1 00:00:00,560 --> 00:00:03,760 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class from how 2 00:00:03,800 --> 00:00:13,640 Speaker 1: Stuff Works dot com. Hello and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:13,720 --> 00:00:18,880 Speaker 1: I'm editor Candice Keener joined my fellow editor Katy Lamford. Candice, Katie. 4 00:00:19,400 --> 00:00:21,840 Speaker 1: We have some mail, and not the kind of mail 5 00:00:21,880 --> 00:00:23,599 Speaker 1: that we like to read on the air. We have 6 00:00:23,720 --> 00:00:27,760 Speaker 1: an actual tangible piece of mail, a mysterious package. It's 7 00:00:27,800 --> 00:00:30,800 Speaker 1: it's a box, and so we opened this box. We 8 00:00:30,800 --> 00:00:33,199 Speaker 1: were going to do it live with everyone listening, but 9 00:00:33,280 --> 00:00:35,199 Speaker 1: we decided that since we didn't really know what was 10 00:00:35,240 --> 00:00:37,519 Speaker 1: in it, we didn't want to alarm anyone with our 11 00:00:37,560 --> 00:00:40,839 Speaker 1: girl ish screams and cries. So we opened this box 12 00:00:41,080 --> 00:00:44,840 Speaker 1: and inside is a a jar, and inside the jar, 13 00:00:45,360 --> 00:00:49,280 Speaker 1: we've got a pair of bloodied, shredded swim trunks for 14 00:00:49,400 --> 00:00:53,279 Speaker 1: one thing, and a newspaper clipping looks like an obituary, 15 00:00:53,760 --> 00:00:59,240 Speaker 1: a key chain and a copper tag that says www 16 00:00:59,280 --> 00:01:02,360 Speaker 1: Dot Frenzied waters dot com that's attached to what I 17 00:01:02,480 --> 00:01:06,360 Speaker 1: presume is an artificial shark tooth. And we were delighted. 18 00:01:06,440 --> 00:01:08,800 Speaker 1: We didn't know what this was, and then our producer 19 00:01:08,880 --> 00:01:13,080 Speaker 1: told us it's actually a marketing campaign from Discovery. So 20 00:01:13,200 --> 00:01:16,840 Speaker 1: we're still excited, but it's it's not as written with 21 00:01:17,000 --> 00:01:20,360 Speaker 1: mystery and intrigue as we had thought and hoped. No. 22 00:01:20,720 --> 00:01:24,080 Speaker 1: Shark Week two thousand nine, UM starting on August two, 23 00:01:24,200 --> 00:01:27,880 Speaker 1: I think this year and Shark Week, like um, Black 24 00:01:27,920 --> 00:01:31,080 Speaker 1: Friday is a holiday that everyone celebrates. You just you 25 00:01:31,120 --> 00:01:33,560 Speaker 1: have to get into it, you know, uh, with all 26 00:01:33,600 --> 00:01:36,120 Speaker 1: of your heart and mind and enthusiasm. And so we're 27 00:01:36,160 --> 00:01:39,680 Speaker 1: bringing a bit of a historical perspective to Shark Week 28 00:01:39,680 --> 00:01:42,720 Speaker 1: two thousand nine. So without further ado, we are going 29 00:01:42,800 --> 00:01:48,280 Speaker 1: to enlighten everyone about the nineteen sixteen shark tacks on 30 00:01:48,280 --> 00:01:51,360 Speaker 1: the Jersey Shore. And if you've seen Jaws, it was 31 00:01:51,400 --> 00:01:55,240 Speaker 1: actually based on this story. So go back to July 32 00:01:55,520 --> 00:01:59,600 Speaker 1: nineteen sixteen, UM, starting July one actually, so getting ready 33 00:01:59,600 --> 00:02:03,120 Speaker 1: for into Pendance Day weekend, and there is a heat 34 00:02:03,160 --> 00:02:07,200 Speaker 1: wave going on and also a polio epidemic and everyone 35 00:02:07,280 --> 00:02:10,560 Speaker 1: is heading to the seashore for the weekend. And you 36 00:02:10,600 --> 00:02:13,960 Speaker 1: should know that beach culture was really starting to take 37 00:02:13,960 --> 00:02:18,040 Speaker 1: off in this era in history. Starting around the mid 38 00:02:18,080 --> 00:02:21,200 Speaker 1: to late eighteen hundred, people began flocking to the beach. 39 00:02:21,440 --> 00:02:24,840 Speaker 1: For one, it was cheap. For another reason, there were 40 00:02:24,880 --> 00:02:28,079 Speaker 1: different modes of transportation that you could take to get there. 41 00:02:28,120 --> 00:02:30,240 Speaker 1: It was pretty accessible. You could go buy a horse 42 00:02:30,280 --> 00:02:34,080 Speaker 1: and wagon train automobile if you were lucky enough to 43 00:02:34,120 --> 00:02:37,840 Speaker 1: have one. You could even walk and sun and surf 44 00:02:37,960 --> 00:02:41,840 Speaker 1: and sand were a nice respite from insects and smoky, 45 00:02:41,919 --> 00:02:47,320 Speaker 1: dusty industrial cities. And even though you know the beach 46 00:02:47,400 --> 00:02:50,200 Speaker 1: was somewhat appealing, there were some things that weren't too 47 00:02:50,240 --> 00:02:54,080 Speaker 1: appealing about it. For instance, people were really cumbersome bathing suits, 48 00:02:54,080 --> 00:02:57,799 Speaker 1: sometimes made of wool and other heavy fabrics that well, um, 49 00:02:57,840 --> 00:03:02,280 Speaker 1: they didn't show off to but they also uh sort 50 00:03:02,280 --> 00:03:05,400 Speaker 1: of weighted people down. Picture yourself swimming in a woolen 51 00:03:05,480 --> 00:03:08,520 Speaker 1: dress women and for men it was like a large 52 00:03:08,600 --> 00:03:11,680 Speaker 1: tank top with shorts, and so they would absorb water 53 00:03:11,800 --> 00:03:15,919 Speaker 1: and make movement very difficult. And there weren't really lifeguards 54 00:03:16,160 --> 00:03:19,359 Speaker 1: as we think of lifeguards today until the nineteen hundred's. 55 00:03:19,560 --> 00:03:22,720 Speaker 1: Usually it was police officers who would stand in place 56 00:03:22,800 --> 00:03:24,919 Speaker 1: and pretend to be lifeguards for a little while while 57 00:03:24,960 --> 00:03:29,720 Speaker 1: people bobbed in the ocean, and different oceanside resorts would 58 00:03:30,200 --> 00:03:33,680 Speaker 1: section off their areas of the beach with poles and 59 00:03:33,840 --> 00:03:36,280 Speaker 1: rope and people would hold onto the ropes and floating 60 00:03:36,320 --> 00:03:41,760 Speaker 1: water in an activity called Fannie dunking you too, like 61 00:03:41,880 --> 00:03:43,640 Speaker 1: I really can't wait to hit the beach right now 62 00:03:43,680 --> 00:03:47,360 Speaker 1: and go hang on a rope. I know I'm stop. 63 00:03:48,240 --> 00:03:50,680 Speaker 1: And then in the nineteen hundreds it became even more 64 00:03:50,760 --> 00:03:53,560 Speaker 1: popular to go to the beach, and lifeguarding became a 65 00:03:53,600 --> 00:03:57,480 Speaker 1: specialized profession. And not only that, but resorts would advertise 66 00:03:57,560 --> 00:03:59,920 Speaker 1: that they actually had lifeguards, which would draw more people 67 00:04:00,040 --> 00:04:02,400 Speaker 1: because people thought, well, hey, it'll be safe to get 68 00:04:02,400 --> 00:04:05,160 Speaker 1: a Fanny dunk there's a lifeguard there. Some even had 69 00:04:05,240 --> 00:04:09,560 Speaker 1: medical pavilions with registered nurses to help care for them. 70 00:04:09,600 --> 00:04:12,760 Speaker 1: So it was a wonderful place to be. The seaside 71 00:04:13,320 --> 00:04:16,280 Speaker 1: and the Jersey Shore was really popular. Something like eleven 72 00:04:16,320 --> 00:04:19,200 Speaker 1: presidents the time had gone to stay, Mary Todd, Lincoln 73 00:04:19,240 --> 00:04:22,760 Speaker 1: went to visit um. President Garfield actually asked to go 74 00:04:22,839 --> 00:04:26,800 Speaker 1: there when he was dying from infection. So let's imagine 75 00:04:26,800 --> 00:04:29,760 Speaker 1: the scene. We've got the white sandy expanses of the 76 00:04:29,839 --> 00:04:34,080 Speaker 1: Jersey Shore coastal beach sides like Asbury Park, Spring Lake, 77 00:04:34,360 --> 00:04:38,600 Speaker 1: Seaside Heights, Beach Haven, Atlantic City. People are out and 78 00:04:38,640 --> 00:04:43,279 Speaker 1: they're colorful woolen separate, bathing in the sun. Perhaps some 79 00:04:43,360 --> 00:04:46,680 Speaker 1: striped umbrellas here and their general merriment, maybe even a 80 00:04:46,920 --> 00:04:50,080 Speaker 1: m a good smelling treat or to wafting in the 81 00:04:50,160 --> 00:04:53,680 Speaker 1: air when that mary scene would soon be interrupted by 82 00:04:53,960 --> 00:04:58,000 Speaker 1: grizzly crimes of nature. Charles Epting van Sant was there 83 00:04:58,200 --> 00:05:00,480 Speaker 1: with his family at Beach Haven, wh was on the 84 00:05:00,800 --> 00:05:03,159 Speaker 1: south coast of New Jersey. He was a University of 85 00:05:03,160 --> 00:05:06,200 Speaker 1: Pennsylvania grad. He'd just gotten a job at a Philadelphia 86 00:05:06,240 --> 00:05:09,559 Speaker 1: brokerage firm, and he was a pretty popular guy. Um. 87 00:05:09,600 --> 00:05:12,040 Speaker 1: He's part of the glee club and on the varsity 88 00:05:12,040 --> 00:05:14,279 Speaker 1: golf team, and he came from a very old family, 89 00:05:14,960 --> 00:05:17,120 Speaker 1: and he and his father and his sisters were there 90 00:05:17,160 --> 00:05:20,719 Speaker 1: at beach even for the weekend, and it was customary 91 00:05:20,800 --> 00:05:23,360 Speaker 1: for young men to go for a pre dinner dip 92 00:05:23,400 --> 00:05:28,680 Speaker 1: in the ocean, and Charles swam right out. But his 93 00:05:28,760 --> 00:05:32,520 Speaker 1: dick of the ocean didn't exactly go as planned. He 94 00:05:32,600 --> 00:05:36,719 Speaker 1: started crying out, and while some beach combers thought he 95 00:05:36,800 --> 00:05:40,400 Speaker 1: was calling out for a dog, he was actually crying 96 00:05:40,440 --> 00:05:43,720 Speaker 1: out for help because a shark had latched on to 97 00:05:43,920 --> 00:05:46,840 Speaker 1: his thigh. And there was a lifeguard actually there at 98 00:05:46,839 --> 00:05:49,800 Speaker 1: the time, Alexander Ott, who had been on the Olympic 99 00:05:49,839 --> 00:05:53,520 Speaker 1: swim team for the US, and he swam right out, 100 00:05:53,800 --> 00:05:55,919 Speaker 1: grabbed Van Sant and brought him in. But by the 101 00:05:55,960 --> 00:05:59,039 Speaker 1: time he brought him in, Van Sant was missing most 102 00:05:59,200 --> 00:06:03,320 Speaker 1: of his leg and he bled to death shortly thereafter. Yeah, 103 00:06:03,320 --> 00:06:06,359 Speaker 1: the sharks bite had suffered an artery in his sign 104 00:06:06,360 --> 00:06:10,800 Speaker 1: and so he led out pretty quickly. But people viewed 105 00:06:10,839 --> 00:06:13,680 Speaker 1: this largely as an isolated instant, and for a few 106 00:06:13,720 --> 00:06:17,160 Speaker 1: days things were calmed at the beach. And while today 107 00:06:17,200 --> 00:06:19,400 Speaker 1: that sort of accident might scare people away from the 108 00:06:19,400 --> 00:06:22,960 Speaker 1: beach for a very long time, it didn't really make 109 00:06:23,000 --> 00:06:25,240 Speaker 1: that huge of an impact. You know, we have the 110 00:06:25,279 --> 00:06:28,920 Speaker 1: local news at night broadcast scary stories and and put 111 00:06:28,920 --> 00:06:31,080 Speaker 1: people on alert, but most of the headlines of the 112 00:06:31,120 --> 00:06:33,400 Speaker 1: day were occupied with the events of World War One, 113 00:06:33,960 --> 00:06:36,599 Speaker 1: so people weren't too frightened of the beach. The story 114 00:06:36,680 --> 00:06:38,800 Speaker 1: was on page eighteen of the New York Times, it 115 00:06:38,800 --> 00:06:42,000 Speaker 1: didn't even hit the front page. And people largely conceived 116 00:06:42,000 --> 00:06:46,080 Speaker 1: of shark attacks as occurring in more southern Atlantic waters, 117 00:06:46,120 --> 00:06:49,320 Speaker 1: like around Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina, so they thought 118 00:06:49,320 --> 00:06:52,080 Speaker 1: it was an anomaly, this one incident. It wouldn't happen again, 119 00:06:52,400 --> 00:06:55,400 Speaker 1: but that would not be the case. On July six 120 00:06:55,640 --> 00:06:59,280 Speaker 1: at Spring Like, a Swiss bellboy named Charles Brewder, who 121 00:06:59,360 --> 00:07:02,680 Speaker 1: worked at the six and Sussex Hotel, went out for 122 00:07:02,880 --> 00:07:06,480 Speaker 1: a swim, and he was very well liked among staff 123 00:07:06,520 --> 00:07:09,400 Speaker 1: and guests, and he actually sent most of his his 124 00:07:09,440 --> 00:07:12,400 Speaker 1: wages home to his Swiss mother because her other son 125 00:07:12,600 --> 00:07:14,920 Speaker 1: was at war. So he went out to a special 126 00:07:14,960 --> 00:07:17,360 Speaker 1: part of the beach that had been cornered off for 127 00:07:17,480 --> 00:07:21,200 Speaker 1: employee swim and all of a sudden he went under 128 00:07:22,080 --> 00:07:25,280 Speaker 1: and there was a large red patch in the ocean, 129 00:07:25,320 --> 00:07:28,000 Speaker 1: which led a woman to tell the lifeguard that she 130 00:07:28,080 --> 00:07:31,160 Speaker 1: thought a canoe had flipped over red canoe, and no 131 00:07:31,160 --> 00:07:33,320 Speaker 1: one had seen a red canoe, so for a couple 132 00:07:33,360 --> 00:07:35,520 Speaker 1: of minutes there was confusion, and then they realized that no, 133 00:07:36,240 --> 00:07:39,360 Speaker 1: it was blood and it was Charles Brewder, and the 134 00:07:39,400 --> 00:07:42,360 Speaker 1: lifeguards swam out in a boat and brought him back, 135 00:07:42,880 --> 00:07:45,520 Speaker 1: and he was missing both of his legs below the knee, 136 00:07:45,640 --> 00:07:48,600 Speaker 1: his bones were severed, his foot was missing, he had 137 00:07:48,600 --> 00:07:51,800 Speaker 1: severe wounds to his abdomen. And because this was such 138 00:07:51,840 --> 00:07:55,520 Speaker 1: a public rescue and public display of how badly mulled 139 00:07:55,560 --> 00:07:59,880 Speaker 1: his body was, people became much more aware and fright 140 00:08:00,120 --> 00:08:02,680 Speaker 1: of the sharks that may be cruising along the Jersey shore. 141 00:08:03,320 --> 00:08:06,600 Speaker 1: Spring Lake was a much richer, more elite little resort 142 00:08:06,680 --> 00:08:10,000 Speaker 1: town than Beach Haven was, so this made even more headlines. 143 00:08:10,080 --> 00:08:12,080 Speaker 1: Now people were starting to come to because it wasn't 144 00:08:12,120 --> 00:08:15,320 Speaker 1: just attacking the southern Jersey shore. No, the shark was 145 00:08:15,640 --> 00:08:19,400 Speaker 1: targeting the rich. But the shark knew no boundaries of 146 00:08:19,480 --> 00:08:21,960 Speaker 1: class because whether it was the same shark or a 147 00:08:21,960 --> 00:08:26,680 Speaker 1: different one. One actually swim inward toward Mattawan Creek, which 148 00:08:26,760 --> 00:08:30,280 Speaker 1: was a tidal river area off the coast. This was 149 00:08:30,360 --> 00:08:33,760 Speaker 1: fresh water, and on July twelve, a twelve year old 150 00:08:33,800 --> 00:08:38,280 Speaker 1: boy named Lester Stillwell was attacked, and Lester actually had epilepsy, 151 00:08:38,400 --> 00:08:42,839 Speaker 1: so when he went under in Mattawan Creek, which was 152 00:08:42,880 --> 00:08:45,480 Speaker 1: only about thirty ft wide and forty ft deep, his 153 00:08:45,679 --> 00:08:48,040 Speaker 1: friends thought that perhaps he'd had a seizure and he'd 154 00:08:48,080 --> 00:08:50,760 Speaker 1: gone under the surface and they needed help getting him out, 155 00:08:51,360 --> 00:08:54,120 Speaker 1: So they raised town and came back with a dry 156 00:08:54,160 --> 00:08:57,440 Speaker 1: cleaner named Stanley Fisher. Not to be confused with the 157 00:08:57,600 --> 00:09:02,000 Speaker 1: literary theorys Stanley Fish totally different man. So he starts 158 00:09:02,120 --> 00:09:04,200 Speaker 1: using it a pole to poke around the water to 159 00:09:04,200 --> 00:09:07,559 Speaker 1: try to locate his body, and he actually discovers that 160 00:09:07,600 --> 00:09:10,079 Speaker 1: there's a shark lurking in the depth. So imagine the 161 00:09:10,120 --> 00:09:14,280 Speaker 1: surprise a shark in fresh water. People are panicking, and 162 00:09:14,320 --> 00:09:16,640 Speaker 1: one of the accounts I had read said that they 163 00:09:16,679 --> 00:09:21,120 Speaker 1: had um stretched a net in the creek beforehand so 164 00:09:21,200 --> 00:09:24,440 Speaker 1: the body wouldn't wash out to see not knowing that 165 00:09:24,480 --> 00:09:26,560 Speaker 1: there was a shark, and the net would also keep 166 00:09:26,600 --> 00:09:29,400 Speaker 1: the shark in, and that maybe why it stayed there 167 00:09:29,480 --> 00:09:31,840 Speaker 1: and was able to attack Fisher instead of swimming back 168 00:09:31,880 --> 00:09:35,720 Speaker 1: to the ocean. But Fisher dove in and he was attacked. 169 00:09:35,880 --> 00:09:39,160 Speaker 1: The shark latched onto his right thigh, and another man 170 00:09:39,640 --> 00:09:42,960 Speaker 1: who had a boat actually tried to fend off the 171 00:09:42,960 --> 00:09:45,360 Speaker 1: shark with one of the oars, and he fended the 172 00:09:45,360 --> 00:09:48,679 Speaker 1: shark off successfully and got Fisher out, but Fisher later died. 173 00:09:49,080 --> 00:09:52,000 Speaker 1: So now we're up to four deaths the same summer 174 00:09:52,160 --> 00:09:55,360 Speaker 1: and the same general part of the country. And then 175 00:09:55,400 --> 00:09:58,760 Speaker 1: we go about half mile up from where Lester Stillwell 176 00:09:58,880 --> 00:10:02,880 Speaker 1: was killed and we have victim number five, Joseph Dunn. 177 00:10:03,600 --> 00:10:06,760 Speaker 1: The shark bit his leg, but he actually was rescued. 178 00:10:06,800 --> 00:10:09,400 Speaker 1: At this point, Mattawan residents had kind of wised up 179 00:10:09,400 --> 00:10:11,520 Speaker 1: to what was going on and he was able to 180 00:10:11,559 --> 00:10:14,880 Speaker 1: be saved. He was taken to the hospital, and they 181 00:10:14,920 --> 00:10:16,640 Speaker 1: had said that he would never walk again and his 182 00:10:16,679 --> 00:10:19,120 Speaker 1: limbs would probably be amputated, but he ended up keeping 183 00:10:19,120 --> 00:10:22,160 Speaker 1: both legs, which was great news. And he was the 184 00:10:22,240 --> 00:10:26,680 Speaker 1: only survivor in that series of brutal shark attacks. And 185 00:10:27,160 --> 00:10:31,280 Speaker 1: people were really just freaked out at this point, and 186 00:10:31,400 --> 00:10:35,280 Speaker 1: even President Woodrow Wilson had had enough. He launched a 187 00:10:35,320 --> 00:10:38,800 Speaker 1: war on the Sea of Terror, and he sent in 188 00:10:38,840 --> 00:10:41,680 Speaker 1: the Navy and the Coast Guard to help deal with 189 00:10:41,679 --> 00:10:43,959 Speaker 1: the problem. And I'm not exactly sure what they did 190 00:10:44,000 --> 00:10:45,960 Speaker 1: if they were on the lookout for sharks swimming along 191 00:10:45,960 --> 00:10:49,800 Speaker 1: the beach, or if they were actively trying to capture sharks, 192 00:10:49,880 --> 00:10:52,960 Speaker 1: But people thought that the Great White was out and 193 00:10:52,960 --> 00:10:57,080 Speaker 1: about riaking havoc on humanity, and civilians took up their 194 00:10:57,120 --> 00:11:01,480 Speaker 1: own sort of vigilante justice and shot, abbed, and dynamited 195 00:11:01,679 --> 00:11:05,080 Speaker 1: Mattawan Creek and started shooting sharks whenever they found them, 196 00:11:05,120 --> 00:11:08,560 Speaker 1: wherever they found them. There were several cases of civilians 197 00:11:08,559 --> 00:11:10,600 Speaker 1: shooting sharks in the head and then getting their pictures 198 00:11:10,600 --> 00:11:14,200 Speaker 1: taken for the newspaper, and clearly that would not fly today, 199 00:11:14,280 --> 00:11:16,679 Speaker 1: but to put it into context at the time and 200 00:11:16,960 --> 00:11:19,720 Speaker 1: the fear that was going on, it seemed appropriate and 201 00:11:20,160 --> 00:11:26,000 Speaker 1: a battle event and heroic. And there's actually an unbelievable 202 00:11:26,040 --> 00:11:28,600 Speaker 1: part of the story, but believable because it is true. 203 00:11:28,800 --> 00:11:32,679 Speaker 1: There's a man named Michael Schleisser who was a taxidermist 204 00:11:32,800 --> 00:11:37,000 Speaker 1: and supposedly a Barnum and Bailey circus lion tamer, and 205 00:11:37,040 --> 00:11:40,120 Speaker 1: while he was out fishing, he actually caught a shark 206 00:11:40,240 --> 00:11:43,840 Speaker 1: in Raritan Bay. It was a great white and supposedly 207 00:11:43,880 --> 00:11:47,319 Speaker 1: when they opened it they found human flesh inside about 208 00:11:47,360 --> 00:11:51,400 Speaker 1: fifteen pounds. So it was that great white the terror 209 00:11:51,400 --> 00:11:56,200 Speaker 1: of Mattawan Creek or was it something else. Scientists today 210 00:11:56,320 --> 00:11:59,080 Speaker 1: and a theologist who look back and examine that summer 211 00:11:59,120 --> 00:12:01,400 Speaker 1: and that behave you're of different types of sharks and 212 00:12:01,440 --> 00:12:05,080 Speaker 1: who the likely as culprits would be, are are not 213 00:12:05,160 --> 00:12:07,560 Speaker 1: exactly sure that that's the mark of a great white. 214 00:12:08,080 --> 00:12:11,559 Speaker 1: Even Fabian Crusto, who you may know from his father 215 00:12:11,720 --> 00:12:15,200 Speaker 1: Jacques Crusto, said that it was unlikely a great white 216 00:12:15,360 --> 00:12:17,880 Speaker 1: would be in freshwater. It's more likely the work of 217 00:12:17,920 --> 00:12:20,920 Speaker 1: a bull shark, which is only one of only two 218 00:12:20,920 --> 00:12:24,360 Speaker 1: species that can go in in fresh waters. Bull Sharks 219 00:12:24,400 --> 00:12:27,480 Speaker 1: also have really small eyes, much smaller than other sharks, 220 00:12:27,480 --> 00:12:30,400 Speaker 1: so their vision is pretty limited, which is why they 221 00:12:30,440 --> 00:12:32,880 Speaker 1: like to swim near the shore because they can just 222 00:12:32,920 --> 00:12:35,839 Speaker 1: sort of bump into things instead. And in fact, their 223 00:12:35,920 --> 00:12:38,000 Speaker 1: hunting method is called the bump and bite because they 224 00:12:38,000 --> 00:12:40,680 Speaker 1: will bump into something, figure out what it is from 225 00:12:40,720 --> 00:12:43,920 Speaker 1: the bump, and then bite it. So I don't believe you. 226 00:12:44,640 --> 00:12:46,880 Speaker 1: If a bull shark butts into you, things are not 227 00:12:46,920 --> 00:12:50,040 Speaker 1: going to go well. Get away quickly. And after Katrina, 228 00:12:50,120 --> 00:12:52,480 Speaker 1: actually a bunch of bull sharks were found um in 229 00:12:52,640 --> 00:12:56,080 Speaker 1: Lake pontcher Train and they live in several freshwater lakes. 230 00:12:56,720 --> 00:13:00,600 Speaker 1: And of course the purpose of this shark podcast is 231 00:13:00,640 --> 00:13:03,599 Speaker 1: to talk about a particular moment in history and to 232 00:13:03,640 --> 00:13:07,640 Speaker 1: think about the way that beach culture and attitude toward 233 00:13:07,720 --> 00:13:12,640 Speaker 1: the ocean and the ocean predators have changed throughout time. 234 00:13:12,679 --> 00:13:14,840 Speaker 1: It's not too scare you off from your your beach 235 00:13:14,920 --> 00:13:18,160 Speaker 1: vacation by all means, go invite Katie and me will 236 00:13:18,200 --> 00:13:21,160 Speaker 1: come and we'll come with you. But um, it is 237 00:13:21,200 --> 00:13:23,120 Speaker 1: important to know just what's out there, and it's it's 238 00:13:23,160 --> 00:13:26,240 Speaker 1: fun to look at how people's attitudes have changed about 239 00:13:26,840 --> 00:13:30,360 Speaker 1: bathing culture and well even sharks. Yeah, scientists at the 240 00:13:30,360 --> 00:13:32,839 Speaker 1: time kept telling people there were no danger, and in fact, 241 00:13:32,920 --> 00:13:34,760 Speaker 1: there were several who said that it couldn't possibly have 242 00:13:34,800 --> 00:13:38,320 Speaker 1: been a shark who attacked these people because sharks, you know, 243 00:13:38,559 --> 00:13:41,040 Speaker 1: don't do unprovoked attacks, and that perhaps it was a 244 00:13:41,080 --> 00:13:44,440 Speaker 1: sea turtle instead, So a crazy sea turtle might not 245 00:13:44,480 --> 00:13:47,200 Speaker 1: make us good a movie as jobs, but still that 246 00:13:47,280 --> 00:13:51,360 Speaker 1: was one theory. Well, now we know better, and the 247 00:13:51,440 --> 00:13:55,439 Speaker 1: likes of tortoises and sea turtles are relegated to whimsical 248 00:13:55,559 --> 00:13:58,320 Speaker 1: animated movies and in stories about who's fast or a 249 00:13:58,360 --> 00:14:01,839 Speaker 1: turtle or a rabbit, money's on the rabbit. But if 250 00:14:01,840 --> 00:14:04,760 Speaker 1: you want to learn even more about sharks, shark attacks, 251 00:14:04,800 --> 00:14:08,280 Speaker 1: and post Victorian beach and bathing culture, be sure to 252 00:14:08,360 --> 00:14:12,680 Speaker 1: visit the website and how stuff works dot com. For 253 00:14:12,800 --> 00:14:15,320 Speaker 1: more on this and thousands of other topics, visit how 254 00:14:15,360 --> 00:14:18,440 Speaker 1: stuff works dot com. Let us know what you think, 255 00:14:18,720 --> 00:14:22,200 Speaker 1: send an email to podcast at how stuff works dot com, 256 00:14:22,200 --> 00:14:23,920 Speaker 1: and be sure to check out the stuff you missed 257 00:14:23,920 --> 00:14:26,240 Speaker 1: in History Class blog on the how stuff works dot 258 00:14:26,280 --> 00:14:35,360 Speaker 1: com home page.