No. Jaws is not a true story. It is based on Peter Benchley's novel of the same name. The Jaws author had a lifelong fascination with sharks and said that he came up with the concept for the novel after reading about a great white shark that had been caught by fisherman Frank Mundus in 1964 (pictured below).

Where is the real Jaws?

It was 1916 and thousands had flocked to the Jersey Shore beaches as a summer heatwave struck ahead of the Fourth of July holiday. Philadelphia local Charles Vansant was holidaying at Beach Haven, Long Beach Island with his family and decided to go for an early evening swim outside the Engleside Hotel on July 1.

Why does Jaws look fake?

Spielberg used three fake sharks while filming Jaws. Two were intentionally half-completed: a right-side shark that had a left-side that exposed the inner machinery that powered it, a left-side shark that did the same thing.