Shark attacks on the New Jersey coast in 1916
Four people were killed and one injured by sharks during the shark attacks on the New Jersey coast from July 1 to July 12, 1916 . The attacks came at a time when thousands of bathers were visiting coastal towns on the Atlantic coast of New Jersey due to a heat wave and polio epidemic . Shark attacks on humans on the Atlantic coast north of North Carolinaare still an exception today. Before the attacks in the summer of 1916, it was assumed that swimmers would not be exposed to any danger from sharks on these sections of the coast. Since 1916, scientists have been discussing which species of shark was responsible for the attacks, whether the attacks came from more than one shark and which factors led to this increase in attacks.
The shark attacks on New Jersey's coast had a direct and long-term impact on American popular culture: sharks, whose characteristic shape until then only few had imagined, very quickly became a widely understood symbol of danger . In 1974 the writer Peter Benchley processed the incidents in his novel Jaws . This novel was filmed under the same title in 1975 by Steven Spielberg and is considered a classic of the horror film genre . The shark attacks have also been the subject of several documentaries , from the History Channel , Discovery Channel, and National Geographic Channel .
Historical background
The summer of 1916 was one of the first when large numbers of people were on beaches in the United States. Bathing or swimming in the open ocean was now widely regarded as a socially accepted and healthy leisure activity. A polio epidemic rampant in the cities and a heat wave prompted many families to retreat to the seaside resorts on the east coast. It was no longer just the affluent classes who could afford a stay in the seaside resorts on the coast. Since 1880 the standard of living of the working class had improved significantly. Higher incomes and improved rail links enabled them to take day trips to nearby amusement parks and beaches on Coney Island and the New Jersey coastline. Thousands traveled from major cities on the east coast to seaside resorts such as Long Branch , Asbury Park , Ocean Grove, and Atlantic City .
On the other hand, wealthier families often stayed on the coast for several weeks. Wives and children often stayed in seaside resorts on the Atlantic coast throughout the summer to avoid the stifling summer heat in Philadelphia and New York. The husbands went about their work during the week and only joined their families on the weekends. However, many of those who were on the beaches could not swim. Bathing sections were often marked by loose ropes. They were attached to poles that were rammed into the ground in shallow beach areas. The bathers could hold on to it and let the waves carry them along. As Fanny dunking or background diving were referred to this special form of bathing.
Very few bathers considered sharks to be a serious threat. Most Americans also had a poor idea of what a shark looked like. Occasionally a picture appeared in a newspaper or stories and novels such as Herman Melville's Moby-Dick or Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea were illustrated with drawings of sharks. Prior to 1916, American scientists also doubted that sharks would attack a living human in the coastal waters of temperate climates without provocation. That in the tropical coastal waters of the West Indies , the Hawaiian Islands and the Fiji had fallen human shark attacks a victim, you knew though; however, these were dismissed as anomalies. The shark attacks during the twelve days of July in the summer of 1916 therefore surprised and shocked tourists and scientists alike.
The individual shark attacks
From July 1 to July 12, 1916, sharks attacked five people on the New Jersey coast, only one of whom survived the attack.
The attack on Charles Vansant
The first incident occurred on Saturday, July 1, 1916, on the beach in the small seaside resort of Beach Haven on Long Beach Island off the south coast of New Jersey. The victim of the attack was Charles Epting Vansant, 25, from Philadelphia, who was vacationing at the Engleside Hotel with his parents and three sisters. Charles Vansant wanted a swim in the ocean before dinner. A Chesapeake Bay Retriever , with whom Charles Vansant had previously played on the beach, accompanied the young man into the water, and both swam further out than the rest of the bathers. When Charles Vansant turned around and swam back towards the beach, he suddenly began to scream loudly. Fellow bathers were initially convinced that his calls were directed at the dog; they only rushed to his aid when the water around him began to turn red. Alexander Ott was the first to reach the young man, who at the time was in a water depth of a little more than a meter and desperately defended himself against the shark. When Alexander Ott began to pull the seriously injured Charles Vansant towards the beach, the shark attacked again and bit Charles Vansant's hip. Only when several men succeeded in pulling Charles Vansant near the shore did the animal let go of its victim. Alexander Ott later described the shark as dark and about ten feet long and estimated it to weigh 500 pounds. Charles Vansant died of severe blood loss an hour after he was pulled out of the water.
Despite the incident, the beaches on the New Jersey coast initially remained open. This was due to the fact that the press only reported about the incident two days later and in a cautious manner. For the first time in US history, a death certificate named shark bite as the cause of death; however, there was by no means consensus that Charles Vansant had actually been the victim of a shark attack. Also suspected were a tuna fish or a large sea turtle , whose jaws, according to fishermen, were strong enough to cut a person with their bite.
The attack on Charles brother
The second shark attack occurred on Thursday, July 6, 1916, about 72 kilometers further north on the beach at the seaside resort of Spring Lake . The victim was Charles' brother, 28, an employee of the Essex & Sussex Hotel in Spring Lake. The former soldier in the Swiss Army was an experienced swimmer who had worked in a hotel on the California coast the previous year and had regularly swam among sharks there. While on the beach, the two lifeguards Christopher Anderson and George White Charles brother pointed out the shark attack on the beach in front of Beach Haven. Charles' brother replied to her warning that in his experience sharks would flee swimmers.
The shark attack came when Charles brother was 120 meters from the beach. The injuries he sustained were serious. The shark tore a piece of meat from the right side of his abdomen and severed both legs at knee level. Alarmed by a woman, the two lifeguards rushed to his aid in a boat and were able to pull the seriously injured man out of the water. However, Charles' brother had already bled to death before they reached the beach with him. According to a report in the New York Times on July 7, 1916, people on the bank reacted in panic. Women passed out at the mutilated body. For the first time, shark alarms were given along the coast. The ichthyologist John Treadwell Nichols , who examined Charles brother's corpse, ruled out that a shark was able to sever the legs of an adult and living human with a bite. He suspected that Charles's brother had been attacked by an orca .
The attacks in Matawan Creek
The last three shark attacks occurred on July 12 in Matawan Creek , a tidal river near the city of Matawan , New Jersey . Located 22 miles northeast of Spring Lake and two miles inland from the coast, this town is not a seaside resort. Matawan's geographic location made a shark attack extremely unlikely.
The first to see a shark in the Matawan Creek stream was retired Captain Thomas Cottrell. He estimated the animal he was watching to be about 2.4 meters long. However, he found no faith among the townspeople whom he warned not to bathe in Matawan Creek. The shark's first attack occurred at two o'clock in the afternoon. A group of six boys were bathing in Matawan Creek when they suddenly saw something large swimming towards them. One of them later compared the color of the shark to that of an old wooden board that had been lying in the water for a long time. The boys fled the water in panic. However, the shark was able to grab twelve-year-old Lester Stillwell and pull him under the water.
The boys who managed to save themselves on the bank immediately went to town for help. Several men first searched for the body of Lester Stillwell from boats for an hour. Eventually, despite warnings from those gathered on the bank, two of the men, George Burley and 24-year-old Stanley Fisher, began to dive for the body in the watercourse. After another half an hour, Stanley Fisher found Lester Stillwell's body. However, when he showed up with the mutilated corpse, the shark attacked him too. By the time the other men were able to come to his aid, the shark had seriously injured his right hip and right thigh. The shark only let go of the violently struggling Stanley Fisher when he got hold of the body of Lester Stillwell. Although Stanley Fisher was still being rushed to hospital, he bled to death in the late afternoon. The remains of Lester Stillwell were later found 46 meters further upstream.
The fifth victim was, according to sources, 12 to 14-year-old Joseph Dunn, who was attacked by the shark half an hour after the attack on Stanley Fisher. Although less than a kilometer downstream from the site of the two previous attacks, he and his fellow bathers had not heard of the incidents. Joseph Dunn was fortunate that at the moment of the attack, men arrived at the bathing area to warn residents about the shark. They were able to drag the boy out of the water and onto the boat dock, leaving him with severe flesh wounds on his left leg. He then spent two months in the hospital.
Reactions
The extensive coverage of the American media caused panic reactions along the east coast. After the first attack, scientists and the press reacted cautiously, reluctantly attributing the death of Charles Vansant to a shark. For example, the New York Times wrote of Vansant's death that he had been seriously bitten by a fish, possibly a shark, in the surf. The headline the article was headed was "Death After Fish Attack" . The responsible State Fish Commissioner of Pennsylvania and former head of the Philadelphia Aquarium James M. Meehan assured in the Philadelphia Public Ledger that the shark only accidentally attacked Charles Vansant. The target of his attack was actually the dog that accompanied Charles Vansant while swimming. James M. Meehan made it very clear that sharks are not a threat to humans:
“Despite the death of Charles Vansant and the report that two sharks were caught near the scene of the accident, I believe that there is no reason why people should not swim on the beach for fear of cannibals. There is a lot of information on sharks and I don't think Vansant was attacked by an ogre. Vansant was playing with a dog in the surf and it was believed that a smaller shark got into this area during high tide and was unable to swim out to sea before the tide came out. Restricted in its freedom of movement and hungry, the shark attacked the dog and only accidentally caught the man. "
The press reaction to the second attack was much stronger. Major American newspapers such as the Boston Herald , the Chicago Sun-Times , Philadelphia Inquirer , Washington Post, and the San Francisco Chronicle reported attacks on the front page. The New York Times report this time was headed with the words Shark Kills Bathers on New Jersey Beaches. This news had far-reaching economic consequences for the seaside resorts on the coast. At the end of June 1916 the hotels were still fully booked; after the second attack, guests began to leave early and cancel their bookings. Sales in some seaside resorts fell by 75 percent. At a press conference convened on July 8 at the American Museum of Natural History , three scientists, Frederic Augustus Lucas , John Treadwell Nichols, and Robert Cushman Murphy, answered questions from the press. To counter the emerging panic, the three scientists emphasized how unlikely a third attack was. They also expressed surprise that sharks had attacked in the first place. Nichols, the only ichthyologist among the three scientists, advised swimmers to stay near the shore and limit themselves to swimming in the bathing areas, where nets protected against attack by sharks.
After the initial attacks, shark sightings were reported along the entire stretch of coast from Rocky Point, New York, to Jacksonville, Florida. On July 8, men patrolled the banks of Spring Creek in motorboats and later reported that they had successfully driven away what they believed was a shark. Asbury Park beach was closed after lifeguard Benjamin Everingham claimed he had to fend off a 3.5 meter long shark with an oar. Actress Gertrude Hoffman was swimming on Coney Island Beach shortly after the Matawan Creek incidents when she said a shark swam toward her. The New York Times later wrote that Gertrude Hoffmann had the presence of mind to recall the advice previously published. These claimed that a swimmer could drive a shark away if it hit the water loud enough. She later admitted that she was not sure whether it was really a serious shark attack.
The individual communities along the coast introduced a series of measures to protect bathers and their local tourism-dependent economy at the same time. A bathing area in Asbury Park was secured with steel nets. This stretch of beach remained the only one not closed to swimmers after the Everingham lifeguard met a shark. Motorboats with an armed crew patrolled outside these separated areas. In the meantime, attempts were made in Matawan Creek to use nets and dynamite to catch and kill any sharks that might be found in the creek. The mayor of Matawan offered a reward of 100 USD for every shark killed in Matawan Creek. Despite this reward, the catchers were unsuccessful. The United States House of Representatives granted the affected communities a total of USD 5,000 in support payments (equivalent to approximately USD 95,000 based on the purchasing power of the USD in 2007) to support the measures taken to reduce risk. US President Woodrow Wilson even made the shark attacks the subject of a cabinet meeting . William Gibbs McAdoo , of the Office of the Minister of Finance exercised, also suggested that the United States Coast Guard to use in order to protect Jersey coast along the New bathers from sharks. Shark hunts were organized along the coast of New York and New Jersey. Similar to the mayor of Matawan, other mayors and the governor of New Jersey offered rewards for killing sharks. As a result, hundreds of sharks were caught on the coast. In his description of the events of the summer of 1916, Richard Fernicola called the shark hunt on the east coast of the USA one of the largest animal hunts in history.
Shark species eligible for the 1916 attacks
The discussion in the summer of 1916
After the second attack, both the public and scientists began to discuss what species of shark was responsible for the attacks on the New Jersey coast, and whether it was a single animal or multiple sharks, possibly from different species.
Frederic Lucas and John Nichols suspected a single north-swimming shark with abnormal and aggressive behavior behind the attacks. They assumed that he would hike further north and there were two different routes to consider. Either the shark would cross New York Harbor and then travel north towards Long Island Sound, or it would swim along the south coast of Long Island and advance to Jamaica Bay.
Witnesses to the attack on Beach Haven had estimated the shark to be ten feet. A sea captain who witnessed the attack believed it was a sand tiger shark that had been driven from the Caribbean to the American coast by the naval battles of the Spanish-American War . Several fishermen caught sharks in the days after the attacks and declared their catch to be the shark responsible for the attacks. A blue shark was caught near Long Branch on July 14, 1916, and four days later Thomas Cottrell, who first noticed the shark in Matawan Creek, caught a sand shark near the estuary.
On July 14th, taxidermist and tamer Michael Schleisser caught a 150 pound and 2.3 meter long shark while on a fishing trip in Raritan Bay, just a few miles from the Matawan Creek estuary. Schleisser and his companion, John Murphy, had pulled a fishing net behind their motorboat to catch bait fish. The shark caught in the net offered fierce resistance; after initially pulling the small motorboat almost under water, he attacked the men in the boat. Schleisser was able to kill him with a broken oar. When he later cut open the shark in his workshop to stuff it, he found meat and bones in the stomach that Frederic Lucas and later other scientists identified as undoubtedly of human origin. Some doctors explained that under the bones there was part of a child's shin and a young man's rib. According to this, it could at least have been the remains of Lester Stillwell. However, Frederic Lucas contradicted this view. In his view, it was parts of the left forearm and lower ribs of a well-built man. The ichthyologist John Nichols clearly identified the shark as a not yet fully grown female great white shark . Even before the catch, John Nichols had increasingly suspected this species to be responsible for the attacks. He had sifted through documents from the 19th century and found, among other things, a report that a great great white shark had attacked a fishing boat off the coast of Massachusetts in the 1880s and killed several fishermen. Although the incident occurred at sea, it was sufficient evidence for John Nichols that great white sharks were occasionally found in the marine waters of the temperate climate zone.
Michael Schleisser exhibited the stuffed shark for a few days in the window of a shop on Broadway in New York. Nothing is known about the whereabouts of the trophy. The only surviving photo appeared in the Bronx Home News .
No further shark attacks along the New Jersey coast have been reported since Michael Schleisser was caught. A number of other alternatives have been discussed in newspapers' letters to the editor. In a letter to the editor to the New York Times , Barrett P. Smith wrote:
“I heard about the [Charles Brother] incident near Spring Lake NJ with interest. I would, however, like to propose an explanation that differs somewhat from the Haithese. In my opinion, it is not believable that a shark caused this. I think it is much more likely that a sea turtle was responsible for the attacks. I have spent long years at sea and along the coast, seeing sea turtles large enough to inflict such injuries on several occasions. These creatures have a vicious character and are extremely dangerous when irritated. I could imagine that [Charles] brother startled one when she slept or swam just below the surface of the water. "
In another letter to the editor to the New York Times , the presence of German submarines was blamed for the appearance of sharks off the American coast. The author, who remained anonymous, wrote:
“These sharks probably ate human carcasses in the waters of the German war zone and followed ocean cruisers to this coast. Perhaps they even followed [... the submarine] Germany itself in anticipation of the usual duty on drowning men, women and children. That would explain their audacity and their desire for human flesh. "
Possible shark species based on current knowledge
To date, there is no consensus on whether the conclusions drawn by Frederic Lucas and John Nichols are correct. Some of the people studying the incidents more closely include Thomas Helm, Harold W. McCormick, Thomas B. Allen, William Young, Jean Campbell Butler, and Michael Capuzzo, all of whom John Nichols and Frederic Lucas wrote for am who hold a single, not yet fully grown, great white shark responsible for the attacks. Richard Fernicola published two studies on the incidents of the summer of 1916 and came to the conclusion that there were several explanations, but they showed all possible points of attack. The National Geographic Society reported in 2002 that a number of experts had come to believe that great white sharks were regularly wrongly blamed for shark attacks. In many cases, including the infamous shark attacks of the summer of 1916, it could also have been bull sharks . Biologists George A. Llano and Richard Ellis also hold bull sharks responsible for the attacks on the New Jersey coast. Bull sharks are more likely to invade the brackish water around the estuary of rivers and have attacked people around the world. In his 1975 book Sharks: Attacks on Man , George Llano stated that the distance to the sea was the most surprising aspect of the attacks in Matawan Creek. Richard Ellis also emphasizes that the great white shark is a type of shark that normally only lives in the open sea. It is extremely unusual, if not impossible, for this species of shark to enter brackish estuaries. Bull sharks, on the other hand, are notorious for their penetration into freshwater and their belligerent and aggressive behavior. Although they are not a common species in the waters off the New Jersey coast, they are much more common than great white sharks.
However, on September 21, 2004, a great white shark invaded an estuary system on Martha's Vineyard , the island on which the shooting of The Great White Shark had taken place. The island is located approximately 320 km northeast of Matawan Creek. The shark had to be driven back to sea by humans.
In an interview with Michael Capuzzo, ichthyologist George H. Burgess argued that the great white shark cannot be acquitted of the attacks:
“The bull shark theory is supported by many because the name Matawan Creek suggests brackish or fresh water. This is a habitat where bull sharks can be found, but great white sharks avoid them. However, our investigations have shown that this watercourse is quite similar to a marine habitat in terms of water depth and salinity and that its size is such that a smaller great white shark could easily migrate into this watercourse. Since shortly after the attacks near [this watercourse] a correspondingly large great white shark with human remains in its stomach was caught and there were no further attacks, it seems likely that this shark was at least involved in the attacks in Matawan Creek. The chronological and local order of the attacks also suggest that it was the same shark in the previous attacks. "
In the International Shark Attack File - kept by George Burgess - the victims are also attributed to a great white shark.
Some scientists doubt that the attacks could only be attributed to a single shark. Richard Fernicola points out that 1916 was a "shark year" during which fishermen and seafarers repeatedly observed large concentrations of sharks in US Atlantic waters. Richard Ellis, on the other hand, considers it implausible and sensational to attribute the attacks to a "monster shark". However, he also points out that because of the poor evidence, none of the theories can be proven.
The 1916 Shark Attacks and Scientific Research
Before 1916, the majority of American scientists doubted that in temperate marine waters, a shark would attack a living person without provocation. Frederic Lucas wrote that there is a big difference between being attacked by a shark or just being bitten. Sharks bit people when they get caught in a fishing net or when they eat waste that has been thrown overboard and a person happens to come too close to them. In 1891, the wealthy banker and adventurer Hermann Oelrichs even offered a price of 500 USD if anyone could prove that a person had been attacked by a shark in marine waters of the temperate climate zone. The reward was never claimed. This was one of the reasons why scientists were convinced that only harmless sharks were found on North America's north east coast.
Scientists also questioned whether a shark could even develop the bite force necessary to inflict a fatal bite wound on a human. Ichthyologist Henry Weed Fowler and curator Henry Skinner of the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia questioned whether a shark could sever a human leg in one bite. This view was also held by Frederic Lucas, director of the American Museum of Natural History in New York City , until the attacks .
The attacks on the New Jersey coast forced scientists to revise their views on sharks as easily intimidating and unpowerful animals. As early as July 1916, the ichthyologist Hugh McCormick Smith published an article in which he drew a more nuanced picture of sharks: some are as harmless as pigeons, others the incarnation of savagery. He named the rare great white shark as a particularly impressive species of shark. After the attacks in Matawan Creek, Frederic Lucas admitted on the front page of the New York Times that he had previously underestimated sharks. The newspaper reported that the leading US scientist in the field of shark research had previously doubted that sharks had ever attacked a person and had expressed this view in various publications. However, recent events have led Lucas to change his mind. Robert Murphy published an article in Scientific American in July 1916 , in which he also emphasized the extraordinary power of great white sharks. They are said to have eaten large sea turtles, among other things. Based on their physical strength alone, they would probably not hesitate to attack a person in open water. He went on to say that it stood to reason that even a smaller great white shark weighing only two or three hundred pounds could easily break even the strongest human bone once it had bitten.
In October 1916, Robert Murphy and John Nichols published another article that indicated a marked change in attitudes towards sharks:
“There is something strangely eerie about the appearance of a shark. The sight of a dark, narrow dorsal fin that sluggishly zigzags through the surface of a calm, glittering lake and disappears again without reappearing elsewhere, is reminiscent of an evil spirit. The grinning, chinless face, the big mouth with its rows of knife-like teeth, […] the merciless fury with which he snaps around on the deck of a ship when his last hour has come, his tenacity and resilience, his brutal and cold-blooded one Vitality and his insensitivity to injuries ensure that one cannot show him the admiration that one feels for the dashing and sparkling blue fish , tuna fish or salmon . "
Impact on popular culture
After sharks had long been classified by a large part of the public as mostly harmless animals that should not be taken seriously, public perception turned to the other extreme in the weeks following the shark attacks of 1916. Sharks were now considered to be eating machines, fearless and ruthless killers. This simplistic view is still in part to this day.
After the first attack, cartoonists took up the topic very quickly and used sharks as symbols for all those things that could be perceived as threatening: German submarines, politicians, the rampant polio epidemic and the heat wave that killed the cities , were portrayed as sharks in newspaper cartoons. In particular, the German submarines, perceived by the American public as a danger, offered themselves to be marked with the mouth and fins of a shark. Another cartoon mocked a striped bathing gown that was perceived as boldly fashionable by hailing it as a secret weapon used to deter sharks. According to Richard Fernicola, this caricature also expresses the insecurity of a society that was still in the process of breaking away from the moral concepts and value system of the Victorian era .
In 1974 the writer Peter Benchley published his novel Jaws , which describes how a great white shark terrorizes a fictional coastal town on Amity Island . The events of the summer of 1916 were the inspiration for this novel. The novel was the basis for Steven Spielberg's film Jaws , in 1975 into the cinemas came and together with the film Star Wars , the blockbuster initiated era in Hollywood. In a film sequence, the film makes direct reference to the shark attacks of 1916: Police chief Brody, played by Roy Scheider , and the biologist Hooper, played by Richard Dreyfuss , call on the local mayor to follow suit from the deaths of two swimmers and a fisherman to pull and close the beaches. Brody adds to the biologist's analysis that a great white shark regards coastal waters as its territory, with the words:
“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! ... 1916! Five people chewed up on the surf! "
“We have already had three incidents, two of which were dead within a week. And it will happen again, we've had this before! Jersey 1916! Eaten five people in the surf! "
Peter Benchley also makes brief reference to the incidents of 1916 in his novel White Shark , published in 1994 .
Three non-fiction books have dealt with the incidents: Richard Fernicola's first book In Search of the “Jersey Man-Eater” was published in 1987. His second work, Twelve Days of Terror , came out in 2001. Michael Capuzzo's Close to Shore ( Eng . The Shark ), which was also published in 2001, is primarily concerned with the victims of the attacks in a mixture of documentary and novel. Richard Fernicola, on the other hand, examines above all the scientific, medical and social aspects of what happened at that time. Fernicola's investigations were the basis for a documentation of the History Channel, which ran in 2001 under the title Shark Attack 1916 and for a docudrama of the Discovery Channel , which was broadcast under the title 12 Days of Terror in 2004. Richard Fernicola also directed a 90 minute documentary called Tracking the Jersey Man-Eater , which he also wrote the script for. However, the documentation, which was produced by the George Marine Library, never aired and is no longer available today. In contrast, the documentary Attacks of the Mystery Shark by the National Geographic Channel from 2002 deals only with the attacks in Matawan Creek . This documentary primarily examines the question of whether it was a bull shark that killed Stanley Fisher and Lester Stillwell.
literature
- Michael Capuzzo: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in an Age of Innocence , Broadway Books, New York 2001, ISBN 0-7679-0413-3 // German edition: Der Hai (translated by Yvonne Badal). Bertelsmann, Munich 2002, ISBN 978-3-570-00601-6 .
- Richard G. Fernicola: 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. George Marine Library, Deal NJ 1986.
- Thomas J. Fleming: New Jersey: A History , WW Norton, New York 1984, ISBN 0-393-30180-X .
- Peter Genovese: The Jersey Shore Uncovered: A Revealing Season on the Beach , Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick NJ, ISBN 0-8135-3315-5 .
- Helen Henderson: Matawan and Aberdeen: Of Town and Field . Arcadia Publishing, Charleston SC 2003, ISBN 0-7385-2403-4 .
- Nathaniel May: Shark: Stories of Life and Death from the World's Most Dangerous Waters . Thunder's Mouth Press, New York 2002, ISBN 1-56025-397-5 .
- Charles A. Stansfield: Vacationing on the Jersey Shore: The Past and Present, with a Guide to the Beach Resorts . Stackpole Books, Mechanicsburg PA 2004, ISBN 0-8117-2970-2 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Fernicola: Twelve Days of Terror . P. xxxii, xxxvii of the introduction
- ↑ Fernicola: Twelve Days of Terror . P. xxxiv – xxxv of the introduction
- ↑ Michael Capuzzo: Close to Shore: A True Story of Terror in an Age of Innocence , Broadway Books, New York 2001, pages 17 and 27, ISBN 0-7679-0413-3 .
- ↑ Fernicola, Twelve Days of Terror , pp. Xxvi.
- ↑ Fernicola: Twelve Days of Terror . Pp. 1-9. Capuzzo: Close to Shore . Pp. 88-103; Thomas B. Allen, Shadows in the Sea: The Sharks, Skates, and Rays , The Lyons Press, Guilford, Connecticut 1996, ISBN 1-55821-518-2 , pp. 3-4.
- ↑ Capuzzo, Close to Shore , p. 102 f.
- ↑ Capuzzo: Close to Shore . P. 139 f.
- ↑ Fernicola: Twelve Days of Terror . Pp. 13-21 and page 29; Capuzzo: Close to Shore . Pp. 136-146 and pages 157-159; Allen, Shadows in the Sea , 4-6
- ↑ Fernicola: Twelve Days of Terror . Pp. 33-34
- ↑ Fernicola: Twelve Days of Terror . P. 45
- ↑ Fernicola: Twelve Days of Terror . Pp. 45-50
- ↑ Fernicola: Twelve Days of Terror . Pp. 45-56 and 83-84; Capuzzo: Close to Shore . Pp. 205-248; Allen, Shadows in the Sea , 8-12
- ↑ Fernicola: Twelve Days of Terror . Pp. 56-57, 158, 176; Allen, Shadows in the Sea , 12
- ↑ Capuzzo: Close to Shore . P. 269
- ↑ Fernicola: Twelve Days of Terror . P. 9.
- ↑ Dies After Attack By Fish . In: The New York Times , Jul 3, 1916, p. 18
- ↑ Fernicola: Twelve Days of Terror . Pp. 7-11.
- ^ Bathers Need Have No Fear of Sharks: Fish Expert Declares One That Killed Swimmer May Have Sought To Attack Dog . In: Philadelphia Public Ledger , quoted in Fernicola: Twelve Days of Terror . Pp. 9-10. The quote is in English: “Despite the death of Charles Vansant and the report that 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 attacked 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 attack the dog and snapped at the man in passing ".
- ^ New York Times, July 7, 1916, p. 1
- ↑ Allen, Shadows in the Sea , p. 7.
- ^ Motor Boats Hunt Man-Eating Sharks Off Jersey Coast . In: Atlanta Constitution , July 14, 1916, p. 3.
- ↑ Fernicola: Twelve Days of Terror . Pp. 26-27.
- ↑ Capuzzo: Close to Shore . Pp. 267-269
- ↑ Many See Sharks, But All Get Away . In: The New York Times , July 14, 1916, pages 1 and 3
- ↑ Shark Guards Out At Beach Resorts; Wire Nets Set Against Supposed Man-Eater That Killed Spring Lake Bather . In: The New York Times , Jul 8, 1916, p. 18.
- ↑ Fernicola: Twelve Days of Terror . P. 67
- ↑ Inflation Calculator of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. ( Memento of the original from May 9, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved July 7, 2008
- ↑ Fernicola: Twelve Days of Terror . Pp. 67-70
- ^ Motor Boats Hunt Man-Eating Sharks Off Jersey Coast . In: Atlanta Constitution, July 14, 1916, p. 1.
- ↑ Fernicola: Twelve Days of Terror . P. 72
- ↑ Nichols in the New York American , quoted in Fernicola: Twelve Days of Terror . P. 151.
- ↑ Fernicola: Twelve Days of Terror . P. 7 to 8
- ↑ Fernicola: Twelve Days of Terror . Pp. 144-145.
- ↑ Capuzzo: Close to Shore . Pp. 280-283
- ↑ Capuzzo: Close to shore , p. 295
- ↑ Capuzzo: Close to shore , p. 287
- ↑ Fernicola: Twelve Days of Terror . Pp. 163-164.
- ↑ Barrett P. Smith: Perhaps It Was a Turtle . In: The New York Times . July 14, 1916, page 10
- ↑ AME: Sharks and Submarines . In: The New York Times . July 15, 1916, page 8
- ↑ Thomas Helm, Shark !: Unpredictable Killer of the Sea , Dodd, Mead, New York 1962; Harold W. McCormick, Thomas B. Allen, and William Young: Shadows in the Sea: The Sharks, Skates, and Rays . Chilton Books, Philadelphia 1963. Jean Campbell Butler: Danger, Shark! Little, Brown, Boston 1964; for a summary of their research results, see Fernicola: Twelve Days of Terror . Pp. 179-180
- ↑ Fernicola: Twelve Days of Terror . P. 184
- ^ Brian Handwerk: Great Whites May Be Taking the Rap for Bull Shark Attacks . In: National Geographic News , Aug. 2, 2002; Retrieved July 29, 2007
- ↑ George A. Llano: Sharks: Attacks on Man . Tempo Books, New York 1975, ISBN 0-448-12217-0 , pp. 57-58.
- ^ Richard Ellis: The Book of Sharks . Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, San Diego 1983, ISBN 0-15-613552-3 , p. 186.
- ↑ Documentation The Shark Is Still Working on Blu-ray : Jaws
- ↑ George H. Burgess, in an undated interview with Michael Capuzzo; in: randomhouse.com accessed on July 28, 2007
- ↑ International Shark Attack File, accessed July 28, 2007
- ↑ Fernicola: Twelve Days of Terror . Pp. 229-231
- ^ Ellis: Book of Sharks . P. 187
- ↑ quoted in Fernicola: Twelve Days of Terror . S. xxix.
- ↑ Capuzzo: Close to Shore . P. 22
- ↑ Fernicola: Twelve Days of Terror . S. xxv. Capuzzo: Close to Shore , p. 26
- ↑ Fernicola: Twelve Days of Terror . Pp. Xxvi-xxviii
- ^ Hugh M. Smith: Great Shark May Have Swallowed Jonah: Scientist Shows Biblical 'Great Fish' Has Counterpart in Present-Day Monster , published in Newark Star-Eagle , quoted in Fernicola: Twelve Days of Terror . P. 160.
- ↑ 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. , New York Times . July 14, 1916, Friday. Retrieved August 21, 2007. "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. "
- ^ Robert Murphy, Scientific American , July 1916, quoted in Fernicola: Twelve Days of Terror . P. 171
- ↑ Murphy and Nichols, Brooklyn Museum Science Bulletin , quoted from Capuzzo: Close to Shore . P. 285
- ↑ Fernicola: Twelve Days of Terror . P. 33
- ↑ Fernicola: Twelve Days of Terror . P. 27
- ↑ Capuzzo: Close to Shore . P. 297
- ↑ Jaws , directed by Steven Spielberg, Universal Pictures, 1975
- ^ Peter Benchley: White Shark , St. Martins, New York 1994, ISBN 0-312-95573-1 , p. 51.
- ^ Adam Dunn: Review: A biting history on the roots of 'Jaws'. review of Close to Shore . CNN.com; Retrieved July 28, 2007
- ^ Lane Hartill: My, what nice teeth you have . In: The Christian Science Monitor , June 21, 2001, p. 16.
- ↑ Shark Attack 1916 , directed by David Ackroyd: In Search of ... , A&E Television, 2001
