The annual Amity Island Regatta was cancelled in the summer of 1975 due to an unusually large great white shark that had taken up residence in the area. It was the first time in the 53-year history of the Amity Island Sailing Club that the regatta was not staged. Angry club members stormed the Mayor’s office to demand that the decision be lifted, and a number of arrests were made for disorderly conduct. A small group of these disgruntled club members later went against the law and ran their own makeshift regatta at night. They were all eaten by the shark.