Out of Your Depth: The Grisly Jersey Shore Shark Attacks of 1916

True Crime Campfire

When you were a kid, were you ever scared to go in the swimming pool in case you might get eaten by a shark? Or just get in the bathtub? Hell, one time I even managed to freak myself out just from laying on a waterbed. This is mainly thanks to Steven Spielberg and a 25-foot mechanical shark called Bruce, but “Jaws” wasn’t made in a vacuum. Shark attacks are, thankfully, very rare, but over a century ago there were a series of attacks so shocking and so close together that they cemented the shark as a figure of sharp-toothed horror in the American psyche. The serial killer of the sea, you might say. Basically what we’re sayin’ here folks, is it’s SHARK WEEK on True Crime Campfire. Join us for the terrifying true story of the deadly 1916 shark attacks that inspired the movie "Jaws." This one's not for the faint of heart!
Sources:
Close to Shore by Michael Capuzzo
NY Times Archives: https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1916/07/07/100214613.pdf
National Geographic Archives: https://web.archive.org/web/20150703224631/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/07/150702-shark-attack-jersey-shore-1916-great-white/
Pittsburgh Press: https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-pittsburgh-press/106419794/
Matawan Historical Society: https://matawanhistoricalsociety.org/1916-shark-attack/
Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2022/07/25/us-shark-mania-began-with-this-attack-more-than-century-ago/
https://www.medievalists.net/2014/09/ten-strange-medieval-ideas-animals/
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