View source for Jersey Shore shark attacks of 1916

{{short description|Shark attacks in the US}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2025}}
[[File:PhiladelphiaInquirerJuly151916.gif|right|thumb|300px|''[[The Philadelphia Inquirer]]'' reported the capture of a "man-eating" shark off the [[Jersey Shore]] after the attacks.]]
The '''Jersey Shore shark attacks of 1916''' were a series of [[shark attack]]s 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. The incidents occurred during a deadly summer [[heat wave]] and [[Poliomyelitis|polio]] epidemic in the United States that drove thousands of people to the seaside [[resort]]s of the [[Jersey Shore]]. Since 1916, scholars have debated which shark species was responsible and the number of animals involved. It was determined that the [[bull shark]] was the killer.
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. Resort towns enclosed their public beaches with steel nets to protect swimmers. Scientific knowledge about sharks before 1916 was based on conjecture and speculation. The attacks forced [[Ichthyology|ichthyologist]]s to reassess common beliefs about the abilities of sharks and the nature of shark attacks.
The Jersey Shore attacks immediately entered into American popular culture, where sharks became [[caricature]]s in [[editorial cartoon]]s representing danger. The attacks became the subject of documentaries for the [[History (U.S. TV channel)|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 film)|Blood in the Water]]'' (2009).
==Incidents and victims==
[[File:Njsharkattackmap.png|right|thumb|300px|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. The first major attack occurred on Saturday, July 1 at [[Beach Haven, New Jersey|Beach Haven]], a resort town established on [[Long Beach Island]] off the southern coast of New Jersey. Charles Epting Vansant, 23, of [[Philadelphia]], was on vacation at the [[Engleside Hotel]] with his family. Before dinner, Vansant decided to take a quick swim in the Atlantic with a [[Chesapeake Bay Retriever]] that was playing on the beach. Shortly after entering the water, Vansant began shouting. Bathers believed he was calling to the dog, but a shark was actually biting Vansant's legs. 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. Vansant's left thigh was stripped of its flesh; he [[Exsanguination|bled to death]] on the manager's desk of the Engleside Hotel at 6:45&nbsp;PM.<ref>Fernicola, ''Twelve Days of Terror'', pp. 1–9; Capuzzo, ''Close to Shore'', pp. 88–103; Thomas B. Allen, ''Shadows in the Sea'', pp. 3–4.</ref>
[[File:Sharkmuralmatawan.jpg|thumb|Mural on bridge in area of Matawan Creek attacks, Matawan, NJ.]]
Despite the Vansant attack, beaches along the Jersey Shore remained open. Sightings of large sharks swimming off the coast of New Jersey were reported by sea captains entering the ports of [[Newark, New Jersey|Newark]] and [[New York City]] but were dismissed. The second major attack occurred on Thursday, July 6, 1916, at the resort town of [[Spring Lake, New Jersey]], {{convert|45|mi|km}} north of Beach Haven. The victim was Charles Bruder, 27, a [[Swiss (people)|Swiss]] bell captain at the Essex & Sussex Hotel. Bruder was attacked while swimming {{convert|130|yd|m}} from shore. A shark bit his abdomen and severed his legs; Bruder's blood turned the water red. After hearing screams, a woman notified two lifeguards that a canoe with a red [[hull (watercraft)|hull]] had capsized and was floating at the water's surface. Lifeguards Chris Anderson and George White rowed to Bruder in a lifeboat and realized he had been bitten by a shark. They pulled him from the water, but he bled to death on the way to shore. According to ''[[The New York Times]]'', "women [were] panic-stricken [and fainted] as [Bruder's] mutilated body&nbsp;... [was] brought ashore." Guests and workers at the Essex & Sussex and neighboring hotels raised money for Bruder's mother in Switzerland.<ref>Fernicola, ''Twelve Days of Terror'', pp. 13–21, 29; Capuzzo, ''Close to Shore'', pp. 136–146; Allen, ''Shadows in the Sea'', pp. 4–6.</ref><ref name="NYT07071916">{{cite news |title=Shark Kills Bather Off Jersey Beach. Bites Off Both Legs of a Youth Swimming Beyond Spring Lake Life Lines. Guards Find Him Dying. Women Are Panic-Stricken as Mutilated Body of Hotel Employee Is Brought Ashore.|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1916/07/07/100214613.pdf |quote=Hundreds of men and women and many children were on the beach this afternoon when a swimmer, far out beyond the outer life lines, raised a cry for help. George White and Chris Anderson, life guards, who had been watching the swimmer closely because of his distance from shore, launched a lifeboat and started for him while the crowd on the beach watched in suspense and fear. |newspaper=The New York Times |date=July 7, 1916 |access-date=2007-08-21 }}</ref>
The next three attacks took place in [[Matawan Creek]] near the town of [[Keyport, New Jersey|Keyport]] on Wednesday, July 12. Located {{convert|30|mi|km}} north of Spring Lake and inland of Raritan Bay, [[Matawan, New Jersey|Matawan]] resembled a [[Midwestern United States|Midwestern]] town rather than an Atlantic beach resort.<ref>Fernicola, ''Twelve Days of Terror'', pp. 33–34.</ref> Matawan's location made it an unlikely site for interactions between sharks and humans. When Thomas Cottrell, a sea captain and Matawan resident, spotted an {{convert|8|ft|m|adj=mid|-long}} shark in the creek, the town dismissed him.<ref>Fernicola, ''Twelve Days of Terror'', p. 45.</ref> Around 2:00&nbsp;PM a group of local boys, including young Lester Stillwell, 11, were playing in the creek together. One of the boys had brought along his pet dog, which was swimming with them as well. At an area called "Wyckoff Dock" they saw what appeared to be an "old, black weather-beaten board or a weathered log."<ref>{{cite book|last=Capo|first=Fran|title=It happened in New Jersey|year=2004|publisher=Twodot|location=Guilford, Conn.|isbn=0-7627-2358-0|page=97|chapter=When the Shark Bites}}</ref> A [[dorsal fin]] appeared in the water and the boys realized it was a shark. Before Stillwell could climb from the creek, the shark pulled him underwater.<ref>Fernicola, ''Twelve Days of Terror'', pp. 45–50.</ref>
The boys ran to town for help, and several men, including local businessman Watson Stanley Fisher, 24, came to investigate. Fisher and others dove into the creek to find Stillwell, thinking he had suffered a seizure. After locating the boy's body and attempting to return to shore, Fisher was also bitten by the shark in front of the townspeople, losing Stillwell in the process.<ref>Capuzzo, ''Close to Shore'', pp. 238–240.</ref> His right thigh was severely injured and he bled to death at Monmouth Memorial Hospital in [[Long Branch, New Jersey|Long Branch]] at 5:30&nbsp;PM.<ref>Fernicola, ''Twelve Days of Terror'', pp. 45–56.</ref> Stillwell's body was recovered {{convert|150|ft|m}} upstream from the Wyckoff dock on July 14.<ref>Fernicola, ''Twelve Days of Terror'', pp. 83–84; Capuzzo, ''Close to Shore'', pp. 205–248; Allen, ''Shadows in the Sea'', pp. 8–12</ref>
The fifth and final victim, Joseph Dunn, 14, of New York City was attacked a half-mile (~805 m) from the Wyckoff dock nearly 30&nbsp;minutes after the fatal attacks on Stillwell and Fisher. The shark bit his left leg, stripping it of flesh,<ref>{{cite news |title=Shark Gets Another Victim |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-central-new-jersey-home-news-joseph/24218879/ |agency=The Central New Jersey Home News |date=July 13, 1916}}</ref> but Dunn was rescued by his brother and friend after a vicious tug-of-war battle with the shark. Dunn told the press that he felt his leg going down the shark's throat, "I believe it would have swallowed me."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Radel |first1=Dan |title=1916 shark attacks: The day the terror began |url=https://www.app.com/story/news/history/2016/07/01/1916-shark-attacks-day-terror-began/86484828/ |website=Asbury Park Press}}</ref> Dunn was taken to [[Saint Peter's University Hospital]] in [[New Brunswick, New Jersey|New Brunswick]]; he recovered from the bite and was released on September 15, 1916.<ref>Fernicola, ''Twelve Days of Terror'', pp. 56–57, 158, 176; Allen, ''Shadows in the Sea'', p. 12, lists Dunn as 14, not 12; ''The New York Times'' reported his age at 12 ("Shark Kills 2 Bathers, Maims 1, Near New York," July 13, 1916, p. 1); see also [http://mdecoy182.tripod.com/joedunn.html Joseph Dunn's census and hospital records] for his age at the time of the incidents; last accessed September 1, 2007.</ref>
[[File:Shark2.jpg|thumb|Memorial plaque dedicated to the victims of the 1916 Matawan Creek shark attacks, Matawan, NJ.]]
==Reaction==
As the national media descended on Beach Haven, Spring Lake, and Matawan, the Jersey Shore attacks started a shark panic.<ref>{{cite web|title = 2 Weeks, 4 Deaths, and the Beginning of America's Fear of Sharks|url = http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/07/150702-shark-attack-jersey-shore-1916-great-white|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150703224631/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/07/150702-shark-attack-jersey-shore-1916-great-white/|url-status = dead|archive-date = July 3, 2015|website = National Geographic News|access-date = 2015-07-28|first1 = Matt|last1 = McCall|date = July 2, 2015}}</ref> According to Capuzzo, this panic was "unrivaled in American history", "sweeping along the coasts of New York and New Jersey and spreading by telephone and [[Wireless telegraphy|wireless]], letter and postcard."<ref>Capuzzo, ''Close to Shore'', p. 269.</ref>
At first, after the Beach Haven incident, scientists and the press only reluctantly blamed the death of Charles Vansant on a shark.<ref>Fernicola, ''Twelve Days of Terror'', p. 9.</ref> ''The New York Times'' reported that Vansant "was badly bitten in the surf&nbsp;... by a fish, presumably a shark."<ref>"Dies After Attack By Fish," ''The New York Times'', July 3, 1916, p. 18.</ref> Still, [[Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission|State Fish Commissioner]] of [[Pennsylvania]] and former director of the [[Philadelphia Aquarium]] James M. Meehan asserted in the ''[[Philadelphia Public Ledger]]'' that the shark was preying on the dog and had bitten Vansant by mistake.<ref>Fernicola, ''Twelve Days of Terror'', pp. 7–11.</ref> He specifically de-emphasized the threat sharks posed to humans:
{{blockquote|Despite the death of Charles Vansant and the report [of] two sharks having been caught in that vicinity recently, I do not believe there is any reason why people should hesitate to go in swimming at the beaches for fear of man-eaters. The information in regard to the sharks is indefinite and I hardly believe that Vansant was bitten by a man-eater. 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. Being unable to move quickly and without food, he had come in to bite the dog and snapped at the man in passing.<ref>"Bathers Need Have No Fear of Sharks: Lousy Fish Expert Declares One That Killed Swimmer May Have Sought To Attack Dog," ''Philadelphia Public Ledger'', quoted in Fernicola, ''Twelve Days of Terror'', pp. 9–10.</ref>}}
The media's response to the second attack was more sensational. 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. ''The New York Times''<nowiki>'</nowiki> headline read, "Shark Kills Bather Off Jersey Beach".<ref name="NYT07071916"/> The growing panic cost New Jersey resort owners an estimated $250,000 (${{formatnum:{{inflation|US|250000|1916|r=-5}}}} in {{Inflation-year|US}}) in lost tourism, and sun bathing declined by 75&nbsp;percent in some areas.<ref>Allen, ''Shadows in the Sea'', p. 7.</ref>
A press conference was convened on July 8, 1916, at the [[American Museum of Natural History]], with scientists [[Frederic Augustus Lucas]], [[John Treadwell Nichols]], and [[Robert Cushman Murphy]] as panelists. To calm the growing panic, the three men stressed that a third run-in with a shark was unlikely, although they were admittedly surprised that sharks bit anyone at all. Nevertheless, Nichols—the only [[Ichthyology|ichthyologist]] in the trio—warned swimmers to stay close to shore and to take advantage of the netted bathing areas installed at public beaches after the first attack.<ref>Fernicola, ''Twelve Days of Terror'', pp. 22–23.</ref>
[[File:PhiladelphiaInquirerJuly141916.gif|right|thumb|250px|''[[The Philadelphia Inquirer|Philadelphia Inquirer]]'' coverage of the attacks at [[Matawan, New Jersey|Matawan]], with portraits of Stanley Fisher (bottom right) and Lester Stilwell]]
Shark sightings increased along the [[Mid-Atlantic States|Mid-Atlantic Coast]] following the attacks. On July 8, armed motorboats patrolling the beach at Spring Creek chased an animal they thought to be a shark, and [[Asbury Park, New Jersey|Asbury Park]]'s Asbury Avenue Beach was closed after lifeguard Benjamin Everingham claimed to have beaten away a {{convert|12|ft|m|0|adj=mid|-long}} shark with an oar. 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.<ref>"Motor Boats Hunt Man-Eating Sharks Off Jersey Coast," ''[[Atlanta Constitution]]'', July 14, 1916, p. 3.</ref><ref>Fernicola, ''Twelve Days of Terror'', p. 26–27.</ref> Actress [[Gertrude Hoffmann (actress)|Gertrude Hoffmann]] was swimming at the [[Coney Island]] beach shortly after the Matawan fatalities when she claimed to have encountered a shark. ''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." Hoffman was certain she was going to be devoured by the "Jersey man-eater", but later admitted she was "not sure&nbsp;... whether she had her trouble for nothing or had barely escaped death."<ref>Capuzzo, ''Close to Shore'', p. 267–269.</ref><ref name=many/>
Local New Jersey governments tried to protect bathers and the economy from man-eating sharks.<ref>"Shark Guards Out At Beach Resorts; Wire Nets Set Against Supposed Man-Eater That Killed Spring Lake Bather," ''The New York Times'', July 8, 1916, p. 18.</ref> The Fourth Avenue Beach at Asbury Park was enclosed with a [[steel]]-wire-[[mesh]] fence and patrolled by armed motorboats; it remained the only beach open following the Everingham incident. After the attacks on Stilwell, Fisher, and Dunn, residents of Matawan lined Matawan Creek with nets and detonated [[dynamite]] in an attempt to catch and kill the shark. Matawan mayor Arris B. Henderson ordered the ''Matawan Journal'' to print wanted posters offering a $100 reward (${{formatnum:{{inflation|US|100|1916|r=-2}}}} in {{Inflation-year|US}} dollars) to anyone who killed a shark in the creek. Despite these efforts, no sharks were captured or killed in Matawan Creek.<ref>Fernicola, ''Twelve Days of Terror'', p. 67.</ref>
Resort communities along the Jersey Shore petitioned the federal government to aid local efforts to protect beaches and hunt sharks. The [[United States House of Representatives|House of Representatives]] appropriated $5,000 (${{formatnum:{{inflation|US|5000|1916|r=-4}}}} in {{Inflation-year|US}} dollars) for eradicating the New Jersey shark threat, and [[President of the United States|President]] [[Woodrow Wilson]] scheduled a meeting with his [[United States Cabinet|Cabinet]] to discuss the fatal attacks. [[United States Secretary of the Treasury|Treasury secretary]] [[William Gibbs McAdoo]] suggested that the [[United States Coast Guard|Coast Guard]] be mobilized to patrol the Jersey Shore and protect sun bathers.<ref>Fernicola, ''Twelve Days of Terror'', pp. 67–70.</ref> Shark hunts ensued across the coasts of New Jersey and New York. As the ''[[The Atlanta Journal-Constitution|Atlanta Constitution]]'' reported on July 14, "Armed shark hunters in motor boats patrolled the New York and New Jersey coasts today while others lined the beaches in a concerted effort to exterminate the man-eaters&nbsp;..."<ref>"Motor Boats Hunt Man-Eating Sharks Off Jersey Coast," ''Atlanta Constitution'', p. 1.</ref> New Jersey [[Governor of New Jersey|governor]] [[James Fairman Fielder]] and local municipalities offered bounties to individuals hunting sharks.<ref>Fernicola, ''Twelve Days of Terror'', p. 81.</ref> Hundreds of sharks were captured on the [[East Coast of the United States|East Coast]] due to the attacks. The East Coast shark hunt has been described as "the largest scale animal hunt in history."<ref>Fernicola, ''Twelve Days of Terror'', p. 72.</ref>
==Identifying the "Jersey man-eater"==
After the second incident, scientists and the public began presenting theories to explain which species of shark was responsible for the Jersey Shore attacks or whether multiple sharks were involved.
Lucas and Nichols proposed that a northward-swimming [[wikt:rogue|rogue]] shark was responsible. They believed it would eventually arrive along New York's coast: "Unless the shark came through the [[New York Harbor|Harbor]] and went through the north through [[Hell Gate]] and [[Long Island Sound]], it was presumed it would swim along the [[South Shore (Long Island)|South Shore]] of [[Long Island]] and the first deep water [[inlet]] it reaches will be the [[Jamaica Bay]]."<ref>Nichols in the ''New York American'', quoted in Fernicola, ''Twelve Days of Terror'', p. 151.</ref>
[[File:SchleisserandShark.jpg|left|thumb|[[German American]] Michael Schleisser and the [[great white shark]] caught in [[Raritan Bay]] purported to be the "Jersey man-eater", as seen in the ''Bronx Home News''.]]
Witnesses of the Beach Haven fatality estimated that the shark was {{convert|9|ft|m|0}} long. A sea captain who saw the event believed it was a [[Sand tiger shark|Spanish shark]] driven from the [[Caribbean Sea]] decades earlier by bombings during the [[Spanish–American War]].<ref>Fernicola, ''Twelve Days of Terror'', p. 7–8.</ref> Several fishermen claimed to have caught the "Jersey man-eater" in the days following the attacks. 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.<ref>Fernicola, ''Twelve Days of Terror'', pp. 144–145.</ref>
On July 14, [[Harlem]] [[Taxidermy|taxidermist]] and [[Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus|Barnum and Bailey]] [[Lion taming|lion tamer]] Michael Schleisser caught a {{convert|7.5|ft|m|adj=on}}, {{convert|325|lb|kg|adj=on}} shark while fishing in [[Raritan Bay]], only a few miles from the mouth of Matawan Creek. The shark nearly sank the boat before Schleisser killed it with a broken oar. When he opened the shark's belly, he removed a "suspicious fleshy material and bones" that took up "about two-thirds of a milk crate" and "together weighed fifteen pounds."<ref>Fernicola, ''Twelve Days of Terror'', p. 151–156.</ref> Scientists identified the shark as a young [[great white shark|great white]] and the ingested remains as human.<ref>Fernicola, ''Twelve Days of Terror'', p. 163.</ref> Schleisser mounted the shark and placed it on display in the window of a [[Manhattan]] shop on [[Broadway (Manhattan)|Broadway]], but it was later lost. The only surviving photograph appeared in the ''[[The Bronx Home News|Bronx Home News]]''.<ref>Fernicola, ''Twelve Days of Terror'', pp. 163–164.</ref>
No further attacks were reported along the Jersey Shore in 1916 after the capture of Schleisser's great white shark. Murphy and Lucas declared the great white to be the "Jersey man-eater".<ref>Capuzzo, ''Close to Shore'', pp. 296–297; Fernicola, ''Twelve Days of Terror'', p. 179.</ref>
Skeptical individuals offered alternative hypotheses, including opinions suggesting a non-shark perpetrator and even the influence of ongoing events associated with [[World War I]].
In a letter to ''The New York Times'', a Barrett P. Smith of [[Sound Beach, New York]], over {{convert|135|mi}} away on the far side of [[Long Island]], wrote:
{{blockquote|Having read with much interest the account of the fatality off Spring Lake, N.J., I should like to offer a suggestion somewhat at variance with the shark theory. Scientists believe it is most unlikely that a shark was responsible, and lots of people though believe it much more likely that the attack was made by a [[sea turtle]]. Scientists have spent much time at sea and along shore, and have several times seen turtles large enough to inflict just such wounds. These creatures are of a vicious disposition, and when annoyed are extremely dangerous to approach, and it is a common theory that Bruder may have disturbed one while it was asleep on or close to the surface.<ref>Barrett P. Smith, "[https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9804EFDE1E3FE233A25757C1A9619C946796D6CF&legacy=true Perhaps It Was a Turtle]," ''The New York Times'', July 14, 1916, p. 10.</ref>}}
Another letter to ''The New York Times'' blamed the shark infestation on the maneuvers of German [[U-boat]]s near America's East Coast. The anonymous writer claimed, "These sharks may have devoured human bodies in the waters of the German war zone and followed [[Ocean liner|liners]] to this coast, or even followed the ''[[Deutschland (1916)|Deutschland]]'' herself, expecting the usual toll of drowning men, women, and children." The writer concluded, "This would account for their boldness and their craving for human flesh."<ref>A. M. E., "[https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9903E6DA173BE633A25756C1A9619C946796D6CF&legacy=true Sharks and Submarines]," ''The New York Times'', July 15, 1916, p. 8.</ref><!--Were there any shark attacks in the 1940s, when German U-boats maneuvered near the East Coast? If so, that might help this anonymous writer's case ex post facto; if not, it might prove an interesting contrast to this writer's case.-->
Over a century later, there is no consensus among researchers over Murphy and Lucas' investigation and findings. Richard G. Fernicola published two studies of the event, and notes that "there are many theories behind the New Jersey attacks," and all are inconclusive.<ref>Fernicola, ''Twelve Days of Terror'', p. 184.</ref> Researchers such as Thomas Helm, Harold W. McCormick, [[Thomas B. Allen (author)|Thomas B. Allen]], William Young, Jean Campbell Butler, and Michael Capuzzo generally agree with Murphy and Lucas.<ref>Thomas Helm, ''Shark!: Unpredictable Killer of the Sea'' (New York: Dodd, Mead, 1962), {{OCLC|1521199}}; Thomas B. Allen, ''Shadows in the Sea''<!-- page? -->; Jean Campbell Butler, ''Danger, Shark!'' (Boston: Little, Brown, 1964), {{OCLC|1392203}}; for a summary of these researchers' findings, see Fernicola, ''Twelve Days of Terror'', pp. 179–180.</ref>
However, the [[National Geographic Society]] reported in 2002 that "some experts are suggesting that the great white may not in fact be responsible for many of the attacks pinned on the species. These people say the real culprit behind many of the reported incidents—including the famous 1916 shark attacks in New Jersey that may have served as inspiration for ''Jaws''—may be the lesser known [[bull shark]]."<ref name="NGC">Brian Handwerk, "Great Whites May Be Taking the Rap for Bull Shark Attacks," August 2, 2002, [https://web.archive.org/web/20020803153734/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/08/0802_020802_shark.html National Geographic News]; last accessed July 29, 2007.</ref>
Biologists [[George A. Llano]] and [[Richard Ellis (biologist)|Richard Ellis]] suggest that a bull shark could have been responsible for the fatal Jersey Shore attacks. Bull sharks swim from the ocean into freshwater rivers and streams and have attacked people around the world. In his book ''Sharks: Attacks on Man'' (1975), Llano writes,
{{blockquote|One of the most surprising aspects of the Matawan Creek attacks was the distance from the open sea. Elsewhere in the book are accounts of well-documented shark-human interactions at [[Ahwaz]], Iran, which is {{convert|90|mi|km}} upriver from the sea. 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."<ref>{{cite book |last=Llano |first=George A. |author-link=George A. Llano |date=1975 |title=Sharks: Attacks on Man |url= |location=New York |publisher=Tempo Books |pages=57–58 |isbn=0-448-12217-0}}</ref>}}
Ellis points out that the great white "is an oceanic species, and Schleisser's shark was caught in the ocean. To find it swimming in a tidal creek is, to say the least, unusual, and may even be impossible. The bull shark, however, is infamous for its freshwater meanderings, as well as for its pugnacious and aggressive nature." He admits that "the bull shark is not a common species in New Jersey waters, but it does occur more frequently than the white."<ref>Richard Ellis, ''The Book of Sharks'', p. 186.</ref>
In an interview with Michael Capuzzo, ichthyologist [[George H. Burgess]] surmises, "The species involved has always been doubtful and likely will continue to generate spirited debate." Burgess, however, does not discount the great white:
The bull draws a lot of votes because the location, Matawan Creek, suggests [[Brackish water|brackish]] or fresh waters, a habitat that bulls frequent and whites avoid. However, our examination of the site reveals that the size of the "creek," its depth, and [[Salinity|salinity regime]] were closer to a marine [[wikt:embayment|embayment]] and that a smallish white clearly could have wandered into the area. Since an appropriate sized white shark with human remains in its stomach was captured nearby shortly after the attacks (and no further incidents occurred), it seems likely that this was the shark involved in at least the Matawan fatalities. The temporal and geographical sequence of the incidents also suggests that earlier attacks may have involved the same shark.<ref>
{{cite web |url=http://www.randomhouse.com/features/capuzzo/shark_expert.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080224150001/http://www.randomhouse.com/features/capuzzo/shark_expert.html |archive-date=February 24, 2008 |title=Interview with Shark Expert |access-date=July 28, 2007 |website=randomhouse.com |publisher=Random House |last=Capuzzo |first=Michael |last2=Burgess |first2=George H. |url-status=usurped }}</ref>
The casualties of the 1916 attacks are listed in the [[International Shark Attack File]]—of which Burgess is director—as victims of a great white.<ref>See the graphic map, "1916–2006 United States (incl. Hawaii) Confirmed Unprovoked Attacks by White Sharks", [http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/sharks/White/USA.htm International Shark Attack File]; last accessed July 28, 2007.</ref>
The increased presence of humans in the water was a factor in the attacks: "As the worldwide human population continues to rise year after year, so does&nbsp;... interest in aquatic recreation. The number of shark attacks in any given year or region is highly influenced by the number of people entering the water."<ref>George Burgess, "The Relative Risk of Shark Attacks to Humans: More People Mean More Attacks," [http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/sharks/isaf/moreattacks.htm International Shark Attack File]; last accessed July 31, 2007.</ref> However, the likelihood that one shark was involved is contested. Scientists such as Victor M. Coppleson and Jean Butler, relying on evidence presented by Lucas and Murphy in 1916, assert that a single shark was responsible.<ref>Victor M. Coppleson, ''Shark Attack'' (Sydney: Angus & Robertson, 1959) {{OCLC|1547643}}, and Butler, ''Danger, Shark!'', both cited in Fernicola, ''Twelve Days of Terror'', p. 248.</ref> On the other hand, Richard Fernicola notes that 1916 was a "shark year", as fishermen and captains were reporting hundreds of sharks swimming in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States.<ref>Fernicola, ''Twelve Days of Terror'', pp. 229–231.</ref> 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." He admits, "The evidence is long gone, and we will never really know if it was one shark or several, one species or another, that was responsible."<ref>Ellis, ''Book of Sharks'', p. 187.</ref>
In 2011, further study was conducted in the [[Smithsonian Channel]]'s ''The Real Story: Jaws''. The documentary takes a closer look at the series of events from different perspectives. 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. This would support the theory that a great white could have been responsible. Other evidence such as Joseph Dunn's injury suggested that the type of bite was more likely made by a bull shark as opposed to a great white, leading some to believe more than one shark was likely involved in the five incidents.<ref name="SC">[https://web.archive.org/web/20110516074853/http://www.smithsonianchannel.com/site/sn/show.do?episode=137534 ''The Real Story: Jaws''] (Smithsonian Channel, 2011); last accessed May 31, 2011.</ref>
==Revising science==
Before 1916, American scholars doubted that sharks would fatally wound a living person in the [[temperate]] waters of the northeastern United States without provocation. One skeptical scientist wrote, "There is a great difference between being attacked by a shark and being bitten by one." He believed that sharks tangled in fishing nets or feeding on [[carrion]] might accidentally bite a nearby human.<ref>Frederic Lucas, quoted in Fernicola, ''Twelve Days of Terror'', p. xxix.</ref> In 1891, millionaire banker and adventurer [[Hermann Oelrichs]] offered a $500 reward in the ''[[The New York Sun (historical)|New York Sun]]'' "for an authenticated case of a man having been attacked by a shark in [the] temperate waters" north of [[Cape Hatteras|Cape Hatteras, North Carolina]].<ref>Hermann Oelrichs, quoted in Fernicola, ''Twelve Days of Terror'', p. xxv.</ref> He wanted proof that "in temperate waters even one man, woman, or child, while alive, was ever attacked by a shark."<ref>Oelrichs, quoted in Capuzzo, ''Close to Shore'', p. 22.</ref> The reward went unclaimed and scientists remained convinced that the upper eastern coast of the United States was inhabited by harmless sharks.<ref>Fernicola, ''Twelve Days of Terror'', xxv.</ref><ref>Capuzzo, ''Close to Shore'', p. 26.</ref>
[[File:AmericanMuseumofNaturalHistory.jpg|right|thumb|250px|Leading scientists of the [[American Museum of Natural History]] in [[New York City]] debated the threat posed by sharks before and after the 1916 Jersey Shore attacks]]
Academics were skeptical that a shark could produce fatal wounds on human victims. Ichthyologist [[Henry Weed Fowler]] and curator Henry Skinner of the [[Academy of Natural Sciences]] in Philadelphia asserted that a shark's [[mandible|jaws]] did not have the power to sever a human leg in a single bite.<ref>Fernicola, ''Twelve Days of Terror'', pp. xxvi–xxviii.</ref> Frederic Lucas, director of the [[American Museum of Natural History]], questioned whether a shark even as large as 30&nbsp;feet (9&nbsp;m) could snap a human bone. He told ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' in early 1916 that "it is beyond the power even of the largest [[Great white shark|Carcharodon]] to sever the leg of an adult man." 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."<ref>Frederic Lucas, quoted in Fernicola, ''Twelve Days of Terror'', p. xxx.</ref>
The Jersey Shore attacks prompted scientists in the United States to revise their assumptions that sharks were timid and powerless. In July 1916, ichthyologist and editor for the National Geographic Society [[Hugh McCormick Smith]] published an article in the ''[[The Star-Ledger|Newark Star-Eagle]]'' describing some shark species as "harmless as doves and others the incarnation of ferocity." He continued, "One of the most prodigious, and perhaps the most formidable of sharks is the man-eater, ''[[great white shark|Carcharodon carcharias]]'' [great white]. It roams through all temperate and tropical seas, and everywhere is an object of dread. Its maximum length is forty feet and its teeth are three inches (76 mm)  long."<ref>Hugh M. Smith, "Great Shark May Have Swallowed [[Jonah]]: Scientist Shows Biblical 'Great Fish' Has Counterpart in Present-Day Monster," ''Newark Star-Eagle'', quoted in Fernicola, ''Twelve Days of Terror'', p. 160.</ref>
By the end of July 1916, John Nichols and Robert Murphy were taking the great white more seriously. In ''[[Scientific American]]'', Murphy wrote that the "white shark is perhaps the rarest of all noteworthy sharks&nbsp;... their habits are little known, but they are said to feed to some extent on big sea turtles&nbsp;... Judging from its physical make-up, it would not hesitate to attack a man in open water." He concluded that "because it is evident that even a relatively small white shark, weighing two or three hundred pounds, might readily snap the largest human bones by a jerk of its body, after it has bitten through the flesh."<ref>Murphy, ''Scientific American'', July 1916, quoted in Fernicola, ''Twelve Days of Terror'', 171.</ref>
Robert Murphy and John Nichols wrote in October 1916:
{{blockquote|There is something peculiarly sinister in the shark's make-up. The sight of his dark, lean [dorsal] fin lazily cutting zig-zags in the surface of some quiet, sparkling summer sea, and then slipping out of sight not to appear again, suggests an evil spirit. His leering, chinless face, his great mouth with its rows of knife-like teeth, which he knows too well to use on the fisherman's gear; the relentless fury with which, when his last hour has come, he thrashes on deck and snaps at his enemies; his toughness, his brutal, nerveless vitality and insensibility to physical injury, fail to elicit the admiration one feels for the dashing, brilliant, destructive, gastronomic [[bluefish]], [[tuna|tunny]], or [[salmon]].<ref>Murphy and Nichols, ''Brooklyn Museum Science Bulletin'', quoted in Capuzzo, ''Close to Shore'', p. 285.</ref>}}
After the Matawan attacks, Frederic Lucas admitted on the front page of ''The New York Times'' that he had underestimated sharks. The paper reported that "the foremost authority on sharks in this country has doubted that any shark ever attacked a human being, and has published his doubts, but the recent cases have changed his view."<ref name=many>{{cite news |title=Many See Sharks, But All Get Away. Matawan's Population, With Weapons And Dynamite, Seek Man-Eater That Killed Two. Science Admits Its Error. No Longer Doubted That Big Fish Attack Men. New Theories As To Why Coast Is Now Infested.  |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1916/07/14/104681679.pdf |quote=Matawan Creek, the little stream in which two swimmers were killed by a shark and another severely bitten on Wednesday, was alive with sharks yesterday, according to the scores of men who went out to hunt them with rifles, shotguns, boat hooks, harpoons, pikes, and dynamite. |newspaper=The New York Times |date=July 14, 1916|access-date=2007-08-21 }}</ref>  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.) White Shark. "Man-eater." Accidental in summer. June to July 14, 1916."<ref>John T. Nichols, ''Fishes of the Vicinity of New York City'', (New York: American Museum of Natural History, 1918), p. 101. See full text at the  [https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/1634152 Biodiversity Heritage Library].</ref>
==Cultural impact==
{{Multiple image|direction=vertical|align=right|image1=SharkCartoon.gif|image2=SharkCartoon2.jpg|width=180|caption1=Cartoon from the ''[[Philadelphia Bulletin|Philadelphia Evening Bulletin]]'' featuring [[Uncle Sam]] and a [[U-boat]] caricatured as a shark.|caption2=Cartoon commenting on a [[Victorian era]] bathing suit and its ability to frighten sharks}}
After the first fatality, [[Editorial cartoon|newspaper cartoonists]] began using sharks as caricatures for political figures, [[German U-boats]], [[Victorian morality]] and [[Victorian fashion|fashion]], [[polio]], and the deadly heat wave threatening the Northeast at the time. Fernicola notes, "Since 1916 was among the years that Americans were trying to break away from the rigidity and conservatism of the [[Victorian era|Victorian period]], one comic depicted a risqué polka-dot bathing suit and advertised it as the secret weapon to keep sharks away from our swimmers." Another cartoon depicted "an exasperated individual at the end of a dock that displays a 'Danger: No Swimming' sign and mentions the three most emphasized 'danger' topics of the day: 'Infantile Paralysis (polio), Epidemic Heat Wave, and Sharks in the Ocean'." The cartoon is entitled "What's a Family Man to Do?"<ref>Fernicola, ''Twelve Days of Terror'', p. 27.</ref> With World War I ongoing in 1916 and America's growing distrust of Germany, cartoonists depicted U-boats with the mouth and fins of a shark assaulting [[Uncle Sam]] while he wades in the water.<ref>Fernicola, ''Twelve Days of Terror'', p. 33.</ref>
In 1974, writer [[Peter Benchley]] published ''[[Jaws (novel)|Jaws]]'', a novel about a rogue great white shark that terrorizes the fictional Long Island coastal community of Amity. Chief of police Martin Brody, biologist Matt Hooper, and fisherman Quint hunt the shark after it kills four people. The novel was adapted as the film ''[[Jaws (film)|Jaws]]'' by [[Steven Spielberg]] in 1975. Spielberg's film references the events of 1916: Brody ([[Roy Scheider]]) and Hooper ([[Richard Dreyfuss]]) urge Amity's Mayor Vaughn ([[Murray Hamilton]]) to close the beaches on the [[Independence Day (United States)|Fourth of July]] after the deaths of two swimmers and a fisherman. Hooper explains to the mayor, "Look, the situation is that apparently a great white shark has staked a claim in the waters off Amity Island. And he's going to continue to feed here as long as there is food in the water." Brody adds, "And there's no limit to what he's gonna do! I mean we've already had three incidents, two people killed inside of a week. And it's gonna happen again, it happened before! The Jersey beach!&nbsp;... 1916! Five people chewed up on the surf!"<ref>''Jaws'', dir. Steven Spielberg (Universal Pictures, 1975).</ref> Richard Ellis, Richard Fernicola, and [[Michael Capuzzo]] all suggest that the 1916 Jersey Shore attacks, Coppleson's rogue shark theory, and the exploits of New York fisherman [[Frank Mundus]] inspired Benchley.<ref>Ellis, ''Book of Sharks'', p. 209; Fernicola, ''Twelve Days of Terror'', p. 180; Capuzzo, ''Close to Shore'', p. 297.</ref>
The 1916 fatal attacks are the subject of three studies: Richard G. Fernicola's ''In Search of the "Jersey Man-Eater"'' (1987) and ''[[Twelve Days of Terror]]'' (2001), and Michael Capuzzo's ''[[Close to Shore]]'' (2001). Capuzzo offers an in-depth dramatization of the incident, and Fernicola examines the scientific, medical, and social aspects of the attacks.<ref>Adam Dunn, "Review: A biting history on the roots of 'Jaws'," review of ''Close to Shore'', [http://archives.cnn.com/2001/SHOWBIZ/books/07/03/review.close.to.shore/index.html CNN.com] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071016163723/http://archives.cnn.com/2001/SHOWBIZ/books/07/03/review.close.to.shore/index.html |date=2007-10-16 }}; last accessed July 28, 2007.</ref><ref>Lane Hartill, "My, what nice teeth you have," ''[[The Christian Science Monitor]]'', June 21, 2001, p. 16.</ref> Fernicola's research is the basis of an episode of the [[History (U.S. TV channel)|History Channel]]'s [[documentary film|documentary]] series ''In Search of History'' titled "Shark Attack 1916" (2001) and the [[Discovery Channel]]'s [[docudrama]] ''[[12 Days of Terror]]'' (2004).<ref>''Shark Attack 1916'', dir. David Ackroyd, ''In Search of&nbsp;...'' (A&E Television, 2001).</ref><ref>''12 Days of Terror'', dir. Jack Sholder (Discovery Fox Television, 2004).</ref> Fernicola also wrote and directed a 90-minute documentary called ''Tracking the Jersey Man-Eater''. It was produced by the George Marine Library in 1991; however, it was never widely released.<ref>''Tracking the Jersey Man-Eater'', dir. Richard G. Fernicola (George Marine Library, 1991).</ref>
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;<ref name="NGC"/> [[Discovery Channel]]'s ''[[Blood in the Water (2009 film)|Blood in the Water]]'' (2009); ''Shore Thing'' (2009) (directed by Lovari and James Hill); and the Smithsonian Channel's ''The Real Story: Jaws'' (2011).<ref name="SC"/>
==See also==
*[[List of fatal shark attacks in the United States]]
*[[Summer of the Shark]]
*[[2010 Sharm El Sheikh shark attacks]]
{{clear}}
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==Bibliography==
* {{cite book |last=Allen |first=Thomas B. |author-link=Thomas B. Allen (author) |date=1996 |orig-date=1963 |title=Shadows in the Sea: The Sharks, Skates, and Rays |url= |location= Guilford, Connecticut |publisher=The Lyons Press |page= |isbn=1-55821-518-2}}
* {{cite book |last=Capuzzo |first=Michael |author-link=Michael Capuzzo |date=2001 |title=Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in an Age of Innocence |url= |location=New York |publisher=Broadway Books |page= |isbn=978-0-7679-0413-1 }}
* {{cite book |last=Ellis |first=Richard |author-link=Richard Ellis (biologist) |date=1983 |title=The Book of Sharks |url= |location=San Diego |publisher=Harcourt Brace Jovanovich |page= |isbn=0-15-613552-3}}
* {{cite book |last=Fernicola |first=Richard G. |date=2002 |title=[[Twelve Days of Terror|Twelve Days of Terror: A Definitive Investigation of the 1916 New Jersey Shark Attacks]] |url= |location=Guilford, Connecticut |publisher=The Lyons Press |page= |isbn=1-58574-575-8}}
==Further reading==
* Fernicola, Richard G. ''In Search of the "Jersey Man-Eater": An Exhaustive Investigation of the Infamous Shark Attacks that Plagued the New Jersey Shore during the Summer of 1916.'' Deal, N.J.: George Marine Library, 1986. {{oclc|16678080}}
* Fleming, Thomas J. ''New Jersey: A History''. New York: W. W. Norton, 1984. {{ISBN|0-393-30180-X}}.
* Genovese, Peter. ''The Jersey Shore Uncovered: A Revealing Season on the Beach''. New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, 2003. {{ISBN|0-8135-3315-5}}.
* Henderson, Helen. ''Matawan and Aberdeen: Of Town and Field''. Charleston, S.C.: Arcadia Publishing, 2003. {{ISBN|0-7385-2403-4}}.
* May, Nathaniel. ''Shark: Stories of Life and Death from the World's Most Dangerous Waters''. New York: Thunder's Mouth Press, 2002. {{ISBN|1-56025-397-5}}.
* Nichols, John T. ''Fishes of the vicinity of New York city, by John Treadwell Nichols, with an introduction by William K. Gregory''. New York, Printed at the Museum, 1918.  https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography/1951.
* Stansfield, Charles A., Jr. ''Vacationing on the Jersey Shore: The Past and Present, with a Guide to the Beach Resorts''. Mechanicsburg, Penn.: Stackpole Books, 2004. {{ISBN|0-8117-2970-2}}.
==External links==
{{Commons category}}
{{Spoken Wikipedia|En-Jersey_Shore_shark_attacks_of_1916.ogg|date=2007-09-06}}
* [http://richard.arthur.norton.googlepages.com/newjerseysharkattack Jersey Shore shark attacks of 1916 bibliography] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090807043548/http://richard.arthur.norton.googlepages.com/newjerseysharkattack |date=2009-08-07 }}
* [http://www.unmuseum.org/rogue_shark_1.htm Jersey Shore Attacks of 1916] at UnMuseum.org
* [https://archive.org/details/SpokenVersionOfThejerseyShoreSharkAttacksOf1916FromEn.wikipedia.org Listen to this article or download mp3 of ''Jersey Shore shark attacks of 1916'' from the Internet Archive]
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