Real Life Jaws: The 1916 New Jersey Shark Attacks

In the scorching summer of 1916, terror lurked beneath the waves as a mysterious sea predator turned the Jersey Shore into a hunting ground. Over twelve harrowing days, swimmers vanished in a frenzy of blood and panic, and even an inland creek wasn’t safe from the carnage. What followed was a nationwide shark hysteria—an event so chilling, it would later inspire one of the greatest horror stories ever told. In this episode, we tell the story, and then play the quiz with Comedy Mind Reader, Eric Dittelman.

In May 2023, 15-year-old Maggie Drozdowski was surfing in Stone Harbor, New Jersey, when she felt a sharp pain on her left foot. She had been bitten by a shark.

She managed to free herself and return to shore, receiving prompt medical attention for her injuries and was able to get away with nothing but some stitches on her foot. It was the first recorded case of a shark attack in New Jersey in a decade. Experts attribute the increase in shark sightings along the Jersey Shore to warming ocean waters, which attract sharks closer to the coast in search of food. Despite the heightened awareness, shark attacks in New Jersey remain rare, with only 15 confirmed unprovoked incidents since 1962.  Authorities continue to monitor shark activity and advise beachgoers to stay vigilant while enjoying coastal waters. But in recent years, there’s been an uptick in unprovoked shark attacks. In 2023, there were 69 worldwide shark attacks, with more than half of those coming from the U.S. Experts think that warming ocean waters are partly to blame but also more human activity and the migration of food sources moving closer to shore.

There was a time when scientists didn’t believe that sharks proved any risk to humans. Prominent scientists of the time, such as ichthyologist (that’s a fancy word for a person who studies fish) Henry Weed Fowler and curator Henry Skinner of the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia, both asserted that a shark’s jaws were not powerful enough to sever a human leg in a single bite. Frederic Lucas, director of the American Museum of Natural History, even questioned whether a shark as large as 30 feet could snap a human bone, stating that “it is beyond the power even of the largest Carcharodon to sever the leg of an adult man.” By the way a carcharadon is the family of sharks that includes the Great White Shark. 

Shark attacks were thought to be so improbable that in 1891, millionaire Hermann Oelrichs offered a $500 reward for any authenticated case of a shark attacking a human in temperate waters—a reward that went unclaimed for years.

This belief wasn’t challenged until 1916 when our story takes place. Sure, there had been shark attacks in the U.S. before, but they were so rare. There was an attack in New Jersey in 1882 and another in 1905. Neither were deadly. There was an attack in 1850 in California and another in Florida in 1912. Also not deadly. In fact the only notable death from a shark attack had happened back in 1852. In that instance, a fisherman named James Gorman had been swimming near Long Beach Island in New Jersey when he was bitten by a shark and succumbed to his injuries. 

In 1916, it had been 64 years since that attack and nobody was worried about sharks. That’s why it was so scary when the first attack of 1916 happened. And it happened only 6 miles from where Gorman had been killed. It was the first in what would be a rash of attacks that would reshape the way the public thinks about sharks. 

The concept of shark attacks has launched a huge industry. Books, movies, documentaries and annual television programming events like “shark week” are all based on the idea that sharks are deadly predators of humans. 

But the chance of being bitten by a shark is incredibly low – even with those attacks being on the rise in recent years. The odds of being bitten by a shark while swimming in the ocean are something like 1 in 11.5 million. You have a greater chance of being struck by lightning, being in a car accident or being bitten by a dog. In fact, you have a greater chance of being bitten by a swan, a wombat, a honey badger, an octopus or a giant clam than being bitten by a shark. That’s statistically true. And if we’re talking statistics, if you’re going to die in the ocean, it’s much much much more likely to be from drowning than anything else. Where shark attacks are 1 in 11.5 million, ocean drownings are 1 in 2 million. 

So shark attacks are rare. But before 1916, scientists didn’t think sharks posed any risk to humans at all. Some even thought they weren’t strong enough to bite through human limbs. This all changed on the first of July, 1916.

Charles Epting Vansant was visiting Beach Haven, New Jersey from Philadelphia. He wanted to take a quick swim with his dog before dinner, so he ran out into the waters of the quiet beach community. That’s when he was bitten on both legs by a shark. Immediately, lifeguards Alexander Ott and Sheridan Taylor pulled him out of the water and later reported that the shark followed them to shore the whole way. They attempted to save Vansant, but couldn’t. He had lost too much blood and died. It was the first time in 64 years that a shark had killed someone in New Jersey. And it was only 6 miles South of where it had happened in 1852.

The story made headlines in all the newspapers the next day. The story in the New Jersey Herald read, “Charles Vansant, 25, was attacked by a large shark Saturday, July 1, while swimming in chest-deep water. He and his family were vacationing at the luxurious Engleside Hotel. Mr. Vansant, known by all as a man of exceptional charm and great promise, was swimming with a dog when the attack occurred. The beach was filled with fashionable ladies and gentlemen enjoying the early evening breezes, when panicked shouts suddenly echoed through the air. A large black fin could be seen swimming toward Mr. Vansant. Onlookers screamed warnings. But it was too late.”

The event was tragic, but not enough on its own to create widespread panic. That is until 5 days later when another event occurred an hour north in Spring Lake, New Jersey.

This time, a local bellhop from the Essex and Sussex hotel was taking a break by swimming in the ocean. Charles Bruder was about 130 yards from shore when a shark bit him, severing both of his legs instantly. Again, there were lifeguards on duty and they hurried to get a boat out to reach Bruder, but the lifeguards couldn’t save him. Now the public was starting to panic. One attack is a tragedy, but now they were seeing two attacks as a pattern. Locals blamed the fact that local fishermen used this area to discard unwanted fish scraps, inviting sharks. 

Despite these two attacks, beaches on the Jersey Shore remained open. Even boat captains who were working in the area were reporting sightings of increased shark activity, but were ignored by authorities. 

Thomas Cottrell was one of these captains and he reported an 8 foot shark in Matawan Creek – which is further North – a sleepy midwestern feeling beach community. He was ignored.

6 days after the death of Charles Bruder, on July 12, it happened again. This time in Matawan Creek – the very spot where the boat captain had reported a large shark. An 11 year old boy, Lester Stillwell was swimming with friends and they thought they saw an old log or board floating in the water. But when they saw a dorsal fin, they knew it was a shark. Before they could react, they heard Lester scream and disappear under the water. The boys searched the water for Lester and local businessman Watson Fisher dove in to help. He thought he located Lester, but was bitten on the thigh by the shark. This caused him to lose Lester and sadly – his life. He bled to death at the hospital. Lester’s body wasn’t recovered for 2 more days.

The sharks had now claimed 4 victims, Charles Vansant, the vacationer, Charles Bruder, the bellhop, Lester Stillwell, the child and Watson Fisher, the man who tried to rescue Stillwell. 

But there would be one more attack. At Matawan Creek, just 30 minutes after a shark had killed Lester Stillwell and mortally wounded Watson Fisher, Joseph Dunn was swimming in the ocean. He was a 14 year old boy who was swimming near the same area as Lester and his friends – an area known as Wyckoff Dock. He felt the shark bite his leg and knew exactly what it was. He said he could actually feel his leg going down the shark’s throat. When he tried pulling his leg out, the shark held on, stripping the skin off of his left leg. In the newspaper, Joseph was quoted as saying “Don’t tell mother.” Of course we have these quotes because thankfully, Joseph Dunn made it to Saint Peter’s University Hospital in time to save both his leg and his life. 

Now the community knew they had messed up by ignoring the sea captain the previous Sunday. But they were taking it seriously now. I’m reading the following from Evening News from Perth Amboy, New Jersey:

“Believing that they have caught a glimpse of the shadow of the big man-eating shark

which caused the death of a boy, Inflicted fatal injuries to a man and Injured another boy here yesterday, searchers here for the body of the boy victim are completing plans to dynamite the big fish. They confidently believe that the shark is in about the same spot where it made its death dealing attack yesterday afternoon. The discovery was made about 11 o’clock this morning when the tide became very low, It is believed that the shark is still in a hole in the bottom of Matawan Creek.”

And that’s what they tried to do. They dropped dynamite into the waters throughout the next several days, to no avail. But on July 14, a taxidermist and former Barnum and Bailey Lion Tamer, Michael Schleisser, caught a shark just a few miles from Matawan Creek. It was 7 and a half feet long and nearly sank the boat while he was catching it. He beat it to death with an oar and was able to drag it to shore. It was a Great White Shark and when he opened the belly of the beast, he found what were believed to be human remains. 

This was the last of the New Jersey Shark attacks of 1916. The fact that Joseph Dunn had lived and seeing a photo of the man eater hanging dead from the docks was enough to help calm the nervous visitors to New Jersey’s beaches. For now, the threat was over.

There were some weird fringe theories from the public. Some people who still didn’t believe sharks could do this thought that the attacks came from sea turtles. Let me repeat that. There were people who thought sharks couldn’t have done this, but sea turtles could have. Another wild theory follows something we talked about in last week’s story. Some people put forth the idea that sharks had grown fond of the taste of flesh in the waters of the Atlantic where the war was happening thousands of miles away and had followed German U-Boats to the waters of America, where they continued looking for more human flesh to consume in the water. This is a pretty interesting snapshot of the fears and insecurities of Americans during the first World War. 

But this largely reshaped how people thought about sharks. Most people knew the sharks were responsible. There were nation-wide shark hunts. People questioned whether one shark was responsible or multiple man-eaters. The scientific community was forced to reevaluate their understanding of shark behavior and acknowledge that sharks could indeed pose a danger to humans. Ichthyologist Hugh McCormick Smith acknowledged the dangerous nature of certain shark species. He wrote in the Newark Star-Eagle, that some sharks were “harmless as doves and others the incarnation of ferocity.” He specifically highlighted the Great White Shark. This shift in scientific perspective marked a significant turning point in the understanding of shark behavior and their potential danger to humans.

Another thing came from this. A fascination with shark attacks that has spawned movies, films, books, and television ever since. Including the most famous piece of work surrounding shark attacks: the 1975 Steven Spielberg thriller, Jaws. The screenplay came from Peter Benchley and Carl Gottlieb and Benchley credited the 1916 New Jersey shark attacks as a major inspiration for the film in multiple interviews. People have pointed out similarities between the stories and even if Jaws was simply based on lore surrounding the idea of shark attacks, that lore was largely created or at least inspired by a period of 14 days in July of 1916 when the world was shocked by a rash of deadly shark attacks. The Internet Says it’s True.

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