The first dead was Charles Vansant, a 25-year-old Philadelphia man who went out for an evening swim on July 1, only to be mangled by a shark in the water, and later bleed to death in the Engleside Hotel. It was produced by the George Marine Library in 1991; however, it was never widely released. Should you curl up in a ball or make yourself seem big and scary? He was so sure that once, when he hosted a party at his seaside home, he jumped in the water with a shark to settle a $250 bet with his guests, according to an 1891 Pittsburg Dispatch article. Jersey Shore shark attacks of 1916 - Wikipedia NAME: Joseph Dunn DESCRIPTION: He was a 12-year-old boy from East 128th Street in Manhattan who was visiting Cliffwood for the day. It spawned a huge upswing in recreational fishing for sharks with fishing tournaments. Hard Times and True Crimes on Apple Podcasts In the rogue series of attacks from 1-12 July, unprecedented in history to this day, the shark enacted a reign of terror as he cruised 70 miles (112.6km) along Atlantic beaches during the height of the season, from a beach town north of Atlantic City to a farm town on an inland creek that fed New York Harbour, plucking victims out of their summer reverie. "[51], In 2011, further study was conducted in the Smithsonian Channel's The Real Story: Jaws. The question we at the International Shark Attack File have is, how good was the report that the animal was, one, a white shark and, two, really had human remains that could be identified as those two people? Bull sharks swim from the ocean into freshwater rivers and streams and have attacked people around the world. Read about our approach to external linking. Green Matters is a registered trademark. Personal and national reaction to the fatalities involved a wave of panic that led to shark hunts aimed at eradicating the population of "man-eating" sharks and protecting the economies of New Jersey's seaside communities. The Shark Attack No One Was Expecting and Inspired 'Jaws' And he's going to continue to feed here as long as there is food in the water." The only surviving photograph appeared in the Bronx Home News. But the fear of sharks never faded. A blue shark was captured on July 14 near Long Branch, and four days later the same Thomas Cottrell who had seen the shark in Matawan Creek claimed to have captured a sandbar shark with a gillnet near the mouth of the creek. The writer concluded, "This would account for their boldness and their craving for human flesh. Benchleys novel was a cultural sensation that swept across the globe. What Happened on the Trains That Brought Wounded World War II Soldiers Home? As a result, research on sharks lagged far behind that of other fishes all the way until the 1990s. It was demonstrated in the Matawan Creek attacks, for example, that the full moon of the lunar cycle, which would have coincided with the attacks, would have raised the salinity in the water by more than double just a few hours before high tide. Back in those days, sharks were basically unknown. The number of people bitten by sharks worldwide has held steady at about 70 or 80 a year over the past decade. But in a later introduction to Jaws he wrote of his research: Did sharksstay in one area, killing and killing again? The Creek Devil. "[12] Dunn was taken to Saint Peter's University Hospital in New Brunswick; he recovered from the bite and was released on September 15, 1916. Certainly, Benchley was aware of the 1916 stuff. [67] The attacks are also briefly referred to in Benchley's novel White Shark. Exactly. He continued, "One of the most prodigious, and perhaps the most formidable of sharks is the man-eater, Carcharodon carcharias [great white]. Robert Murphy and John Nichols wrote in October 1916: There is something peculiarly sinister in the shark's make-up. Brian Handwerk, "Great Whites May Be Taking the Rap for Bull Shark Attacks," August 2, 2002, George H. Burgess, interview with Michael Capuzzo, n.d., available at. "Get out of the water!" he yelled. However, the next attack, on July 6, put the Jersey Shore in national headlines. "[6] A dorsal fin appeared in the water and the boys realized it was a shark. [16] The New York Times reported that Vansant "was badly bitten in the surf by a fish, presumably a shark. Arguably the most famous shark attacks in history are the 1916 Jersey Shore attacks that claimed the lives of four bathers on the East Coast and severely injured a fifth, sending waves of terror among beachgoers about a man-eater up and down the coastline that summer. 15 pounds of human flesh were found in the shark's gut, per PhillyVoice. | See where shark attacks are happening across the US | CNN The capture of a shark in New Jersey ended two weeks of panic over a string of attacks, and it changed how many United States residents thought about the predators. Chief of police Martin Brody, biologist Matt Hooper, and fisherman Quint hunt the shark after it kills four people. [54] He wanted proof that "in temperate waters even one man, woman, or child, while alive, was ever attacked by a shark. After hearing screams, a woman notified two lifeguards that a canoe with a red hull had capsized and was floating just at the water's surface. 2023 Smithsonian Magazine Jersey Shore shark attacks of 1916; List of fatal shark-incidents in Australia (Australia has the second largest number of reported shark attacks) When Watson Fisher, a tailor, went into the creek to look for Stilwell, he was attacked as well. It is unfortunate when we still see remnants of that today. On July 12, Lester Stillwell, 11, was playing in the creek 16 miles inland when the shark attacked. While they're swimming, the boys play a trick and make Chet think he's seen a shark. a. California. 1916! Seattle hardcore band Akimbo's 2008 concept album Jersey Shores was based on the 1916 attacks. [58] Frederic Lucas, director of the American Museum of Natural History, questioned whether a shark even as large as 30feet (9m) could snap a human bone. The cartoon is entitled "What's a Family Man to Do? He admits that "the bull shark is not a common species in New Jersey waters, but it does occur more frequently than the white."[45]. Its not a real defensible argument. The attacks became the subject of documentaries for the History Channel, National Geographic Channel, and Discovery Channel, which aired 12 Days of Terror (2004) and the Shark Week episode Blood in the Water (2009). 4.16 11,190 ratings994 reviews Based on true events! Nora Gonzalez was an Editorial Intern at Encyclopedia Britannica. They were eating these important food fishes and were therefore not only of no concern from a management standpoint but something we really didnt want to have around. This would support the theory that a great white could have been responsible. "Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in an Age of Innocence". In 1916, the rallying cry was Lets go kill some sharks!. The rogue shark was ultimately caught, right? Jaws took the lazy out of summer. Naked and covered in mud, the terrified boys ran down Main Street screaming that there was a shark in the water. He enjoys working with his uncle in the Elm Hill diner and is happy when three local boys invite him for a swim at the creek. A shark sunk its teeth into Charles Vansant, the 25-year-old son of a Philadelphia businessman, out for an evening swim in the resort town. Copyright 2023 Green Matters. Treasury secretary William Gibbs McAdoo suggested that the Coast Guard be mobilized to patrol the Jersey Shore and protect sun bathers. At least one school of thought at the time was this was all stuff of rumors and fabrications., In an August 2, 1915 New York Times editorial, Let Us Do Justice to the Sharks, included in Close to Shore, the editors wrote, To this day, there is nothing that will so quickly set a crowd of swimmers scurrying for our beaches as the sight of a sharks fin in the offing that sharks can properly be called dangerous, in this part of the world, is apparently untrue.. But of the 176 attacks since 2000 . New Theories As To Why Coast Is Now Infested", https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography/1951, Jersey Shore shark attacks of 1916 bibliography, Listen to this article or download mp3 of, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jersey_Shore_shark_attacks_of_1916&oldid=1166847413, Deaths due to animal attacks in the United States, 1916 natural disasters in the United States, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 4.0. Reports of American shark attacks were often dismissed as fishermans tales. Scientists of the day said sharks lacked the jaw power to bite through human bone. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. Remember the shark that went up a New Jersey river in 1916 and killed four people? Please be respectful of copyright. He was rescued by lifeguard Alexander Ott and bystander Sheridan Taylor, who claimed the shark followed him to shore as they pulled the bleeding Vansant from the water. Shark attacks: fear in the water | The Week Unfortunately, two more people were to lose their lives. "[25] Nichols later documented the occurrence of the great white shark in his biological survey Fishes of the Vicinity of New York City (1918), "Carcharodon carcharias (Linn.) Sharks were spotted near Bayonne, New Jersey; Rocky Point, New York; Bridgeport, Connecticut; Jacksonville, Florida; and Mobile, Alabama, and a columnist from Field & Stream captured a sandbar shark in the surf at Beach Haven. There couldn't be a shark in the creek. As in, the famous Jersey Shore shark attacks of 1916, in which two swimmers were killed along the beaches in Beach Haven and Spring Lake and then two more in the brackish creek that runs. Spielberg's film makes reference to the events of 1916: Brody (Roy Scheider) and Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss) urge Amity's Mayor Vaughn (Murray Hamilton) to close the beaches on the Fourth of July after the deaths of two swimmers and a fisherman. Vansant was in the surf playing with a dog and it may be that a small shark had drifted in at high water, and was marooned by the tide. Charles Vansant, 25, had arrived from Philadelphia for a weekend and was swimming near the Engleside. So, they went through the checklist the same way I did, frankly, with a bunch of media calling me about the recent Cape Cod attack. I Survived the Shark Attack of 1916, Chapters 1-4 - Quizlet The information in regard to the sharks is indefinite and I hardly believe that Vansant was bitten by a man-eater. After the first fatality, newspaper cartoonists began using sharks as caricatures for political figures, German U-boats, Victorian morality and fashion, polio, and the deadly heat wave threatening the Northeast at the time. Michael Capuzzo is an award-winning journalist and author of the New York Times bestsellers Close to Shore and The Murder Room. At this point, fear began to spread. The shocking incident happened on the east coast of Spain (Picture: Google / Getty Images) A man has described the terrifying moment he was attacked by a shark while cooling off in the sea in . Westend61/Getty Images. But people were skeptical. In 1974 the late Peter Benchley wrote a quick-read novel . "[40], Over a century later, there is no consensus among researchers over Murphy and Lucas' investigation and findings. Nevertheless, Nicholsthe only ichthyologist in the triowarned swimmers to stay close to shore and to take advantage of the netted bathing areas installed at public beaches after the first attack. Fidel Castro said Tiburon, the title in Spanish, was a metaphor for predatory capitalism. Since 1916, scholars have debated which shark species was responsible and the number of animals involved, with the great white shark and the bull shark most frequently cited. What were some of the theories? The shark is killed by a hero as it attacks his boat. Twelve Days of Terror: A Definitive Investigation of the 1916 New Jersey Shark Attacks is a non-fiction book by Richard G. Fernicola about the Jersey Shore shark attacks of 1916. But the fish swam away, possibly frightened by the splash. Newspapers started running headlines about the shark attacks, and beachgoers took to the water with more hesitation. Megan Gambino These two species are basically offshore species, and they only occasionally will wander into near-shore waters. He later died of blood loss. Terror-filled deep sea saga using underwater photography, gripping news archives & paralyzing testimony to investigate three mysterious and deadly recent shark attacks. A handpicked selection of stories from BBC Future, Earth, Culture, Capital, Travel and Autos, delivered to your inbox every Friday. He knew something about sharks. It was not until two days later when two men out fishing near Matawan Creek killed a shark (almost certainly the perpetrator) in self-defense that the reign of terror ended. Then, in the fifth phase, the reality sets in, finally, that thats not the solution and we probably ought to bring in a scientist that knows whats going on. It may also be of interest to note that sharks live in Lake Nicaragua, a fresh-water body, and in 1944 there was a bounty offered for dead freshwater sharks, as they had "killed and severely injured lake bathers recently. We can probably eliminate that one. Summary: In the summer of 1916, ten year-old Chet Roscow is captivated by the local news: a Great White shark has been attacking and killing people up and down the Atlantic Coast, not far from Chet's hometown of Springfield, New Jersey. Struggling to assess pandemic risks? 1916 New Jersey Shore shark attacks inspired Jaws and changed the way The first major attack occurred on Saturday, July 1 at Beach Haven, a resort town established on Long Beach Island off the southern coast of New Jersey. Shark attacks remain extremely rare, making the spate of bites in New York all the more strange. The events that followed played out like a living nightmare, and became known as the shark attacks of 1916. In July 1916, five Americans out for a swim were attacked and four were killed by the juvenile great white shark on the Jersey shore. A Century Later, Memories of Fatal Shark Attacks Linger in New Jersey I see a common pattern around the world. Between July 1 and 12, 1916, five people were attacked along the coast of New Jersey by sharks; only one of the victims survived. By Jennifer Earl Updated on: July 5, 2023 / 10:28 AM / CBS News While recent reports of harrowing shark attacks and great white shark sightings may send shivers down your spine, wildlife. Ocean swimming was a relatively new form of entertainment in 1916. [50] Ellis remarks that "to try to make the facts as we know them conform to the 'rogue shark' theory is stretching sensationalism and credibility beyond reasonable limits." [33] Several fishermen claimed to have caught the "Jersey man-eater" in the days following the attacks. Map of the Jersey Shore attacks Between July 1 and 12, 1916, five people were attacked along the coast of New Jersey by sharks; only one of the victims survived. When John Treadwell Nichols, assistant curator of the Department of Recent Fishes at the museum, examined the body of Charles Bruder, the bellhop killed in New Jersey, he declared an orca, or killer whale, had killed him, not a shark, writes Capuzzo. [2][3], The next three attacks took place in Matawan Creek near the town of Keyport on Wednesday, July 12. Manythough not allscientists of the day believed sharks were harmless. Then, the second phase is denialdenial that it was done by a shark. Bruder was attacked while swimming 130 yards (120m) from shore. Scientists have spent much time at sea and along shore, and have several times seen turtles large enough to inflict just such wounds. Others said it was about Richard Nixon and Watergate. It's gonna happen again, it happened before! [19], The media's response to the second attack was more sensational. The first attack happened when a man named Charles Vansant was taking a swim at dusk when he was . Lucas summed up his argument by pointing to Oelrichs's unclaimed reward and that the chances of being bitten by a shark were "infinitely less than that of being struck by lightning and that there is practically no danger of an attack from a shark about our coasts. In newspaper accounts of the 1916 attacks, the shark is referred to as a sea monster and a sea wolf.. The book was published in 2001 by Lyons Press. The rise in . Burgess, however, does not discount the great white: The bull draws a lot of votes because the location, Matawan Creek, suggests brackish or fresh waters, a habitat that bulls frequent and whites avoid. Here is what happened: On July 1, 1916, 24 year-old Charles Vansant of Philadelphia was attacked and killed by a shark off Beach Haven (Long Beach Island). Fisher and others dived into the creek to find Stilwell, believing him to have suffered a seizure. [22][23] Actress Gertrude Hoffmann was swimming at the Coney Island beach shortly after the Matawan fatalities when she claimed to have encountered a shark. People may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. The 1916 attacks of the East Coast changed the image of a shark as humans became scared of the creatures, according to National Geographic. All rights reserved, such as a series of attacks off the Red Sea resort Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt in 2010, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. The 6 Most Infamous Shark Attacks in History | The Inertia A would-be hero wrestles with the shark and dies. July 1 - 12 - Jersey Shore shark attacks of 1916: At least one shark attacks 5 swimmers along 80 miles (130 km) of New Jersey coastline, resulting in 4 deaths and the survival of one youth, who requires limb amputation. Bites Off Both Legs of a Youth Swimming Beyond Spring Lake Life Lines. One of the most popular theories was one that we hear today. Jaws was the first summer blockbuster, providing the template for Titanic, Jurassic Park and this years The Shallows (Credit: Columbia Pictures). When Thomas Cottrell, a sea captain and Matawan resident, spotted an 8-foot-long (2.4m) shark in the creek, the town dismissed him. They pulled him from the water, but he bled to death on the way to shore. The Jersey beach! The Jersey Shore attacks immediately entered into American popular culture, where sharks became caricatures in editorial cartoons representing danger. They thought Stilwell, who was epileptic, had drowned. We could have used photographs to confirm the species. In 1916, four people including a 10-year-old boy were killed in shark attacks along the New Jersey shore. The Jersey Shore shark attacks of 1916 were a series of shark attacks along the coast of New Jersey, in the United States, between July 1 and 12, 1916, in which four people were killed and one critically injured. [1], Despite the Vansant attack, beaches along the Jersey Shore remained open. The first major attack occurred on Saturday, July 1 at Beach Haven, a resort town established on Long Beach Island off the southern coast of New Jersey. People knew they ate fish, but beyond that, not much. So when the attacks happened, labels like "sea monster," and "shark-infested waters," filled the media, and there was little science to prove or disprove the claims. "[60], By the end of July 1916, John Nichols and Robert Murphy were taking the great white more seriously. [56][57], Academics were skeptical that a shark could produce fatal wounds on human victims. Millionaire and athlete Hermann Oelrichs was sure that no shark had ever bitten a human. Matawan's Population, With Weapons And Dynamite, Seek Man-Eater That Killed Two. People didnt even know what predator caused the attacks at first, though, right? The New York Times noted that Hoffman "had the presence of mind to remember that she had read in the Times that a bather can scare away a shark by splashing, and she beat up the water furiously." Scientific knowledge about sharks before 1916 was based on conjecture and speculation. Spain: Shark attacks man while he was relaxing in shallow sea water Before dinner, Vansant decided to take a quick swim in the Atlantic with a Chesapeake Bay Retriever that was playing on the beach. When shark attacks occur, there is obviously shock. The mayor denies its happening and protects the tourist dollar until the horror forces him to turn to a scientist. Why didn't people believe the reports of the shark attack? Sightings of large sharks swimming off the coast of New Jersey were reported by sea captains entering the ports of Newark and New York City but were dismissed. These expert tips could save your lifewhether you're on the trail or in your own backyard. Beach Haven: July 1, 1916 The first attack took place in Beach Haven on Long Beach Island. The 1916 shark attacks: Remembering a grisly moment in N.J. history However, our examination of the site reveals that the size of the "creek," its depth, and salinity regime were closer to a marine embayment and that a smallish white clearly could have wandered into the area. Antifreeze in ice cream? At . The temporal and geographical sequence of the incidents also suggests that earlier attacks may have involved the same shark. [17] In 2016 58% of attacks were on surfers. It was the first recorded fatal shark attack in US history, but nobody knew it then. The shark itself was put on display in somebodys shop in New York and yielded a nice dividend of money for the owner, who charged so much per head to see it. The third phase is the feeling that if we shuffle it under the rug, maybe it will disappear. Microplastics are hidden in your home. As Chet's parents look for work in California, the 10-year-old lives with his Uncle Jerry in Elm Hills, New Jersey. The press identified it as a white shark. A 65-year-old woman suffered . [72], The attacks at Matawan are the subject of the National Geographic Channel documentary Attacks of the Mystery Shark (2002), which examines the possibility that a bull shark was responsible for killing Stanley Fisher and Lester Stilwell;[43] Discovery Channel's Blood in the Water (2009); Shore Thing (2009) (directed by Lovari and James Hill); and the Smithsonian Channel's The Real Story: Jaws (2011).[52]. BACKGROUND MOON PHASE: Full Moon, July 14, 1916 Major American newspapers such as the Boston Herald, Chicago Sun-Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Washington Post, and San Francisco Chronicle placed the story on the front page. [9] Stilwell's body was recovered 150 feet (46m) upstream from the Wyckoff dock on July 14. "[35] Scientists identified the shark as a young great white and the ingested remains as human. Privacy Statement What actions were taken in these New Jersey towns after the string of attacks began? Historically, money went to study those animals that were economically most important. All Rights Reserved. Hawaii's Second Shark Attack in a Week Sends a 68-Year-Old Man to the Hospital, Here's Why There Have Been So Many Recent Shark Sightings on the East Coast in 2020, Scientists Discovered A 'Shark Highway' And Are Working To Protect It. [7], The boys ran to town for help, and several men, including local businessman Watson Stanley Fisher, 24, came to investigate. In the summer of 1916, panic struck the Jersey Shore. It must be a sea turtle. At the time, there was uncertainty about whether the man-eating creature was actually a shark. Matawan mayor Arris B. Henderson ordered the Matawan Journal to print wanted posters offering a $100 reward ($2,700 in 2022 dollars) to anyone who killed a shark in the creek. There were all kinds of misconceptions, Burgess says. Consider these factors. Unfortunately, the shark's reputation changed from fish to beast literally out of the blue when five people were attacked by sharks in New Jersey that summer. And if you liked this story,sign up for the weekly bbc.com features newsletter, called If You Only Read 6 Things This Week. List of fatal shark attacks in the United States - Wikipedia [70][71] Fernicola also wrote and directed a 90-minute documentary called Tracking the Jersey Man-Eater. It was just the latest shark bite reported in the state, which is experiencing an uptick in bites. I retrieved it in 2001, while living in New Jersey, and told the story in my non-fiction book Close To Shore. What is the summary of I survived the shark attack of 1916? Jersey Shore Shark Attacks of 1916 July 1 through 12, 1916, five people were attacked by a shark along the coast of New Jersey. In recent decades, shark hunts had a role in decimating nearly every shark species. June to July 14, 1916."[63]. This page was last edited on 24 July 2023, at 03:53. Some partygoers screamed and covered their eyes. The fast-moving fires, fanned by the winds of a distant hurricane, exploded overnight and moved so quickly that some residents jumped into the ocean to escape the flames and smoke. I Survived The Shark Attacks of 1916 Flashcards | Quizlet
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