over $7 million- and months past its original shooting schedule). With Universal having no real use for the Orca II , Murphy was happy to bring home his own souvenir.

Murphy had a purpose for the Orca II , but not as memorabilia. As the owner of a salvage operation on the shoreline of nearby Menemsha Creek, he placed the Orca II alongside several other forgotten boats from the shoot- including the SS Garage Sale which had served as the on-set vessel for storing costumes, camera equipment, and other production pieces. Murphy's intent was to use the fibreglass hull to build a shed on his property, but that idea ran aground when his plans were denied by local building authorities. With few other options, the Orca II sat idle through the rest of '74 until the movie was released in the summer of '75. According to Murphy's wife Susan, “It had no bottom. There was nothing that could make it float. It was not seaworthy. The only thing that made it seaworthy was the tanks that were filled to keep it floating. That’s how it could sink on cue. The only reason he got it is because they practically gave it to him." Then in June of '75, Jaws hysteria hit. Much like the famous Fairbanks, Alaska city bus from Into The Wild that became an iconic landmark for outdoor enthusiasts, "finatics" from Jaws began searching for the Orca . It became a pilgrimage for movie fans and boaters to discover, and ultimately, pillage to the point of abandonment.

Jaws became the highest grossing film of all-time by late 1975 (until Star Wars arrived two years later). Martha's Vineyard became a mecca for tourists and boaters looking to experience 'Amity Island.' They came with hopes of scooping up movie memorabilia, or to hear local tales about the goings-on of the now famous cast who'd created Hollywood's biggest phenomenon. Murphy's boat quickly became a very obvious and very identifiable piece of movie memorabilia sitting on the beach in Menemsha. According to Murphy's wife Susan, "it started to be picked to death." 'Finatics' tore into the Orca II . It wasn't too long before the pulpit, mast, and fly bridge all went missing. 

“Sometimes we called the police,” Susan says. “They would meet people on the other side of the harbor after they got back on the road with the stuff and arrest them for trespassing and stealing.” Some arrived under the cover of night using flashlights. The Murphys put up “No Trespassing” signs but it did little to slow down thieves.

With few options, the Murphys could do little but watch as the Orca II was picked clean. Between the thefts and the saltwater dousing it, the next 30 years would see it reduced to practically nothing. The final tipping point came in 2005, when Martha’s Vineyard announced it would be hosting ' Jawsfest ,' a weekend festival celebrating everything Jaws. The Murphys knew that with movie buffs descending on their tiny town, the Orca II was too obvious to ignore. “Once we cut it up,” Susan says, “it was done.”

The Murphys took a chainsaw to the Orca II and slashed it into 1000 fibreglass squares 1 foot by 1 foot each. With a little entrepreneurial spirit they sold them for profit (at a fair rate of $130 each and placed inside a custom shadow box made by Susan) rather than as fly-by-night burglary prizes. Each piece came with a certificate of authenticity signed by the Murphys. Susan even willingly let go of a few other prized items- including the yellow barrels Quint harpooned into the shark from the pulpit during their back and forth battle. Those went to courteous 'finatics' who reached out in advance and visited her on the island with permission. Then in 2011, the Murphys entered into an agreement with authors Matt Taylor and Jim Beller to contribute pieces of the boat to the limited edition of Jaws: Memories from Martha's Vineyard . The book took a comprehensive look at the making of the film and the contributions of cast and crew. The pieces quickly sold out. The last one that turned up on eBay sold for a reported $1850.

“Once the book came out and people found out how big a part in the movie we had, there was a certain element of respect that wasn’t there before,” Susan says. “I’m not one to hold a grudge. I have to let go of what happened to the Orca II and the difficulty we had in protecting it.”

In many ways, the Murphys were the de-facto saviors of both the production and the enduring cultural phenomenon that remained in Martha's Vineyard after Jaws left for Hollywood. Although both Orca I and Orca II deserved a better end, it's strangely fitting they were chewed up by shark 'finatics.' The saddest part, though, is that the Orca II would have undoubtedly been worth a tidy sum. In comparison to other movie relics like the slippers from Wizard of Oz or Luke Skywalker's lightsaber from Star Wars , had the Orca II stayed in salvageable condition there is little double it would have been worth millions to a collector.

Even though the Orca II suffered a slow demise at the hands of pop culture pilferers, "Bruce" the mechanical shark survived the next few decades surprisingly well. Having gone from public enemy #1 to gradual 'fin' favourite, the 25 foot fibreglass predator spent 25 years in a Los Angeles scrapyard before being revived for a museum show in 2018.

h/t to Mental Floss and Marlin Mag

#culture #weirdboats

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The Bizarre Tale of the Orca II, the Stunt Boat from Jaws

By jake rossen | jul 26, 2019.

In nautical circles, building a boat that proceeds to sink an astonishing 24 times would be considered a disaster. For the purposes of the crew tasked with filming 1975’s shark thriller Jaws , it meant they had done their job.

In an era before computer effects, director Steven Spielberg and production designer Joe Alves wanted their adaptation of the Peter Benchley novel—about a shark that terrorizes the tourist hub of Amity Island—to feel authentic. That meant shooting on location at Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, where they spent five agonizing months putting actors and several malfunctioning mechanical sharks in the water. Often, those scenes would be centered around the Orca , the fictitious shark-hunting boat manned by salty seaman Quint (Robert Shaw). For shots where the 42-foot Orca was assaulted by the atypically aggressive shark, Alves and his team substituted the functioning boat for the Orca II , a near-exact duplicate that had no motor but could sink on command. It’s the Orca II that takes up most of the screen time during the film’s climactic scene, when the shark decides to jump on the stern of the boat to take a bite out of both the vessel and Quint.

But the shark was not the only threat to the Orca II . After being decommissioned and put out of movie service, the replica boat would spend the next several decades being ransacked by Jaws fans and memorabilia collectors despite being located on private land. Frustrated and fed up, its owners would take a chainsaw to its fiberglass hull, leaving little more than a relic that was later visited by an archeologist fascinated with its status as a “fake” artifact.

In being looted by trespassers and ravaged by the sea, had the Orca II transformed into something other than a movie prop? Had it become a cultural touchstone worthy of closer examination, or had the film’s popularity exaggerated its significance? And after nearly 45 years, would there be anything left of the Orca II to even examine?

From the beginning, the Orca II may have been the only element of Jaws that worked as expected. The Universal film, which initially had a modest budget of $3.5 million, was directed by Spielberg, who had impressed executives with his television work and a 1974 feature, The Sugarland Express . Spielberg and screenwriter Carl Gottlieb rewrote Peter Benchley’s script, preserving only the bare bones of the story: A shark arrives during tourist season on Amity Island, throwing the town into an uproar. Chief of police Martin Brody (Roy Scheider) recruits a marine biologist named Matt Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss) and ornery old seaman Quint (Shaw) to protect their shores from the marine terror. Quint’s boat, the Orca , would be their maritime base of operations.

Alves tells Mental Floss that the need for a second stunt boat was obvious from the beginning. “I did 250 storyboards,” he says. “We knew the boat had to sink, and there was no way of sinking the real Orca and bringing it back.”

The working Orca was a 42-foot-long former lobster boat dubbed the Warlock that Alves had found near Marblehead, Massachusetts. The white boat was repainted in burgundy and black and accessorized with a pulpit and oversized windows, the better for a casual audience to identify it as a formidable shark-hunting vessel. It was part of a fleet of 16 ships the production used for filming on water, including multiple barges that towed boats and the mechanical sharks, as well as a catch-all vessel, the SS Garage Sale , that had dressing rooms and a bathroom for cast and crew. Speedboats could transport people or supplies back and forth from shore. Even with these ships, shooting on water was interminable, a fact that’s become part of Jaws lore.

“It’s so difficult,” Alves, who worked on three of the four Jaws films, says. “The water is non-consistent. You had to anchor boats with four anchors to control them.” Once, the Orca took on water and partially sank . It had to be pulled out, dried out, and have wood replaced, all in time to be ready for shooting the following day.

Knowing the actual boat could never withstand such repeated stresses, Alves commissioned the production crew to make a cast out of the Orca and use it to construct a fiberglass replica. On the surface, the Orca II was a mirror image of the Orca ; the team ran props back and forth between the boats as needed. But underneath was much different. Without a motor, it had to be towed into place for shots. If it needed to sink, a crew member would use pneumatic tubes to tip the barrels mounted below the hull so they would begin to take on water, and the ship would be pulled into the depths. Once water was siphoned out, the barrels would regain their buoyancy and it would return to the surface. It was so convincing that production painter Ward Welton once jumped on board to try and start it—and got confused when he couldn’t find the motor. He thought it was the actual Orca .

What Alves needed in addition to the Orca II and the other boats were experienced boat operators. He found a local named Lynn Murphy while supervising the construction of Quint’s home in nearby Menemsha. “I hired him,” Alves says. “He had a little shack there where he kept his boat. He was yelling and screaming. I asked if he was a boat guy because we needed some.” Lynn and his wife, Susan, both came on the production to captain the boats and oversee their use. “Lynn knew a lot about boats. He got there and corrected some things. We started using him to tow the shark.”

That Alves witnessed Lynn yelling was not an unusual occurrence. The former auto mechanic, who operated Menemsha Marine Repair, was infamous in the area for his fiery temper. Following some kind of verbal dispute with harbor master Phil Le Vasseur in 1969, Lynn ended the argument by tossing the man into the harbor.

“He was a rough kind of sea guy,” Alves says. As the story goes, Spielberg was so enamored with Lynn’s persona that he directed Shaw to channel him for Quint. That makes sense to Alves, who says Shaw took inspiration from Lynn and that the two often went out for drinks after filming for the day.

(Tempestuous as he may have been, Lynn was also known for his selflessness. He was once commended by then-Senator John F. Kennedy for his bravery in securing boats and providing assistance during two major hurricanes in 1954.)

As difficult as filming was, it might have been impossible if not for the efforts of Lynn, Susan, and the other locals. Filming that was supposed to end in July dragged on through August and into September. Shots that would have been simple to do on land were at the mercy of unpredictable waters and unforeseen circumstances. Once, the Orca II sank a little too well, taking with it two Panavision cameras that cost Universal $24,000 a week to rent. Both cameras were full of film. In a panic, a crew member stuffed the film into a bucket of freshwater to try and prevent the saltwater from ruining the celluloid. He then jumped on a plane to New York in the hopes that Kodak could develop it in time. The footage was saved, but the fate of the cameras is unknown.

Near the end of shooting, the Orca II was positioned for its biggest moment. In the final face-off between man and shark, the mechanical predator (nicknamed “Bruce” after Spielberg’s lawyer, Bruce Ramer) was to “jump” on the stern, destroying it and gobbling up Quint in the process. Alves had made several breakaway sterns for the Orca II out of balsa wood. “We had three sterns,” he says. “I wish we had four. I’m not that happy with how the shark landed. There’s not a lot of balsa wood in Martha’s Vineyard. We shipped it in from Los Angeles.”

In September, Spielberg finished principal photography. Alves and others stayed behind for pick-up shots, including one last sinking of the Orca II . Once the film was finally done, the crew hurried off. Virtually no thought was given to the movie even being any good, let alone concern for the props or production elements involved.

“The studio didn’t give a damn,” Alves says. The Orca was shipped to Hollywood, where it was sold to a special effects technician who wanted to use it for sword fishing. He paid $13,000. The Orca II was left behind.

Lynn Murphy saw a purpose for the Orca II , but not as a piece of memorabilia. As the owner of a salvage operation, his property on the shoreline of Menemsha Creek across from the small fishing village of Menemsha had several scrap boats and vehicles, including the SS Garage Sale and three barges used for the film. He paid Universal a nominal amount of $1 to buy the Orca II , intending to use the fiberglass to build a shed on his property. It really had no other purpose because it was not actually a boat.

“It was simply a prop,” Lynn’s wife, Susan, tells Mental Floss. “It had no bottom. There was nothing that could make it float. It was not seaworthy. The only thing that made it seaworthy was the tanks that were filled to keep it floating. That’s how it could sink on cue. The only reason he got it is because they practically gave it to him.”

Lynn towed the Orca II to his private shoreline but quickly ran into a snag. The shed he intended to build was not approved by local building authorities. With little use for the replica boat, he decided to let it sit idle on shore. The Orca II was visible across the water to anyone walking near the shoreline on Menemsha. For the rest of 1974 and for part of 1975, that was not a remarkable fact. But when Jaws opened in June 1975, everything changed.

The film became Hollywood’s first real summer blockbuster, devouring box office records and sitting atop the list of the highest-grossing films of all time before Star Wars arrived two years later. Suddenly, Martha’s Vineyard was no longer just a spot for vacationers but a place to make a pilgrimage to Amity Island. Lynn Murphy’s boat was no longer a discarded hunk of fiberglass but the Orca II , sticking its mast out for all to see. People just assumed it was there for their enjoyment.

“It started to be picked to death,” Susan says. Fans of the movie—who were eventually labeled “finatics”—would come over by boat and begin tearing into the Orca II , yanking out nails, planks, and whatever else could be removed by hand. Quickly, the pulpit, mast, and fly bridge went missing. 

“I’ve known people who have gone over there and taken pieces,” Jim Beller, a Jaws historian and collector, tells Mental Floss. “They weren’t sure it was the right thing to do.” Some, Beller says, took a piece and then regretted it later.

“Sometimes we called the police,” Susan says. “They would meet people on the other side of the harbor after they got back on the road with the stuff and arrest them for trespassing and stealing.” Some arrived under cover of night, using flashlights. The Murphys put up “No Trespassing” signs to little avail. A peculiar sense of ownership seemed to empower fans of the movie to chip away at the Orca II , piece by piece. It is something of a wonder that Lynn Murphy, never long on patience, didn’t wind up in a confrontation with one.

“Lynn probably yelled at them to get away from the boat,” Susan says. “Whether he ever threw anyone overboard or got violent, I don’t think so.”

This went on for years; the Orca II seemed fated to be ransacked. According to Susan, towing it away was not really an option. It had arrived by water and there was nowhere else to put it. It was too large to drag further inland or display indoors. Partially pulled apart, it was likely of little interest to Universal, who had scrambled to buy back the Orca from the special effects technician after the movie was a hit so it could be put on display at Universal Studios as part of its Jaws ride. He reportedly charged them 10 times what he had paid them for it.

Out of options, the Murphys had little choice but to watch as the Orca II continued to be disassembled, both by fans and by the damaging saltwater washing over it. Souvenir hunters had even taken to yanking parts from the Far Star , a boat unrelated to Jaws that was located near the Orca II , leading to confusion over which was the genuine fake boat. Some posed for pictures, proudly displaying their technically-illegal gains.

“People get into a frenzy,” Susan says. “They think they can take anything they want. They were not really respectful to the movie they seemed to revere.”

The breaking point came in 2005, when the Murphys discovered that Martha’s Vineyard would be hosting Jawsfest, a weekend celebration of all things Jaws . Fans of the film would be coming to the island in greater numbers than ever before, and it was likely they would descend upon what was left of the Orca II like ants on a picnic.

The Murphys had enough. “Once we cut it up,” Susan says, “it was done.”

Taking a chainsaw to what remained of the fiberglass hull, the Murphys expedited the dissolution of the Orca II . They were left with 1000 fiberglass squares that measured 1 foot by 1 foot each. If fans wanted a souvenir, they could buy them in a proper transaction. The pieces did a brisk business, with certificates of authenticity from the Murphys. One piece reportedly sold on eBay for $1850.

In 2011, the Murphys entered into an agreement with co-authors Beller and Matt Taylor to contribute smaller pieces to a limited edition of Jaws: Memories from Martha’s Vineyard , a book that takes a comprehensive look at the making of the film and highlighted their contributions to the production. “Once the book came out and people found out how big a part in the movie we had, there was a certain element of respect that wasn’t there before,” Susan says. “I’m not one to hold a grudge. I have to let go of what happened to the Orca II and the difficulty we had in protecting it.”

That appeared to be the end of the Orca II , at least as far as its shore presence was concerned. But there was still at least one person curious about what remained.

The Jaws phenomenon that gripped the country in 1975 was not lost on P.J. Capelotti. When he was 14 years old, he caught the film seven times in one week when it was playing at the $1 cinema. “It’s one of those movies you could watch endlessly,” Capelotti tells Mental Floss.

Now a professor of anthropology at Penn State Abington, Capelotti was looking for a project that might prove to be slightly less strenuous than some of his archaeological pursuits of the past. In 2015, his daughter showed him an article in the Boston Globe about the 40th anniversary of Jaws . “It had a picture of two different Orcas , one that was actually a real vessel and one that was a mock-up of the real vessel,” he says. “I thought, ‘Cool.’ I’m a Jaws fanatic. I knew where it was.”

Capelotti was not in search of a souvenir but to assess the location itself, which had become the unlikeliest of archaeological sites, for a chapter in his 2018 book, Adventures in Archaeology . “I wanted to see what was left,” he says. By this time in May 2017, Lynn Murphy had passed away; the couple had sold the land to the Martha's Vineyard Land Bank, where it eventually wound up in the hands of a Native American tribe. To step foot on the land, visitors need permission from the natural resources department of the federally acknowledged Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah). Capelotti reached a friend at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to get approval. A 45-minute ferry ride got him to Vineyard Haven, and a 45-minute drive took him to the segment of West Basin Road that looks out opposite Menemsha. After a 45-minute hike across a salt marsh and white dunes, Capelotti finally found it: the final resting place of the Orca II .

Above the sand and shallow water, the only thing that remained were six stanchions from the metal framework that was beneath the hull and held the barrels. Together, it measured 18 feet, 6 inches long and 8 feet wide. Some short lengths of the pneumatic tubing to assist in the sinking were also there. Nearby, what was left of the Far Star continued to erode, though it retained a boat-like shape. Some 60 feet away was the SS Garage Sale , the utility vessel from filming. It was all little more than a little bit of rubber, metal, and outlines in the sand. Whatever might be buried farther down went undisturbed. “I didn’t have permission to excavate into the sand,” Capelotti says.

Had it not been for exposure and overzealous fans, it’s likely the Orca II and its fiberglass frame would have outlived the original Orca , which went missing from the Jaws ride in 1996 and was thought to have deteriorated to the point that it sank and subsequently broke in half during an attempt to salvage it.

With the Orca II stripped down to its bones, Capelotti saw more than the vestiges of the prop it once was. It was a lesson in the fragility of cultural artifacts.

“Most sites we work on [in archaeology] have been reduced steadily over time,” he says. “The stone in the Roman Coliseum was looted in the Middle Ages to make homes for people in Rome.”

Susan Murphy continues to sell pieces of the Orca II , which she mounts in a shadowbox for $130 plus shipping. They still move at a steady clip, and Susan says she has enough inventory to keep Jaws fans supplied for the foreseeable future. Purchasing one requires some imagination. Stripped of paint, the fiberglass pieces aren’t easily identifiable as something that was once part of the iconic vessel that helped bring down one of the most terrifying horror villains in movie history.

“I have a piece of the red part of the Orca II , a big piece, but you wouldn’t know what it was,” Beller says.

If the Orca II had remained intact, Capelotti believes it could have been destined to sell for an incredible sum to a collector. “Dorothy’s ruby slippers [from The Wizard of Oz ] are valued at millions of dollars,” he says. “Imagine what something like the Orca II would have been worth.”

Sometimes, Beller says, there are renewed talks of a fan building a full-scale replica. No one has fully committed to such an ambitious and expensive project, though. To date, nothing has surfaced, and the Orca II lives on only on film and in photos. But that doesn't mean it's been entirely forgotten.

Not long ago, Alves was at a convention, Shark Con, when he was approached by a father and daughter who presented him with a small piece of metal. “What’s this?” he said. The two explained they had been to West Basin Road—presumably without tribal permission—and had taken what they believed to be a souvenir of the Orca II . This time, though, things went a little differently.

“They gave it to me,” Alves says.

Additional Source: Adventures in Archaeology .

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Go-Fast Blast from the Past: Jaws

• By Eric Colby
• Updated: June 21, 2016

For many years, the annual offshore powerboat race in Sarasota, Florida, the weekend of July 4 featured a kilo run on Saturday morning, at which some impressive records were set. In 1995, an unknown new 46-foot Skater, Jaws , served notice to the Super Boat class that it meant business. The boat was powered by twin 1,350 hp motors built by throttleman Dave Wesseldyk, and equipped with BPM surface drives. Team owner Dennis Kaiser drove the boat to a new record of 158.45 mph, bettering the old mark by more than 10 mph. At the time, it was the fastest kilo run ever posted in an American Power Boat Association competition, in any class.

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What Kind Of Boat Was The Orca?

May 1, 2023

This article may contain affiliate links where we earn a commission from qualifying purchases.

‍ Key Takeaways

• The Orca was a 29-foot Nova Scotia-style fishing boat called "Warlock."
• There was a replica called Orca II, so the production team could preserve the real boat.
• It's unclear what happened to the original boat, but it no longer exists.
• Pieces of the Orca and the replica can be found in private collections.
• Memories from Martha’s Vineyard is a great read for Jaws fans.

‍ Delve into the history of the Orca, the boat from the movie Jaws, as we unravel its unique design, features, and influence on maritime film culture.

The Orca, captained by Quint in Jaws (played by Robert Shaw), was a 1940s Nova Scotia-style wooden vessel known as a lobster boat. The boat used in Jaws was 29 feet long and named "Warlock," bought in the town of Marblehead in Massachusetts. There was a replica, the Orca II, made of fiberglass.

As a wonderful mix of movie buffs and boat enthusiasts, we're the perfect guides to uncover the story of the Orca, the legendary boat from "Jaws." There are quite a few bits of trivia lurking just below the surface.

Table of contents

‍ hollywood's favorite lobster boat: the orca from spielberg's jaws.

"Jaws" is the iconic 1975 thriller directed by Steven Spielberg.

It not only terrified audiences with its menacing great white shark but also introduced the world to the Orca - the shark-hunting boat that played a crucial role in the film's narrative.

This vessel has a special place in pop culture history.

The Orca's Make and Model

The Orca was actually a 29-foot Nova Scotia lobster boat named "Warlock" before she was purchased for the film.

The Orca's Design

The Orca's design made it perfect for navigating the waters off the coast of the New England island where the movie takes place.

Its sturdy hull and the powerful engine allowed it to withstand the rough seas, while its expansive deck provided ample space for shark-hunting equipment and the cast to move around during the film's tense action sequences.

How Many Boats Were Used in Filming?

While exploring the thrilling world of Jaws, it's fascinating to discover that not just one but two Orca boats graced the screen.

The original Orca played its part in captivating close-ups and dialogue-driven scenes, leaving a lasting impression on audiences.

Meanwhile, its unsung twin, the Orca II, stole the spotlight during adrenaline-pumping action sequences, culminating in the film's unforgettable, shark-infested finale.

The Orca II was a fiberglass replica built to handle more rigorous action scenes and was the boat that was destroyed during filming.

This strategic use of two vessels allowed the filmmakers to seamlessly weave together the movie's iconic moments, forever etching the Orca's legacy in cinematic history.

Why Did They Make An Orca II?

The filmmakers created Orca II to address the challenges and demands of shooting intense action scenes in Jaws.

As one of two Orcas, the Orca II was specifically built to endure the rigors of the shark attack sequences and the climactic sinking scene without putting the primary vessel at risk.

Especially the final scene. The production team didn't want to sink a real boat.

Having a fiberglass replica boat allowed the filmmakers to capture intense, dramatic moments without worrying about damaging a beautiful, vintage boat, which was essential for close-ups, dialogue, and regular fishing scenes.

By using the fiberglass Orca replica, Orca II, for high-impact sequences, they ensured the seamless continuity of the film while preserving the real Orca.

This strategic decision not only protected the main vessel but also facilitated the successful execution of the movie's most thrilling and memorable moments.

Did They Use a Mechanical Shark?

Yes. The mechanical shark from the film is affectionately nicknamed Bruce.

Other practical effects in Jaws included the use of smaller-scale models and live footage of actual sharks.

In certain scenes, a small-scale shark model was filmed up close to create the illusion of a full-size creature.

The practical effects in Jaws were further enhanced by clever filmmaking techniques.

Spielberg's choice to limit the shark's screen time, often relying on suggestion and the iconic score by John Williams, allowed the audience's imagination to amplify the terror.

What Happened to the Original Orca?

The fate of the original Orca from Jaws is a tale tinged with both fame and tragedy.

After the film production wrapped, the iconic boat was sold to a fisherman in Los Angeles.

However, as the movie skyrocketed to success, Universal Studios decided to buy it back for ten times the original selling price.

The Orca was then proudly displayed on the backlot studio tour near the Amity Island section of the ride.

Sadly, the boat's final moments were far from glamorous. One version of the story recounts that studio executives, in an ill-fated decision, opted to dispose of the Orca and ultimately chopped it up with chainsaws.

Another rendition suggests that the boat, already in a state of disrepair, met its demise when it cracked in half while being hoisted by a crane for much-needed repairs.

Regardless of the exact circumstances, the loss of the Orca remains a poignant chapter in the annals of film history and fictional shark research.

Does the Orca from Jaws Still Exist?

The original Orca from Jaws no longer exists in its complete form.

As we explained, after being sold and bought back by Universal Studios, it was eventually destroyed—either by being chopped up with chainsaws or accidentally cracking in half during an attempt to repair it.

Pieces of the boat were salvaged, and some of them have found their way into private collections or museums as memorabilia from the classic film.

As for the Orca II, it found its way to a beach in Martha's Vineyard, where it sat for years. A fitting spot considering the Orca’s origins and Quint being inspired by Lynn Murphy, a Martha’s Vineyard Area local marine mechanic.

It was eventually cut up into smaller pieces due to security issues and fans taking parts of the boat as souvenirs.

Some of these pieces were included in a limited edition of the book Jaws: Memories from Martha’s Vineyard .

For more information, we highly recommend checking the book out!

Why Did the Jaws Ride Really Close?

The Jaws ride at Universal Studios Florida closed on January 2, 2012, to make way for new attractions.

The area where the Jaws ride was located was redeveloped into The Wizarding World of Harry Potter - Diagon Alley.

The decision to close the Jaws ride was driven by the desire to introduce new, innovative attractions that would appeal to a broader and more contemporary audience, capitalizing on the immense popularity of the Harry Potter series.

Did the Jaws Ride Use Real Sharks?

The Jaws ride at Universal Studios Florida did not use real sharks but relied on animatronic sharks designed to mimic the great white shark from the movie.

These mechanical sharks were engineered to provide a realistic experience for parkgoers, complete with a dramatic finale where the skipper fired a grenade into the shark's mouth, causing it to "explode" beneath the surface, with chunks of fake shark flesh and water dyed blood-red amplifying the effect.

Ensuring the smooth movement of the giant robotic shark through water proved to be more difficult than anticipated, often resulting in poorly synchronized movements with the boat or a failure in the climactic explosion.

The ride's complex machinery, located 20 feet underwater, made maintenance a daunting task.

Consequently, guests frequently experienced technical difficulties, while the ride itself was notorious for being frequently out of operation.

This may have contributed to its retirement in favor of Diagon Alley.

About THE AUTHOR

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Once and Future Orca: Bringing the 'Jaws' Boat Back to Life

Once, there was a famous shark, and a boat that inspired one of the most famous movie lines of all time. The Orca, the fishing boat from Jaws, is long gone, but an effort is underway to bring the vessel back to life.

Perhaps few remember the original Orca — and its sinkable stunt double, the Orca II — as well as Edgartown Harbormaster Charlie Blair. In the summer of 1974, while still in his 20s, he got a gig that gave him up-close access to the making of Jaws.

“The sinkable Orca was ... one of the greatest props ever, where you could actually sink it, pump air into it, refloat it, snap on a new transom,” he said.

Blair was in charge of the small boats shuttling the cast and crew to different locations. Every morning, he’d pick up Robert Shaw, who played the shark hunter Quint. In between trips, he’d watch Shaw’s body double get eaten by the shark more than once, break for lunch, and then watch him get eaten again.

“The Orca II went up and down a lot,” he said, “like I would say maybe 15 or 20 takes to get the shots.”

The Orca II was a special-effects version of the fishing boat used in the movie.

Now, fans come from all over to visit places on the Vineyard where Jaws was filmed, but neither of the Orcas are still in existence.

Enter David Bigelow. As a child, he was an extra in the Alex Kintner attack scene — the one with the boy on the yellow raft.

Now a film editor and colorist, Bigelow launched an independent project to develop a television series about the making of Jaws.

For that, he needed a boat — the right boat.

The original Orca was a Nova Scotia-style fishing vessel. Bigleow made a contact on Martha’s Vineyard with Chris Crawford, who converted that vessel into one that would work for Jaws.

With help from social media, they found an ad for a boat on the North Shore of Massachusetts that fit the bill, and they brought it over to the Vineyard.

When the pandemic put production of the television series on hold, he came up with a new idea to focus on the replica boat, which he calls the Orca III.

“I decided that if this boat was going to have a future — and not knowing what COVID was going to allow to happen with the larger television project — I thought that maybe it would be good to find another purpose for it, and something that would be useful,” he said.

It started as a for-profit venture with a twist — part tourist excursion boat for Jaws fans, part research vessel. Plus, he was planning to offer some educational trips free of charge for Vineyard children.

Bigelow embarked on a crowdfunding campaign with high hopes to raise $150,000 over the summer, but he raised just $10,000.

Needless to say, that prompted some rethinking.

“Having seen what happens with that kind of a process, we realized that most likely the best route is to go with a nonprofit approach,” he said.

He said he’s considering different alternatives, including running the boat as a nonprofit that blends Jaws-themed trips, education, and research. That, he said, is a natural fit because many fans of the movie are also interested in shark conservation.

The project is getting support from the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy. The group announced in August that it would work with Bigelow’s team to conduct shark research and educational programs aboard the Orca III.

Education director Marianne Long said the partnership gives the conservancy something it was looking for: a dedicated vessel on the islands for white shark education programs.

“We actually have worked with some of the elementary schools over on Martha's Vineyard,” she said, “and we have really wanted to work with the islands ... not just Martha’s Vineyard, but Nantucket as well.”

She said state shark biologist Greg Skomal, who works closely with the conservancy, will lead some research trips aboard the vessel as well.

Meanwhile, Bigelow hopes to start the restoration this winter, if possible.

“My mission wasn't to try and bring back the Orca for the sake of, you know, returning it to the Earth after having lost it. But it certainly has kind of transformed into that,” he said.

Over at Edgartown Harbor, Charlie Blair said he thinks a recreated Orca would be very popular.

“That would be a tourist attraction for sure,” he said. “Tourists are crazy about the movie still.”

Until this year, Jaws still played regularly in a Vineyard theater every summer.

No doubt it will again — and maybe with a certain fishing craft docked nearby.

“Return of the Orca”: The Iconic ‘Jaws’ Boat is Being Rebuilt for Shark Conservation Efforts

The original ship used in Spielberg’s Jaws was destroyed decades ago, but we’ve learned this week that the iconic Orca is being rebuilt from the ground up by its original creators!

Announced over the weekend, Return of the Orca will bring the legendary boat back to life for a good cause, with an Indiegogo campaign launched to help make it all happen.

A project years in the making, Return of the Orca brings together the biggest names in Jaws – Making The Monster & The Daily Jaws . The official press release details:

The Orca, Quint’s legendary boat from the film Jaws, is being recreated by the original people involved in the blockbuster who designed and built her for the film released in 1975.

Rather than hunting the great white shark, as in the film, part of the Orca’s new mission will be researching marine life and helping people better understand the varieties of shark species in the area around Martha’s Vineyard including great white sharks . 

Jaws author Peter Benchley was a huge advocate of conservation, a legacy continued by his widow. Wendy Benchley is on the board of directors of Beneath The Waves, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting ocean health and focusing on threatened species conservation, who will use the new Orca as part of its mission offering expeditions for the organization’s researchers.

Helping realise this project is Academy Award nominee and Jaws production designer Joe Alves . Also involved is Martha’s Vineyard local Chris Crawford , who refitted the boat ‘Warlock’ in just six weeks back in 1974, creating the Orca in Jaws. This time round, the new Orca will be a refit from a Nova Scotia lobster boat, the “Lydia”, found on the north shore of Massachusetts.

As well as good news for local conservation efforts, the project is also looking to help local youth charities on Martha’s Vineyard. After completion of the build, the Orca III will be launched at a public christening ceremony into the waters off Martha’s Vineyard, just like in the film. 

Orca III will then begin her conservationist mission. Greg Skomal, PhD , and Marine Fisheries biologist at Martha’s Vineyard Fisheries, will journey aboard the Orca III to the waters off Martha’s Vineyard. There he will work with his crew to stage research of the sharks around the island prowling the waters for the rich seal population which has exploded over the past 20 years. 

From there, the future of the Orca III will be dedicated to giving movie fans a boat to visit that they haven’t seen in decades as well as providing a vessel for the scientists at Beneath The Waves to use in their conservation efforts.

Head over to Indiegogo to learn more and become a part of Jaws history.

Writer in the horror community since 2008. Editor in Chief of Bloody Disgusting. Owns Eli Roth's prop corpse from Piranha 3D. Has four awesome cats. Still plays with toys.

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Lifetime’s ‘Danger on Party Island’ Needs More Party and More Danger [Review]

Lifetime’s latest thriller drops viewers into the action right from the jump. Under desaturated grey/blue skies, introverted lawyer Mel ( Lindsey Desbach ) rides a ferry to Feng Key island. She’s headed to the titular party island not for a vacation, though; she’s there to identify the body of her drowned younger sister, Georgia ( Andrea Prevatt ).

It’s immediately clear that something unusual is afoot when Mel visits the police station and unhelpful Detective Alex Hurley dismisses her suspicions. Georgia’s body was found on the beach with her wallet, but her phone and passport are missing. Later, as Mel begins to investigate, frightened local Kaya ( Mia Rose ) insists that Georgia was wearing a bathing suit when she was pulled from the water, so where was she keeping her wallet?

Clearly something is amiss and seemingly everyone knows it, including Wayward hostel owner Keaton ( Adam Harper ) and his manager Paula ( Kate Dailey ). The pair act friendly to Mel, but in a very facile, surface-level way. As Mel pokes around, she learns that local dive bar owner Jever ( James Bobo ) has an illegal side hustle, and Kaya insinuates that Georgia isn’t the first girl to disappear: their friend Faye ( Mackenzie Thompson ) is also gone and missing posters frequent bulletin boards wherever Mel goes.

The first act of Danger on Party Island is the film’s best because of where it might go. Writer Hannah Maryse Robinson ’s screenplay wisely never pretends something bizarre isn’t going on, which allows the narrative to focus on who is involved and what are they covering up.

While the film wastes no time establishing its premise, Danger on Party Island does struggle to sustain its mystery. This is, in part, because it has no interest in developing its characters outside of their relationship to Georgia’s death. None of the characters are provided any depth or development; they’re all either informants, suspects, and/or red herrings.

Sadly this lack of characterization includes Mel, who is defined first and foremost by her dogged tenacity. There are a few moments that interrogate how her grief and the investigation are affecting her job, but the timeline of the film is only a few days, so outside of a pair of phone calls, Mel is in private investigator mode 24/7.

Thankfully Desbach has the personality to carry the film. Mel’s refusal to back down – despite being attacked, chased through the woods, and repeatedly told to leave the island – is always presented as an admirable trait. The audience may not know much about her, but Mel is dogged and smart.

This is never more apparent than a second act development that questions whether Georgia is even dead or simply taking a “digital detox” that has prevented her from reaching out. Mel and her mother Alice ( Annie Cook ) watch the social media post together and both women immediately identify it as little more than a lie and a distraction. It’s a plot development that confirms that Mel is smart and savvy; it’s not simply a twist to complicate the narrative.

Unfortunately the truth about what is happening on the island is exactly what viewers will expect. As a result, the reveal renders the climax slightly underwhelming and bogs down the pacing of the last act. Direct Danny J Boyle attempts to keep the energy up with a frenetic series of double crosses and chase sequences, but these are hampered by the obvious budgetary constraints.

Not helping matters is the film’s overall lack of geography: whereas the hostel has a gorgeous, spa-like aesthetic with exposed wood beams and a lounging pool below the entrance, Feng Key island never comes together visually. It’s unclear what the proximity of one location is to another and the “tombstoning” cliffs that Georgia purportedly perished over are never even seen.

Then there’s the question of how many people are on the island. While there are a few crowd shots, the island is often conveniently empty, which belies the film’s titular “party” scene. Hell, at one point Mel runs into Jever’s bar to avoid being followed, only to discover the drinking establishment completely empty!

These issues, paired with the underwhelming third act, undermine the film’s strong set-up. Danger on Party Island is a reasonably entertaining diversion, but a more sensational reveal and better character work would have helped to make it more memorable. Instead it’s another middle of the road Lifetime entry.

Danger on Party  Island airs Wednesday, March 20 (8pm EST) on Lifetime.

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Orca (boat)

• View history

The Orca shark fishing boat, and a chum marker in the foreground.

The infamous shark fishing vessel The Orca was depicted in the film Jaws and again as a sunken wreck in Jaws 2 .

Jaws (1975)

Captained by the misanthropic, eccentric war veteran known simply among island locals as  Quint , The Orca was sunk off the coast of Amity Island following an extended shark hunt for Bruce .

On its final voyage,  The Orca was crewed by Amity’s chief of police, Martin Brody , and a schooled oceanographer from Woods Hole, Matt Hooper . A game fisherman in every sense, Quint was steadfast as the boats' beleaguered captain to the very end, with machete and blood flying in dramatic recoil.

The demise of the The Orca was due in part to structural damage resulting from relentless attacks by a now infamous maniacal rogue shark. Although the boat had been designed to seek out and catch sharks, it was ultimately no match for the overtly cunning, pursuing predator Quint was hired to catch. Attempting to draw the monster in to the shallows, The Orca was eventually overrevved and inadvertently scuttled. After listing to port, Brody was able to fire one final explosive shot from the sinking mast at a compressed air tank in the mouth of the attacking shark, killing it and ending the menace to the beaches of Amity.  

Captain: Quint

Helmsman: Matt Hooper

Boatswain: Police Chief Martin Brody

• 3 Martin Brody

Farewell and Adieu in Menemsha

• By Christopher Balogh
• Updated: May 20, 2015

The Orca might be the most famous fishing boat in cinema. It relentlessly pursued a 25-foot porker, set the scene for scar stories and was owned by the saltiest captain on Amity Island. It also became one of the symbols of a new era in cinema — the summer blockbuster. It’s gone forever. We will never see Orca on the hunt again. And not due to the appetite of a 3-ton fish; looters and a lack of oversight doomed this film icon.

The film Jaws made many boys into fishermen, but it also kept kids away from the beach for a while. This movie, which introduced a completely new level of terror to children even taking a bath, also evolved into a never-give-up story of filmmaking. The film’s 27-year-old director, Steven Spielberg, was learning how to make a big movie on the fly and having to deal with an enormous amount of production problems due to the film’s nautical nature. Filmmaking around the ocean is not easy. As a result, Spielberg needed the help from the locals of Martha’s Vineyard, specifically those folks in and around the fishing village of Menemsha.

Spielberg hired locals as extras and some even got speaking parts or worked as part of the crew. One townie, in particular, can be considered the backbone of that local support.

“Lynne Murphy arguably saved parts of the film production, more than any other local,” says Matt Taylor, author of Jaws: Memories from Martha’s Vineyard . The 292-page book that he and Jim Beller, a Jaws historian and collector, comprised is full of photographs and memories of the islanders during the shooting of the film.

Lynne Murphy was a local marine mechanic when Hollywood came to town. He was hired to assist with anything from towing the robotic shark to fixing the electronics on the underwater platforms for action scenes.

According to Taylor, during the rehearsals for towing the shark close to the Orca , Murphy would use a buoy in place of the Orca — to get the shark as close as possible without dinging the real boat until “action” was called. In watching the scene where Chief Brody is about to blow the hell out of the shark, there is an unintentional wake, which is actually caused by Murphy’s boat. That’s how close Murphy had to get to the Orca to make the shark look like it was actually coming at the boat.

In 1974, production ended. As in some cases when a film wraps, props and equipment are sold on the spot. Murphy bought the fiberglass Orca replica for a dollar.

However, there were two Orcas used in the production of the film. The first was the operational Orca , which was purchased nearby in Marblehead, Massachusetts. It originally was used as a lobster boat under the name of Warlock . The production team revamped it with some paint and added a mast pulpit. It became known on set as Orca 1. This is the boat used in most of the regular fishing scenes. But when you see a boat that’s sinking or being destroyed, that’s Orca 2.

Orca 2 was created out of fiberglass that came from the mold made from the original boat. There was no motor attached and several breakaway sterns were built into the replica. In the infamous scene where the shark chomps on Quint as Chief Brody throws a scuba tank into the shark’s mouth — that’s Orca 2.

The production team shipped the Orca 1 back to Universal Studios in Hollywood, California. Taylor says that within a brief time, it was sold to a fisherman in Los Angeles. A year later, after the movie became a hit and was the first film to top $100 million, Universal Studios bought Orca 1 back from him — paying 10 times what they originally sold it for. It was then placed on the backlot studio tour near the Amity Island section of the ride. Taylor and a bit of Hollywood lore says that Spielberg would sneak onto the Orca during the night to think about the days of the Jaws shoot as well as mull over future ideas for his upcoming films.

“Apparently, Spielberg came one night to sit on Orca and it was gone,” says Taylor. “Some studio execs thought to get rid of it and chopped it up with chainsaws.”

Another legend, which Taylor heard as well, was that Orca was in such disrepair that Universal Studios planned to repair it, and while picking it up with a crane, the boat cracked in half.

Orca deserves a bit of mystery. Forever the idea that it may be out there somewhere, whether in some secret marina or in a someone’s garage — which is exactly where Murphy’s Orca 2 still sits in pieces.

After first purchasing Orca 2, Murphy placed it on his privately-owned beach in Menemsha. It sat on the bank over 30 years, but withered down to sections because of rabid fans that wanted a piece of film history.

“The Murphys started to notice that pieces were disappearing,” says Taylor. “First, it was the pulpit, then the mast and then the fly bridge.”

In 2005, after several security issues, the Murphys decided to cut up the remains of the boat into a thousand 1-foot by 1-foot squares. These pieces were then included within the original limited edition of Jaws: Memories from Martha’s Vineyard.

They are all sold out. Recently, one of these 1-inch squares sold on eBay for $1,850.

It’s a shame — both of these boats belonged in a museum. They became a piece of film history and deserved much better fates.

Orca is right up there with film’s other iconic symbols; Citizen Kane ‘s Rosebud or The Wizard of Oz ‘s__ ruby red slippers. The boat became lore on its way out.

Although both Orcas deserved more than what they got, it’s kind of fitting to think that Orca 2, which was portrayed as being ravaged like a chew toy by a great white, ended up as a bunch of chunks torn off by another set of real sharks — the crazed fans.

• More: Sport Fishing Boats

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New Indiegogo campaign hopes to rebuild Jaws' shark-hunting boat as a research vessel

Credit: Universal Studios

Seemingly resurrected from out of the briny blue depths of the Atlantic Ocean, the infamous fishing boat from director  Steven Spielberg's timeless masterpiece  will rise again thanks to an inspired collection of Jaws   megafans, original members of the Hollywood blockbuster's production, and noted shark conservationists.

The ambitious plan to rebuild Quint's Orca recently launched as a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo to craft a working replica to be christened Orca III . This nostalgic project is spearheaded by WGBH editor/colorist David Bigelow, who aims to manifest a metamorphosis for a weathered Nova Scotia-style lobster boat called the Lydia . This duplicate vessel ( Orca II was the stunt boat) will be put to sea and utilized as a great white shark research lab and for educational tours on the regional waters of Martha's Vineyard.

Credit: David Bigelow

Bigelow has a unique relationship with the classic film, as he was an extra in  Jaws as a 5-year-old kid while living in nearby Oaks Bluff. His elementary school drama teacher, Lee Fierro, even played the role of the bereaved Mrs. Kintner, mother of Alex Kintner, who was the shark's second human victim while swimming on an inflatable yellow raft.

"I was 5 years old living on Martha’s Vineyard, and the local town ordinance was that you had to take swimming lessons if you were a new kid and hadn’t learned to swim," Bigelow tells SYFY WIRE. "I was taking lessons that spring when Jaws came to town. Universal Studios set up and took over the island in April of that year. My drama teacher, Lee Fierro, who portrayed Mrs. Kintner, let us know she was going to be in Jaws . She asked if I wanted to come down to be in a scene they were shooting. The film set was a mile and a half from where I took my lessons. I was there for the Alex Kintner attack sequence and ended up in a scene playing with a bunch of kids with a football in the foreground when Alex is eaten by the shark and gets pulled underwater in a big pool of blood."

The Lydia was actually bought by Bigelow to use in a planned six-part docudrama project called  Making the Monster , chronicling the making of Jaws  on the New England island. But with the continued proliferation of sharks in local waters, Bigelow decided the boat would be better suited for conservation, education, and research efforts.

"In the Jaws universe what you hope for is serendipity, just like the original movie," he explains. "I began two years ago to explore making a TV series documenting the creation of Jaws.  How this film nearly killed everybody on the crew after six months on the Vineyard, being out on the ocean, and the shark not working. Yet it forged an incredible blockbuster film that everyone thinks was worth the trauma. I started working with Joe Alves, Jaws'  production designer, and had a lot of contacts for the actual Jaws crew world through my friends who were big Jaws collectors. I decided I would need a boat, because the Orca would feature heavily into that project. So I purchased the Lydia , a work boat very similar to the Orca . But with the pandemic crisis, everything on Making the Monster  came to a screeching halt."

"I wanted to take this boat and give it a whole new goal, which is to be a research expedition vessel for Greg Skomal, who is kind of the Matt Hooper of Cape Cod, who is chomping at the bit to get out on the boat and do tagging of sharks," he added. "And to provide education for kids on Martha’s Vineyard about sharks with whatever research we’re able to acquire. So we’re evolving the mission of the Orca from a shark-hunting and killing machine to an understanding and educational vessel so kids can be safe or at least feel empowered with the education instead of just using movies or TV as a guide to what to believe about them."

Bigelow and his team are trying to raise a minimum of $150,000 via their crowdfunding effort, aptly named “Return of the Orca .” The donated monies will be targeted for materials, rebuilding labor costs, mooring, maintenance, winterization, insurance, and various overhead expenses.

"So we did an Indiegogo campaign and there are some cool perks," he noted. "I made a close connection to Erik Hollander, who was the writer/director of The Shark Is Still Working , one of the greatest making-of Jaws documentaries out there. He’s a really talented artist and his logo was seen on the movie poster for Meg . So he created this logo for Return of the Orca  that is just gorgeous. We slapped it on a poster, we put it on t-shirts, we’re throwing it on a hat, and we’re also making a behind-the-scenes DVD about the production process of the Orca III build."

Credit: David Bigelow - Orca III Mockup

For more info on this seaworthy restoration project to clone the Orca to benefit shark conservation and education, visit their Indiegogo page HERE .

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JAWS POWERBOATS LLC

JAWS POWERBOATS LLC was filed on 16 Sep 2019 as Limited Liability Company type, registered at 127 sw 5th ave HOMESTEAD, FL 33030 . It's Document Number is L19000232749, and FEI/EIN No. is 92-0797579 . The state for this company is Florida.There is 1 director of this company. The agent name of this company is: Bravo, Benjamin , and company's status is ACTIVE now. Jaws Powerboats Llc has been operating for 4 years 6 months, and 5 days.

Director details (1)

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Jaws boats for sale

1996 Jaws / Lorequin Marine 33

Miami, Florida

Make Jaws / Lorequin Marine

Category Jet Boats

Posted Over 1 Month

1996 Jaws / Lorequin Marine 33 1996 33' JAWS / LOREQUIN MARINE 2006 TWIN 275 MERCURY VERADOS + TRAILER SUPER CLEAN NEW UPHOLSTERY NEW BOTTOM PAINT WONT LAST! FINANCING AVAILABLE...

1999 Jaws 26

Category Powerboats

1999 Jaws 26 JAWS 26' 1999 Jaws 24'Ft , refurbished 2015 Engine mercruiser 502 Outdrive bravo1 Brand new furnished New led light etc.... +NEW TRAILER FINANCING AVAILABLE

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