{"id":23414,"date":"2023-09-16T00:01:44","date_gmt":"2023-09-16T07:01:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/?p=23414"},"modified":"2023-09-09T09:02:23","modified_gmt":"2023-09-09T16:02:23","slug":"the-matawan-creek-man-eater","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/exhaustnotes.us\/blog\/index.php\/2023\/09\/16\/the-matawan-creek-man-eater\/","title":{"rendered":"The Matawan Creek Man-Eater"},"content":{"rendered":"
By Joe Berk<\/h6>\n

Jaws<\/a><\/em>.\u00a0 Nearly everyone has seen that movie.\u00a0 Many of us read Jaws<\/a><\/em>, the book that preceded the movie.\u00a0 It\u2019s been said that Peter Benchley based it on Moby Dick<\/a><\/em>, another novel about a big white fish and a man obsessed with killing it.\u00a0 But people in the know\u2026well, they know that Jaws<\/a><\/em> had a different source of inspiration.\u00a0\u00a0 It was the Matawan Creek maneater, a Great White shark that swam 11 miles upstream, in fresh water, and ate a bunch of people in and around Matawan, New Jersey.\u00a0 It all happened in 1916.<\/p>\n

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The New Jersey beachside resorts were having a tough year in 1916.\u00a0 It started on July 1 when Charles Vansant, a 28-year-old man from Philadelphia, went for a swim in the Atlantic Ocean along the Beach Haven, New Jersey shoreline.\u00a0 Vansant took his dog in the water with him. The dog suddenly disappeared, and then Vansant was attacked.\u00a0 Other swimmers heard Vansant screaming and went to his aid.\u00a0 A gigantic Great White shark followed them as they desperately pulled Vansant to shore.\u00a0 Vansant bled to death a short while later.<\/p>\n

Fast forward five days to Spring Lake (another New Jersey resort), and 27-year-old Chris Bruder was attacked while swimming in the Atlantic.\u00a0 Lifeguards in a boat pulled him from the water, but Bruder bled to death before they reached the shore.<\/p>\n

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Shoot up the Jersey coast another 30 miles to Matawan.\u00a0\u00a0 A few days after Bruder died, Thomas Cattrell (a retired fishing boat captain) was walking home and while crossing a bridge over freshwater Matawan Creek (which flowed into the Atlantic), Cattrell saw a large shark in the water below.\u00a0\u00a0 He warned swimmers, but no one took him seriously (Matawan Creek was, after all, a freshwater creek).\u00a0 The next day, on July 12, 11-year-old Lester Stillwell went for a Matawan Creek dip; he became the shark\u2019s next victim.\u00a0 Two of Stillwell\u2019s friends swimming with him watched as he was pulled under and the water turned red.\u00a0 The boys ran into town for help, 24-year old Stanley Fischer accompanied them back to the creek, and he entered the water to search for Stillwell.\u00a0\u00a0 It was Fischer\u2019s bad luck that the shark was still eating Stillwell.\u00a0 Fischer tried to free Stillwell from the shark; the shark had a better idea and took a few bites out of Fischer.\u00a0 Fischer died a few hours later in a local hospital.<\/p>\n

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After attacking Fischer, the shark left the area and headed back toward the Atlantic Ocean.\u00a0\u00a0 While swimming toward the ocean and still in freshwater Matawan Creek, the shark attacked 12-year old Joseph Dunn.\u00a0\u00a0 Dunn survived, minus a leg.\u00a0 Dunn was the shark\u2019s fifth victim.<\/p>\n

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If you\u2019ve ever watched even a single episode of The Sopranos<\/a><\/em>, you know you don\u2019t mess with people from New Jersey.\u00a0 The Jersey coastal communities went into high gear, and after harvesting hundreds of sharks, they found the one responsible for the attacks.\u00a0\u00a0 It was an 8\u00bd-foot Great White, and when the Joisey boys cut it open, various parts of the aforementioned people (and one dog) spilled out.\u00a0 The Matawan Creek (and surrounding community) attacks are believed to be Peter Benchley\u2019s inspiration for Jaws.<\/p>\n

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