SHARK ATTACK!

1010 WINS ^ | Jun 8, 2005 7:31 am US/Eastern

[Calpernia]

SURF CITY BOROUGH, N.J. It could be New Jersey's first shark attack in 30 years.

A 17-year-old surfer, Ryan Horton, was catching some waves near Surf City on Long Beach Island when he felt a pain in his ankle he described as being hit by a baseball bat.

Horton paddled back to shore, and his brother took him to the hospital. There his bloody wound, about three and a half inches long and one inch wide, was sewn up with more than 50 stitches.

The surfer never saw what got him, but his mom sent a picture of the bite to a shark expert in Florida.

The verdict? The expert said it was a classic shark bite, probably from a young great white.

Surf City officials say from time to time shark encounters are inevitable living by the ocean.

[watchin]

I grew up just a few miles from Surf City, on the mainland, in the town of Manahawkin. I read awhile back that the book/movie "Jaws" was based on shark attacks that started off of Long Beach Island, in Beach Haven - just a few miles south of Surf City.

That shark gradually moved north, to the Raritan area, if I remember correctly. It moved upstream and took out a couple of people before heading back out to sea.

A short while later, some fishermen caught a large shark - I'm not sure what species - and the attacks stopped.

[Coleus]

Investigation of 1916 shark attacks continues

1916 Shark Attack. 1916 Shark Attack at Matawan Creek, New Jersey

Weird NJ - the Matawan man-eater

Tiger Shark (Galeocerdo cuvier) -- could this species be the New Jersey Maneater?  It seems possible but unlikely.

Bull Shark (Carcharhinus leucas) -- this species is notorious for entering fresh water and attacking people there, 
a reputation that makes it an obvious suspect in the Matawan Creek attacks.

White Shark (Carcharodon carcharias) -- since the infamous series of attacks seemed to stop with the capture of a young White Shark, reportedly with human remains in its stomach, it was widely assumed this animal was the culprit; other researchers are not so sure.

[Coleus]

chat?

should be front-page news

[watchin]

http://www.weirdnj.com/_animals/matawanmaneater.html
http://www.hometowntales.com/shark.html
http://www.geocities.com/SouthBeach/wharf/4477/jersey.html
http://www.southjerseynews.com/shore/f081101a.htm

[watchin]

Surf City is on Long Beach Island, just a little north of Atlantic City, and is approx. 80 miles south of NYC.

[Coleus]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1418717/posts?page=22#22

[Calpernia]

Front Page? I thought it was Local. It is ok though, Capt. Tom posted a related article about this in Front Page. So it is covered ^-^

[Coleus]

ever since seeing jaws when I was a kid, swimming at the shore was never the same.

[Osage Orange]

They're snatching for food, right? What is it most likely, a bird? another fish he trailing, gone airborne?

Or surfboards.....

[Calpernia]

Humor

After I saw Jaws, I was walking out past the sandbar in waste high water.

Something was brushing my leg. I looked down and saw a shark.

Ran out of the water SCREAMING bloody murder.

Lifeguards call everyone out, push the dinghy out.

They picked up a dead, foot long shark. It was brushing my leg from the water current.

I was so embarrassed.

[nmh]

It's Long Beach Island, south of New York - where we go - YIKES!

[nmh]

I remember seeing "Jaws" at the Beach Theater on L.B.I..

I nearly jumped a mile and my purse opening spilling all the contents. That was a good movie.

[GodBlessUSA]

Thanks nmh! I'm on eastern LI, on the south shore and this is too close. Yikes is right! :)

I too, remember seeing Jaws for the first time too! Even though it was just a movie, it sure changed the way I thought of swimming in the ocean. :)

[nmh]

We stay at Beach Haven. My daughters school administrator stays at SURF CITY with his kids in the summer! YIKES!
I sent off an e-mail to him. My daughter who is six, is all excited about it.

Last week the two kindergarten classes went to Sandy Hook. Now she's full of questions ... was HE in the water while THEY were on the beach ... wanting to EAT ONE OF THEM? ;) They weren't allowed in the water. They went on the bay side and then a walk on the ocean side.

Needless to say we have TONS of shells. They had a ball. Wish I had gone ... but they take turns with the Moms and I'd already helped out on other activities. They had a blast - 40 kindergartners on the loose - but they are well behaved. They have a strict discipline code ... it's a private Christine school.

Still it's alittle scary ... Surf City isn't so far from Beech Haven on L.B.I..

[nmh]

JAWS scared me!

I screamed and jumped up, spilling the contents of my purse.

[GodBlessUSA]

Sounds like the kids had a fantastic time. 40 kindergartners, LOL, what a fun handful :)
We just did a trip with the kids to the beach too. Unfortunately, to my surprise, not a lot of parents sign up for these trips. My daughter is 8. It was great fun.

I'm afraid to have my daughter know of this. She's too much like me and it would scare her right out of the water forever. ;)

I have to say it makes me nervous. I remember being in my early 20's, being in Florida. I had just finished swimming and went to bask in the sun. The life guard called everyone out of the water because of shark.

[CollegeRepublican]

I have been surfing along the Jersey and Delmarva coast for the past 15 years or so. Just last year I was surfing in Cape May, NJ and watched fishermen pull several decent sized sharks out of the water next to the jetty where I was surfing. They were only 3 or 4 foot long, but you knew that their daddy's were around somewhere. Then last summer around the 4th of July I was out surfing in Ocean City Maryland. I was out past the breakers, sitting on my longboard and something bumped me hard. It actually shocked me, like I did not really know what happened, but then it dawned on me that it was either a shark, skate, or stingray. I felt it's sandpaper-like skin scrape my legs when it hit. It actually cut my shins and left bruises. I was not really scared, I just told myself that the shark was chasing baitfish and just accidentally ran into me. That is what I told myself anyways. Haha.

The sharks prefer cooler waters in most of the world's oceans. They feed on aquatic mammals when they are bigger than about 10 feet, but smaller whites will feed on fish near coastal waters. Montauk Point at the end of Long Island is famous for its shark fisherman, including white sharks. The character of Quint in Jaws is based on a fisherman out of Montauk.

Considering the cases of attacks in 1916 and this possible attack (which I still think is questionable if it is a white shark), I would say that if you go into the ocean you should be more concerned about blue fish, stingrays and jellyfish.

[CollegeRepublican]

Unless you and your kids are surfing, swimming at either dusk or dawn, or spearfishing in New Jersey, I would be more concerned about other dangers for children then getting attacked by a shark. One attack in 30 years. If you consider all of the man hours that people have spent in the surf in the past 30 years in a hundred mile stretch of beaches in the most densely populated state in the union. I say that your chances are pretty good that you will make it in and out of the water without incident. I would say that in the past 7 years I have spent atleast 200 hours surfing either at dusk or dawn hours and I am still here to talk about my stupidity.

[nmh]

Of course you are right but I personally find those Great Whites scary.

Thanks for the good advice.

I was not a good surfer. It takes skill. I remember buying all those Ron Jon tee shirts and still they didn't make me a real surfer eiher ;)

[Calpernia]

Rough skin makes me think it was a shark. I've touched skates and rays and they are smooth and rubbery.