It was a heatwave. People were dying from polio in the cities, and the only escape was the water. Imagine the scene in July 1916: thousands of people in wool suits cramming onto trains to Beach Haven and Spring Lake, desperate for a salt-water breeze. They thought the ocean was safe. Back then, scientists actually told people sharks didn't like the taste of humans. They called them "timid."
Then everything changed.
The 1916 Jersey Shore shark attacks weren't just a series of tragic accidents; they were a cultural reset. Over twelve days, five people were bitten. Four of them died. It sparked a national hysteria that reached all the way to the White House and, eventually, inspired Peter Benchley to write Jaws. But if you look at the actual records, the reality is much weirder—and more terrifying—than the movie version.
The First Blood at Beach Haven
Charles Vansant was 25. He was a doctor's son from Philadelphia, staying at the Engleside Hotel. Around 6:00 PM on July 1, he went for a quick swim before dinner. People on the beach saw a fin. They shouted. He didn't hear them or couldn't react in time.
The shark took a massive chunk out of his leg.
Alexander Ott, an Olympic swimmer who happened to be nearby, rushed in to pull him out. It was a gruesome scene on the sand. Vansant bled out on the manager's desk of the hotel. Most people at the time literally couldn't believe it was a shark. They thought maybe it was a sea turtle or a rogue tuna. Seriously. The lack of knowledge was that profound.
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Five days later, it happened again. This time, it was 45 miles north in Spring Lake. Charles Bruder, a bell captain at the Essex and Sussex Hotel, was swimming about 130 yards out. A woman on the beach screamed that a "red canoe" had overturned. It wasn't a canoe. It was blood. When rescuers reached him, both of his legs were gone. He died before they hit the shore.
The Mystery of Matawan Creek
This is where the story gets truly bizarre. You’d think after two deaths on the coast, people would be wary of the ocean. But nobody expected a shark in a freshwater creek. Matawan is miles from the open sea. It’s a tidal gully, basically.
On July 12, a local sea captain named Thomas Cottrell saw a shadow moving up the creek. He ran through the town warning people, but they laughed at him. They thought he was a crazy old man seeing things.
A few hours later, 11-year-old Lester Stilwell was swimming with his friends at Wyckoff Dock. The boys saw what they thought was a "black log." Then Lester disappeared.
What followed was a nightmare.
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Stanley Fisher, a 24-year-old local businessman, jumped in to find the boy. He actually recovered Lester’s body, but the shark came back for him. In front of the entire town gathered on the bank, the shark attacked Fisher. He survived the initial bite but died at the hospital later that night. Less than an hour after that, about a half-mile downstream, a boy named Joseph Dunn was bitten. He was the only survivor of the five major attacks, mostly because his brother and friends literally engaged in a tug-of-war with the shark to pull him out of its mouth.
Was it a Great White or a Bull Shark?
For decades, people argued about this. The "Great White" theory took off because a 7-foot juvenile White shark was caught a few days later in Raritan Bay by Michael Schleisser. When they opened it up, they found human remains. Case closed, right?
Maybe not.
Modern ichthyologists, including George Burgess of the Florida Museum of Natural History, have pointed out that Matawan Creek is brackish water. Great Whites generally don't head miles up shallow, muddy creeks. Bull sharks, however, have specialized glands that let them transition from salt to fresh water. They are notoriously aggressive and love shallow murky spots.
But then you have the Beach Haven and Spring Lake attacks. Those happened in the surf, which is classic Great White territory. It's entirely possible there was more than one shark involved, or that the 1916 Jersey Shore shark attacks were the result of a single, highly unusual Great White that had a biological "glitch."
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Why This Still Matters Today
Before 1916, Americans didn't really fear the ocean. Swimming was a new pastime. The New York Times and other major papers had to figure out how to report on something that seemed like a monster movie.
- Science was forced to catch up. Dr. Frederic Lucas, director of the American Museum of Natural History, had to publicly walk back his previous claims that sharks couldn't hurt people.
- The "Rogue Shark" theory was born. This is the idea that a single shark develops a taste for human flesh. Most modern scientists don't buy this anymore—they see attacks as cases of mistaken identity—but in 1916, it was the only explanation that made sense of the timeline.
- Economic impact. The Jersey Shore lost an estimated $250,000 in 1916 revenue (in 1916 dollars!). That's millions today. Hotels went bust. It was the first time we saw how a biological event could tank a local economy.
Survival Lessons from the Past
If you're heading to the Jersey Shore—or any beach—it’s worth remembering that these events are incredibly rare. But 1916 taught us things that are still standard safety protocols.
Honestly, the best thing you can do is stay out of the water at dawn and dusk. That’s when most sharks are feeding. Avoid swimming near schools of baitfish or where people are fishing. If you see a lot of birds diving, there’s a reason. They’re eating the same things sharks eat.
Also, keep an eye on the water quality. The Matawan attacks happened in murky water where visibility was near zero. Sharks rely on their lateral lines to sense vibration when they can't see. In muddy water, a splashing human limb looks and sounds a lot like a struggling fish.
Moving Forward with the Facts
If you want to dig deeper into the 1916 Jersey Shore shark attacks, stop relying on the sensationalized documentaries. Look for "Close to Shore" by Michael Capuzzo. It’s widely considered the most researched account of that summer. You can also visit the Matawan Historical Society; they have an incredible collection of artifacts and local records that give you a feel for the town’s trauma.
The most important takeaway isn't that the ocean is a scary place. It's that we are visitors in a wild ecosystem. The 1916 events were a "perfect storm" of a heatwave, a record-breaking influx of people into the water, and a wandering predator. Understanding the difference between "monster" mythology and actual animal behavior is the first step toward enjoying the coast safely.
Check the local beach reports before you go. Stick to lifeguarded areas. And maybe, just maybe, don't swim in tidal creeks during a heatwave.