The Jersey Shore shark attacks 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 injured. Since 1916, scholars have debated which shark species was responsible and the number o…Jersey Shore shark attacks of 1916
What were the Jersey Shore shark attacks of 1916?
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 injured. Since 1916, scholars have debated which shark species was responsible and the number of animals involved,...
What is the most famous shark attack in history?
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.
How many people died in the Matawan Shark Attack of 1916?
But there were two more fatal attacks. On July 12, 1916, a single shark killed two kids and almost a third. Everything was quiet in the town of Matawan despite the hysteria raging closer to the ocean. It was 11 miles inland and nowhere near the beach. No one ever saw large, man-eating sharks in the muddy waters of Matawan Creek before anyway.
What happened to the great white shark of 1916?
The White House agreed to give federal aid to “drive away all the ferocious man-eating sharks which have been making prey of bathers,” according to a July 14, 1916 article in the Philadelphia Inquirer. Eventually, an eight-foot juvenile great white shark was pulled from the New Jersey waters. Its stomach contained human remains.
Where was the first shark attack?
Just five days after the first attack, 45 miles north of Beach Haven in Spring Lake, a shark (likely the same one) claimed another victim. At this point, fear began to spread. Newspapers started running headlines about the shark attacks, and beachgoers took to the water with more hesitation.
Who was the first victim of the shark attack?
The first victim was 25-year-old Charles Vansant, who went out for an evening swim in Beach Haven, New Jersey. Something grabbed his leg and tore away a huge chunk of flesh. He eventually bled out from the injury. At the time, there was uncertainty about whether the man-eating creature was actually a shark.
What happened in 1916?
The 1916 Shark Attacks That Gave Sharks a Bad Rap. These days, even the mention of sharks can strike fear into the hearts of many—but it wasn’t always this way. Decades before Steven Spielberg ’s Jaws (1975) convinced beachgoers not to go into the water, there was one fateful summer when a series of shark attacks led to widespread panic ...
How long did shark attacks last in New Jersey?
However, everything changed over the course of 12 days, when a series of shark attacks along the New Jersey shore left four dead and one gravely injured.
What was the deadly fish caught by the fishermen?
Scientists confirmed that the deadly fish captured by the fishermen was a white shark, and it was reported that upon examining the shark’s stomach they discovered nearly 15 pounds of human flesh (the veracity of these claims is still in question).
How old was the boy when he was taken by a shark?
An 11-year-old boy was taken by a shark, and then a man in his would-be rescue party was also fatally attacked. Later that same day a teen was injured after a shark attacked his leg. He would be the only survivor.
Was the man eating shark a sea turtle?
At the time, there was uncertainty about whether the man-eating creature was actually a shark. Some even suggested it might have been a sea turtle, an animal thought to have a penchant for snapping at people. As far as most people knew, sharks in those waters were generally harmless.
What happened to Stanley the Shark?
Others in the search party rushed to Stanley, and beat the shark from their boat. Stanley suffered a wide laceration on his right thigh that ran from his hip to his knee. At least ten pounds of flesh were removed, leaving the remainder of his leg a bloody mass.
What happened on the East Coast in 1916?
The famed Atlantic City became a popular vacation destination for the entire East Coast. But the Garden State was a stricken with an unforeseen natural tragedy. Shockingly, in 1916, four shark attacks occurred on the same day! While July 12 started off as a typical summer day, Matawan, New Jersey, located thirty miles north of Spring Lake and situated on a bluff fifty feet above the creek and eleven miles inland, would be the site of four shark attacks, all occurring within the span of about an hour and a half, and where no one had ever dared to think it could.
How many people die from shark attacks every year?
And even though we all know the odds of a shark attack are minuscule, approximately eight people die by shark every year. So how does this seafaring predator get such a fearsome rap? And how, in 1916, did the tiny, blue collar inland town of Matawan, NJ receive a most unwanted monster?
Where did Captain Cottrell catch the bull shark?
Captain Cottrell, one of the day’s heroes, declared he had caught the 230-pound, seven-foot bull shark at the mouth of Matawan Creek. He later sold tickets to view the Matawan Creek “man-eater.”. Impossible as it seemed, a shark attack happened inland, far from the the salty coastline, a shark’s natural hunting ground.
Who was the man who pulled Joseph back into the water?
They found a perfect spot for a dip in Matawan Creek. Michael was lucky, Joseph wasn’t. Something grabbed his leg, yanking him back into the creek. Michael dove into the water, trying to pull Joseph to safety. Thomas Cottrell arrived on the scene, and was able to load Joseph in his boat.
Who was the first person to load Joseph in his boat?
Thomas Cottrell arrived on the scene, and was able to load Joseph in his boat. Back on shore, the rescue party took the day’s fourth victim by car to New Brunswick, where Joseph would spend the next fifty-nine days recuperating in the hospital.
Who was the shopkeeper that found Arthur Smith?
Stanley Fisher. Local shopkeeper Stanley Fisher joined the underwater search for poor Lester Stillwell. Even though Stanley watched as Arthur Smith was pulled onto the creek bank, he kept diving. When Stanley spotted the boy’s body along the bottom, he grabbed a leg and tried to surface.
Who was the first person to see the Vansant shark?
The first person to reach Vansant was Alexander Ott, an incredible swimmer destined to be a champion. Ott grabbed Charles under his arms and began to swim towards shore, but a few seconds later he felt a tug in the other direction. Ott turned around in horror as he saw that the shark was now latched onto Vansant’s thigh. Ott later described it as being ten feet long, 500 pounds, and “incredibly strong.” There was no way he could win this life or death game of tug-o-war by himself and he called for help. A human chain was formed and began tugging at Vansant’s body, Charles himself was miraculously still conscious and continued trying to fight the shark off with his bare hands. The chain succeeded in pulling him onto the shore, but the killing machine followed. Charles was pulled farther up the beach where the shark let go after it bottomed out on the sand. People looked on in shock and horror, both at the fact that a shark came so close to shore and because of Charles’s ghastly wounds. Louisa, who had kept her composure through the whole ordeal, nearly fainted at the sight of her brother's left leg that was just barely hanging on. Dr. Eugene Vansant, Charles’s father, rushed to help his son. The young man’s face was already turning a pale white and he was drifting into unconsciousness as his dark red blood began to pool on the sand. Dr. Vansant was not entirely sure what to do, he had never experienced a wound like this and had to take a moment to reflect on his medical training. He soon realized he could perform no surgery without first stopping the steady stream of blood. The heroic swimmer, Ott, tore off strips from a woman’s dress that the doctor used to make a tourniquet, but it did little to stem the flow. Dr. Joseph Neff now joined in and the two quickly brainstormed ideas, but soon came to the conclusion that this was far outside of either of their medical expertise. Realizing that Charles could not survive the 30 mile car trip to the nearest hospital they decided to try and treat him in the hotel.
What did Oelrichs offer for proof of a shark attack?
In 1891 he decided to offer $500 for any proof of a shark attacking a living man, woman or child in temperate waters. Temperate waters being defined as those north of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. This set off a discussion about sharks across the nation as newspapers began widely reporting on the reward. Many people wrote to Oelrichs from across the globe about times they had witnessed attacks, but none had any credible evidence and nearly all, save a couple, happened outside of temperate waters.
What did scientists know about sharks?
Scientists of this time did not know much about shark behavior. Examining dead specimens in a laboratory was easy but there was no way for them to observe the fish in its natural habitat. What they did know came from anecdotal evidence and from what they could infer by looking at the shark's physiology. With scientists, government officials, and newspapers claiming sharks to be harmless, it is not difficult to see why the fear of them was low.
What happened on July 9th?
On July 9 protective steel nets had been put up at many beaches and those that did not have them were awarding contracts to have them constructed. A feeling of normalcy was beginning to return. The press believed that the attacks were freak accidents and that by the next week people would be back to bathing in regular numbers. This opinion was bolstered by the director of the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries, Hugh Smith, who said that bathers should “not be unduly alarmed or deterred from going in bathing.” He backed up this claim by saying “sharks are not vicious.” Plus many were still convinced it wasn’t a shark but a swordfish or giant mackerel that had likely left the area by now. The district superintendent of the U.S. Coast Guard helped dampen the fears of those that did believe it was a shark by saying that sharks were “timid as rabbits.”
What was the summer of 1916?
The summer of 1916 was one of the hottest on record and residents from all over New Jersey and New York headed for the Jersey shore to cool off. Many of the wealthy planned to stay for the duration of the summer, one of them being Charles Vansant. Charles came from a well to do Philadelphia family.
Did the shark attack happen on the Jersey coast?
However fishermen and longtime residents assured them that they were merely dolphins and that sharks never attacked people on the Jersey Coast. Many of the residents even claimed that the newspapers fabricated the attack story and that Vansant merely drowned.
Where did Charles Vansant live in 1916?
The summer of 1916 was one of the hottest on record and residents from all over New Jersey and New York headed for the Jersey shore to cool off. Many of the wealthy planned to stay for the duration of the summer, one of them being Charles Vansant. Charles came from a well to do Philadelphia family. His father was a doctor and made sure that his son had the best in life, giving him all the advantages he needed to carry on the family legacy. Charles had just graduated college when he went to Beach Haven, New Jersey for what he thought would be his last family vacation before settling down and starting his own.
A Leisurely Swim at Sunset
The 1916 Shark Attacks Escalate
- Charles Bruder, age 27, was an excellent swimmer. He was taking a lunch break from his job as a bellhop at the Essex and Sussex Hotel in Spring Lake on the afternoon of July 6, 1916. Spring Lake is 45 miles north of Beach Haven, the sight of the first attack just five days earlier. Bruder swam far out into the ocean beyond the boundaries of normal ...
A Survivor, A Hunt, and A Legacy
- Just thirty minutes after Fisher’s attack, Joseph Dunn was swimming downstream in Matawan Creek. He was mere feet from a dock ladder when he felt a tug on his leg. Two of his friends pulled on his arms, trying to get Joseph up the ladder. His leg was bleeding, but he lived after the shark let go. What saved Joseph was that the shark bite didn’t sever any major arteries. Shark hy…
Analyzing The 1916 Shark Attacks
- Experts of the day thought that the shark responsible for the 1916 attacks was a loner great white who became disoriented. Modern experts believe it could have been a sick or injured bull shark or great white simply looking for food. Rarely does a lone shark drift a dozen miles inland along a creek, as it did in Matawan, save for bull sharkswhich can and do swim inland in search for food…