Jaws based shark hunter dies at 82 years old

The legendary shark fisherman who is said to have been the inspiration behind the character Captain Quint in ‘Jaws,’ has died. Frank Mundus died Wednesday at The Queen’s Medical Center in Honolulu after suffering his second heart attack in four days. He was 82.

Mundus had a history of heart problems. He had his first heart attack in 1998 and later underwent quadruple bypass surgery.

He was known as ‘Monster Man’ because he caught large sharks, including a 4,500 pound Great White shark, in his famed boat, the Cricket II. “I had a lot of close calls. Probably too many close calls,” he once said.

Mundus began hunting sharks in 1951and began promoting shark conservation in the 1960s. He retired in 1991.

He is survived by his wife Jeanette Mundus, 46.