ADVERTISEMENT

OT: The 1916 NJ Shark Attack Centennial is Upon Us

I have read Close to Shore and 12 Days of Terror, along with the newest book "Stanley Fisher, hero of a bygone era".
I like 12 Days of Terror best, but Close to Shore a close second.

Some neat RU related trivia--- Garret Hobarth, Rutgers grad and Vice President (Who died and allowed T Roosevelt to eventually become president) went to the same private school in Matawan as Stanley Fisher (the guy who jumped in the creek in Matawan trying to recover the body of Lester Stillwell).

Joseph Dunn, who'sleg was bitten in Keyport just shortly after Lester Stillwell and Fisher were attacked, survived and was cared for at St. Peter's in New Brunswick.

Ive been to the creek where the attacks on Stillwell and Fisher took place and to the Cemetary where they are buried. Very interesting story.
 
As a Matawan grad, I swam in both lakes many time and was never attacked by a shark.
 
[http://www.stuffyoushouldknow.com/podcasts/shark-diaries/[/QUOTE]

I believe somebody had the shark stuffed and was displaying it for $$$. But shortly thereafter, the shark disappeared. Nobody knows what happened to it.

The shark itself was pulled into a small boat in the Raritan Bay and whacked to death with paddles by two fisherman with the shark snapping at them in the boat. Supposedly, this was the inspiration for the final scenes in "Jaws" when the shark is on laying on the stern and Quint slides into his mouth.
 
I have read Close to Shore and 12 Days of Terror, along with the newest book "Stanley Fisher, hero of a bygone era".
I like 12 Days of Terror best, but Close to Shore a close second.

Some neat RU related trivia--- Garret Hobarth, Rutgers grad and Vice President (Who died and allowed T Roosevelt to eventually become president) went to the same private school in Matawan as Stanley Fisher (the guy who jumped in the creek in Matawan trying to recover the body of Lester Stillwell).

Joseph Dunn, who'sleg was bitten in Keyport just shortly after Lester Stillwell and Fisher were attacked, survived and was cared for at St. Peter's in New Brunswick.

Ive been to the creek where the attacks on Stillwell and Fisher took place and to the Cemetary where they are buried. Very interesting story.

Some "me" related trivia - I have a beach condo that is about 200 feet from where the shark conducted its first attack in 1916.
 
never forget...

JAWS19.jpg
 
I have read Close to Shore and 12 Days of Terror, along with the newest book "Stanley Fisher, hero of a bygone era".
I like 12 Days of Terror best, but Close to Shore a close second.

Some neat RU related trivia--- Garret Hobarth, Rutgers grad and Vice President (Who died and allowed T Roosevelt to eventually become president) went to the same private school in Matawan as Stanley Fisher (the guy who jumped in the creek in Matawan trying to recover the body of Lester Stillwell).

Joseph Dunn, who'sleg was bitten in Keyport just shortly after Lester Stillwell and Fisher were attacked, survived and was cared for at St. Peter's in New Brunswick.

Ive been to the creek where the attacks on Stillwell and Fisher took place and to the Cemetary where they are buried. Very interesting story.
This is where the FDNY Shark team took their maiden voyage. Funny story on how that came about.

But we decided to drop anchor when we saw the bar known as the Blue Rock Cafe. LOL

Wife's family is from Matawan and it was a big deal in school growing up.

When my Grandmother came over from Ireland she worked at the Essex and Sussex as a Chambermaid around that time.

Author of "Twelve days..." (who is from Matawan) spoke in Spring Lake last night. Too tired from work to go.
 
  • Like
Reactions: #1 RUFan
This is where the FDNY Shark team took their maiden voyage. Funny story on how that came about.

But we decided to drop anchor when we saw the bar known as the Blue Rock Cafe. LOL

Wife's family is from Matawan and it was a big deal in school growing up.

When my Grandmother came over from Ireland she worked at the Essex and Sussex as a Chambermaid around that time.

Author of "Twelve days..." (who is from Matawan) spoke in Spring Lake last night. Too tired from work to go.

I work security at Matawan HS, and you're right, still talked about in the school system. During their art show, a lot of the kids used the attack as their theme. Pretty nice work too.
And no doubt, gotta hit the Blue Rock for a bite and a brew.
 
Remember seeing quite a few shark programs that always refer to the attacks. Seemed to be a difference of opinion as to the species, i.e.; bull or great white.
Whatever the case, real horror and bravery.
 
Agree - highly recommend 12 days of terror. Want to read close to shore. Gonna pick that up. It's pretty incredible. The train I take to the city goes over the water where the shark must have swam in from the bay. I think about that often as I go over the water. It's a crazy story and so close to home. This was the inspiration for the book/Movie Jaws.
 
  • Like
Reactions: VW Knight
Bull sharks can survive in fresh water. Don't think great whites can.
The theory of some was that the moon was full or close to it, with higher tides and salinity levels leading to the possibility that a "rogue" great white could have got lost in the creek and be desperate for food.

Also, a great white was caught shortly after the Matawan attacks that was said to have had human remains inside (although never scientifically tested/proven to be true).
 
Agree - highly recommend 12 days of terror. Want to read close to shore. Gonna pick that up. It's pretty incredible. The train I take to the city goes over the water where the shark must have swam in from the bay. I think about that often as I go over the water. It's a crazy story and so close to home. This was the inspiration for the book/Movie Jaws.
The movie Jaws, they story on how Peter Benchley go the idea for Jaws and this incident were also the inspiration for the FDNY Shark team.
 
The theory of some was that the moon was full or close to it, with higher tides and salinity levels leading to the possibility that a "rogue" great white could have got lost in the creek and be desperate for food.

Also, a great white was caught shortly after the Matawan attacks that was said to have had human remains inside (although never scientifically tested/proven to be true).

We've had this conversation here, before.

Somewhere (it was posted in a previous thread) is a picture of the shark in question, with the two guys who caught it.

It is not a great white.

And, as you pointed out, the contents of its stomach were never conclusively analyzed.

My theory has always been "bull shark". Assuming the shark in the picture is the shark involved in the attacks, it's not all that big. It's big enough to be an adult bull, and bull sharks are very well known to frequent brackish waters. If it were a tiger shark or a great white it would have to be very young based on size. It would be extremely rare to have a juvenile of either species so far inshore and, as has been observed, great whites just don't do it. It doesn't fit their hunting profile, since they are almost exclusively sight hunters.
 
We've had this conversation here, before.

Somewhere (it was posted in a previous thread) is a picture of the shark in question, with the two guys who caught it.

It is not a great white.

And, as you pointed out, the contents of its stomach were never conclusively analyzed.

My theory has always been "bull shark". Assuming the shark in the picture is the shark involved in the attacks, it's not all that big. It's big enough to be an adult bull, and bull sharks are very well known to frequent brackish waters. If it were a tiger shark or a great white it would have to be very young based on size. It would be extremely rare to have a juvenile of either species so far inshore and, as has been observed, great whites just don't do it. It doesn't fit their hunting profile, since they are almost exclusively sight hunters.


Here is the photo
.
sharkschleissera.jpg


That is the shark that Michael Schleisser and John Murphy caught in Raritan Bay, which in both Close to Shore and 12 Days of Terror is considered a great white. The shark was cut open at the dock and bone fragments were in the stomach. A physician at the dock identified the bones as human and they were later sent to the museum of natural history and confirmed to be human. No one will ever know if they were the bones of the shark attack victims or were scavenged body parts. Also, Schleisser took the shark around the world to show it off and no one knows what ever happened to it.

That summer there were many sharks caught with great white pups in their stomach in and around Rartian bay. Fernicola mentions that many times in the book. In fact, he thinks that might be a solid reason why there were many attacks that summer. Pups were close to shore and other larger Sharks were drawn in to feed off of them. There was an overfishing of menhaden that year and may have very likely drawn in bigger sharks to feed in Keyport bay.

Fernicola presents a strong argument that it was in fact a white shark. He notes that the Matawan Creek was saltier back then, plus the full moon and higher tides... and back then, the creek was much wider and deeper than it is now. Also, all of the attacks stopped after Schleisser captured that 7.5ft 350 great white shark.
He also hints at the idea of a rogue shark that was lost, confused and desperate for food. All of the attacks happened around the same time of day and have some other similarities.

Capuzzo hints more at a bull shark solution.

Truth is, we will never know. The shark that was caught is gone and the bone fragments are lost as well. The only slight chance we would have would be to exhume the bodies of the victims and have modern scientists look at bone fragments, but even that would be a long shot and probably will never happen.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Peteyd
Bull sharks can survive in fresh water. Don't think great whites can.
Correct, plus don't know how educated any normal person was concerning bull sharks and the ability to survive in fresh water. Most have probably heard of the great white.
Incidentally, Zane Grey, the author, held the world record for the largest Great White caught on rod and reel. Probably broken by now.
 
I had a couple of indirect connections to two more recent NJ attacks:

1) The victim (lived) of the 1960 Sea Girt attack lived nearby and his son graduated HS the year before me.
2) Later said to be from a "surfboard" used to swim on the street of an "attack" in Surf City (17th Street). Intl shark attack file has it as an attack. Elsewhere no.

Yes bull sharks can live in fresh water. First heard of a bull shark on a New Hampshire Lake. Later on "The X-Files". Later, on "River Monsters" Bull sharks living in the Potomac River were dscussed.
 
On a serious note I lived in Southern California from 1987-1992. I remember listening to the news about two graduate students from UCLA or Pepperdine University kayaking 125-150 yards off shore when they were attacked by a great white. There was one eye witness, a student walking on the beach noticed violent thrashing that lasted for over 10 minutes. Close to the accident was a little island about 250 yards off shore where seals congregated on and bred. Great Whites hunted them mercilessly, sometimes close enough for beach dwellers to see and that is exactly what the eye witness thought was happening. Well, the girls body was found a day or two later half eaten and the young mans body was never found. The bite marks on his kayak pointed to a 16 foot great white and the bite marks on her kayak were totally different, a 14 foot great white. Two shark simultaneously attacked both kayaks and eating and devouring him and tearing her to shreds. You can google the attack in 1988.
 
Last edited:
I work security at Matawan HS, and you're right, still talked about in the school system. During their art show, a lot of the kids used the attack as their theme.

Something about sharks really resonates with people. Jonah and the Whale story has often been described as symbolic of monsters/demons that lurk beneath awareness in the "sea" of the subconscious. Monsters that can consume someone unaware. I think sharks have that vibe - especially with the Jaws music lol.

As a HS freshman I caught a 300 lb hammerhead off the coast of Miami. I placed in a shark tournament I didn't even know was happening (I was on boat hired by IBM for a convention). A photo of shark was sent to local paper just as Jaws was released. I was a mini celeb locally for 6 months. Not long ago I went downtown on a visit home and some anon guy yelled "Yo shark catcher!".
 
Something about sharks really resonates with people. Jonah and the Whale story has often been described as symbolic of monsters/demons that lurk beneath awareness in the "sea" of the subconscious. Monsters that can consume someone unaware. I think sharks have that vibe - especially with the Jaws music lol.

As a HS freshman I caught a 300 lb hammerhead off the coast of Miami. I placed in a shark tournament I didn't even know was happening (I was on boat hired by IBM for a convention). A photo of shark was sent to local paper just as Jaws was released. I was a mini celeb locally for 6 months. Not long ago I went downtown on a visit home and some anon guy yelled "Yo shark catcher!".

Totally agree, it does resonate. In the water it's you and the shark, in his element. Odds are stacked against you. If he wants you bad enough game over.

Pretty cool story about the hammerhead. And proof in point. You were a mini celeb and over the fact that you caught a shark. That somehow always is an attention grabber.
 
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT