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

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/


Follow us, campers!
Patreon (join to get all episodes ad-free, at least a day early, an
extra episode a month, and a free sticker!):
https://patreon.com/TrueCrimeCampfire
https://www.truecrimecampfirepod.com/
Facebook: True Crime Campfire
Instagram:
https://gramha.net/profile/truecrimecampfire/19093397079
Twitter: @TCCampfire https://twitter.com/TCCampfire
Email: truecrimecampfirepod@gmail.com
MERCH! https://true-crime-campfire.myspreadshop.com

Become a supporter of this podcast:
https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/true-crime-campfire--4251960/support.