"It was peaceful," Mr Turner said, and added that the author's wife Wendy and other family members were by his side at the time.

Peter Benchley was brought up in New York City and became a Harvard graduate. He was once a speechwriter for President Lyndon B Johnson and also worked as a journalist before deciding on becoming a novelist and publishing Jaws in 1974.

His story, about a great white shark that terrorises a town off Long Island, sold in excess of 20 million copies.

Peter Benchley, who had lived in Princeton, New Jersey, and had two grown-up children, said he had been interested in sharks since childhood when he spent time on the island of Nantucket off Massachusetts.

He made a cameo appearance as a reporter in Jaws, which was directed by Steven Spielberg.
Peter Benchley was also an avid environmentalist and diver, and his long-term fascination with the sea and marine life continued with other books including The Deep and The Island.