Peter Benchley said before he died that as a matter of conscience, knowing what he learned about sharks since he wrote his novel, he could not have written that book again.
Im sure he did not regret the money.
Benchley only exaggerated what happened in New Jersey in 1916. A White Shark started munching on swimmers along the shore and eventually ended up in Matawan creek where it took an 11 year old boy and killed an adult. It also injured another man before two men fishing killed it.