JAWS, Orca or Moby Dick?

I ignore (tell me if you know) if Spielberg studied Huston's Moby Dick epic or not but I see some similarities beyond the obvious fact is a sea-monster film. The main probably the fact we see the beast in few ocassions like homeopathic dosage. There's a lot of talking about how dangerous the animal could be or stories from the past. Yet in Orca (was that the name of the film with Richard Harris when he was still blonde?)we see the "thinking" beast more than in Jaws, the vengeful creature. The shark is a killing machine "per se" but doesn't "reason" like the white spermwhale or the killer whale.
Spielberg gives attention to the oceanographer's ship and old captain's ship in the same way Huston paid detailed attention to the huge vessel.
There are some unforgettable scenes in my mind from Moby Dick, the bearded old woman among the crowd saying goodbye to the crew; St. Elmo's Fire, the turmoil of the water after the ship sinks, Ahab's dead body waving his arm attached to the monster; the prophecy of the man with vivid eyes; the listening of Ahab's stroll before we actually see him, one-legget tall man with a beard without mustouche and that Lincolnesque's hat. What a wonderful experience when I saw it the first time in my youth decades before making a line to see Jaws at the movie theatre!