Blood in the Water is a made-for-TV movie that aired on the USA Network

USA Network

USA Network is an American cable television channel launched in 1971. Once a minor player in basic cable, the network has steadily gained popularity because of breakout hits like Monk, Psych, Burn Notice, Royal Pains, Covert Affairs, White Collar, Monday Night RAW, Suits, and reruns of the various...

 in 2009. It was directed by Richard Bedser. It is based on a true-life series of shark attacks that became the inspiration for Peter Benchley

Peter Benchley

Peter Bradford Benchley was an American author, best known for his novel Jaws and its subsequent film adaptation, the latter co-written by Benchley and directed by Steven Spielberg...

's novel Jaws

Jaws (novel)

Jaws is a 1974 novel by Peter Benchley. It tells the story of a great white shark that preys upon a small resort town, and the voyage of three men to kill it....

.
Discovery Channel

Discovery Channel

Discovery Channel is an American satellite and cable specialty channel , founded by John Hendricks and distributed by Discovery Communications. It is a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav...

's annual Shark Week

Shark Week

The Discovery Channel's Shark Week, which first aired on July 27, 1987, is a week-long series of feature television programs dedicated to sharks. Shark Week is held annually, normally running in July or August. Shark Week was developed to help the average person have a greater respect for sharks....

 was opened on August 2 for the 2009 season by Blood In The Water.

Plot

Blood in the Water tells the story of a series of shark attacks

Jersey Shore Shark Attacks of 1916

The Jersey Shore shark attacks of 1916 were a series of shark attacks along the coast of New Jersey between July 1 and July 12, 1916, in which four people were killed and one injured. Since 1916, scholars have debated which shark species was responsible and the number of animals involved, with the...

, that occurred on the New Jersey

New Jersey

New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...

shore during the summer of 1916. Five people were attacked over the course of 12 days. The Jersey Shore attacks triggered a nationwide panic.