WEBVTT - The Shark Diaries 0:00:00.280 --> 0:00:02.840 Brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve camera. 0:00:03.160 --> 0:00:07.480 It's ready. Are you welcome to Stuff you should Know 0:00:08.119 --> 0:00:16.599 from House Stuff Works dot Com. Hey, and welcome to 0:00:16.840 --> 0:00:21.279 the turn of the century radio play. How's it going, Chuck? Great? 0:00:21.320 --> 0:00:23.840 How are you? I'm doing good? I'm like, this sounds 0:00:24.040 --> 0:00:28.200 not like a radio play. No, it will very soon. Um, 0:00:28.280 --> 0:00:30.520 this is a very special stuff you should know in 0:00:30.600 --> 0:00:33.960 honor Shark Week. That's right. Um, we're doing something different, 0:00:34.200 --> 0:00:39.960 something that Mr Charles W. Chucker's Bryant put together. Yeah. Um, 0:00:40.280 --> 0:00:43.960 a group of radio diaries. I guess you could say, yeah, 0:00:44.040 --> 0:00:47.080 you know. I think we touched on the um shark 0:00:47.120 --> 0:00:50.559 attacks at the Jersey Shore in Mattawan Creek in nineteen 0:00:50.640 --> 0:00:56.120 sixteen and a previous podcast, how Shart detect Work Dogs 0:00:56.360 --> 0:00:59.040 Shark's favorite meal. It's right because the dog was actually 0:00:59.080 --> 0:01:01.600 in the water and the first victim was attack. Uh. 0:01:01.640 --> 0:01:06.200 This is the story that UM inspired Jaws Peter Benchley. Yeah, 0:01:06.240 --> 0:01:09.120 and it is the famous UM And there's been a 0:01:09.160 --> 0:01:11.440 lot of specials on this, like some pretty good ones. Well, 0:01:11.480 --> 0:01:14.600 it's pretty sensational. It's like a hugely sensational I would 0:01:14.680 --> 0:01:17.280 call this the special of all specials on this. You 0:01:17.360 --> 0:01:19.440 did a great job, you think, so, yeah, well, thank you. 0:01:19.959 --> 0:01:22.640 Uh So, we want to give you a little backstory 0:01:22.800 --> 0:01:24.600 so you know what you're listening to. Then we want 0:01:24.640 --> 0:01:27.880 to introduce the players to this little radio play or 0:01:27.920 --> 0:01:30.679 I guess you call it a podcast play. Yeah, and 0:01:30.840 --> 0:01:33.120 uh so, so you know who you're listening to and 0:01:33.160 --> 0:01:36.680 what you're listening to. Well, Chuck, let's let's talk about 0:01:36.680 --> 0:01:41.920 the attacks. O. Um, what year is this. Yeah, and 0:01:41.920 --> 0:01:46.000 it's a time when beach recreation was like new, the 0:01:46.080 --> 0:01:49.600 frozen banana had just been invented, yeah, sort of, but 0:01:49.720 --> 0:01:51.920 this was the first time, like this was the beginnings 0:01:51.960 --> 0:01:54.840 of like massive amounts of people going to the beach. 0:01:55.560 --> 0:01:57.920 Dude swimming in the ocean, Ladies just starting to show 0:01:57.960 --> 0:02:01.280 a little ankle, just dipping their toe in. Mainly the 0:02:01.280 --> 0:02:05.680 men out there swimming in there one piece sure, weightlifters, 0:02:05.760 --> 0:02:08.079 uniform bathing seats, right, that's right. And it was just 0:02:08.120 --> 0:02:12.080 like a beautiful time to be alive in America. And 0:02:12.160 --> 0:02:14.040 so this is the Jersey Shore. It's much like the 0:02:14.120 --> 0:02:16.399 Jersey Shores today where if you live in New York 0:02:16.480 --> 0:02:18.639 or Philly, this is where you're going when it's hot 0:02:18.919 --> 0:02:21.160 also very different I mentioned, right, but this is the 0:02:21.200 --> 0:02:24.320 origin of that time, yeah, or of that movement or 0:02:24.360 --> 0:02:28.120 absolutely so this would all come screeching to a halt. 0:02:28.919 --> 0:02:33.760 Uh over the course of twelve days, with um five 0:02:34.200 --> 0:02:37.959 different victims of four which died on two on the 0:02:38.040 --> 0:02:40.679 Jersey shore and then two more on a creek in 0:02:40.760 --> 0:02:44.800 an inland Title creek and Mattawan or Mattawan. So the 0:02:44.840 --> 0:02:47.919 first attack takes place on July first, nineteen sixteen, right, 0:02:48.560 --> 0:02:51.680 and um, people thought it was a fluke. Yeah, it 0:02:51.760 --> 0:02:54.600 was a Philly vacation or named Charles van Zandt. And 0:02:54.760 --> 0:02:58.120 um he died. Five days later there was another attack 0:02:58.200 --> 0:03:00.640 on the shore. So yes, now of a sudden you 0:03:00.680 --> 0:03:04.880 have the entire nation's attention because everyone was like a 0:03:04.880 --> 0:03:08.639 guy got attack by shark. It never happens, totally unusual occurrence. 0:03:08.800 --> 0:03:11.560 Then five days later in the same area there's another one. Yes, 0:03:11.560 --> 0:03:14.440 a Swissman attacked on the shore. And then um, after 0:03:14.520 --> 0:03:18.240 that is when uh, they don't even know shark or 0:03:18.280 --> 0:03:22.720 sharks moved inland to a Title creek and like kids 0:03:22.720 --> 0:03:27.079 swimming in this creek thinking it's completely safe. Boy dies. 0:03:27.520 --> 0:03:30.600 Man dies trying to save boy. Another voice severely injured, 0:03:31.520 --> 0:03:35.080 and uh, it was pretty nuts after that, Like President 0:03:35.640 --> 0:03:40.320 Wilson got involved. It was like a nationwide frenzy because 0:03:40.600 --> 0:03:44.080 no one had ever known about shark attacks before. Oh yeah, yeah, 0:03:44.120 --> 0:03:46.920 this is like the first thing. It was like an anomaly. Okay, 0:03:46.960 --> 0:03:49.520 so you were basically like a sailor to know about 0:03:49.560 --> 0:03:54.600 a shark attack. Of an introduction it is. So that's 0:03:54.640 --> 0:03:58.280 what we got going on. We'll introduce the players now. Um. 0:03:58.400 --> 0:04:01.480 First up, you're gonna hear uh and these are lost 0:04:01.560 --> 0:04:05.480 diaries that we found from the scene. We should point out. 0:04:05.840 --> 0:04:08.720 I thought that was a given. It is. Dr John C. 0:04:08.880 --> 0:04:12.800 Nichols is played by tech stuffs Jonathan Strickland. He uh 0:04:12.920 --> 0:04:16.679 is regarded as the first American ich theologist and worked 0:04:16.680 --> 0:04:20.680 with his mentor, doctor Frederick Lucas, who was very uh. 0:04:20.720 --> 0:04:22.400 They were kind of at odds for a while on this, 0:04:22.800 --> 0:04:25.120 like Lucas was like, yeah, that's not sharks. Sharks don't 0:04:25.160 --> 0:04:29.039 do that, and so Nichols went to the scene and 0:04:29.120 --> 0:04:30.920 he was kind of who Matt Hooper was based on 0:04:31.240 --> 0:04:35.120 Awesome of Jaws. Next up, you're gonna hear Louise Van's aunt, 0:04:35.120 --> 0:04:38.640 who was the sister of the first victim Charles and 0:04:38.880 --> 0:04:43.359 she was played by Rachel Frank who coolest stuff on 0:04:43.400 --> 0:04:44.880 the planet. Yeah, I was doing that. I don't know 0:04:45.000 --> 0:04:49.560 she still doing that. Uh. And she actually saw her brother, 0:04:49.800 --> 0:04:53.240 like from the beach get attacked in the water. Third up, 0:04:53.279 --> 0:04:56.520 we have Stanley Fisher and then Mary Anderson after that, 0:04:56.960 --> 0:05:02.000 and they were um virgin love relationship in Mattawuan. Between 0:05:02.040 --> 0:05:05.359 these two, Stanley was a local taylor, very well loved dude, 0:05:05.720 --> 0:05:07.920 and Mary Anderson was a school teacher and they were 0:05:08.520 --> 0:05:12.440 just like starting their courtship when Stanley perished right in 0:05:12.480 --> 0:05:15.000 front of her face in the creek. Let me think 0:05:15.040 --> 0:05:18.080 about it. It's bad enough to see someone killed by 0:05:18.080 --> 0:05:20.400 a shark, and somebody that you care about killed by 0:05:20.400 --> 0:05:22.919 a shark. That's got to really like leaving an impression, 0:05:23.600 --> 0:05:28.000 say so. Uh. And Stanley Fisher is voiced by Robert Lamb. 0:05:28.160 --> 0:05:31.200 Stuff to blow your minds Robert Lamb, that's right. And 0:05:31.520 --> 0:05:34.280 Mary Anderson is voiced by the former I guess she's 0:05:34.279 --> 0:05:37.480 still Katie Lambert, the former stuff you missed in history 0:05:37.480 --> 0:05:41.159 class host right, was now departed from our work ranks. 0:05:41.200 --> 0:05:43.640 I think that was probably good point that Katie's still 0:05:43.680 --> 0:05:47.400 doing great. And then Finally, we have Joseph Dunn, who 0:05:47.440 --> 0:05:50.840 was one of the little boys who actually survived. This 0:05:50.880 --> 0:05:52.880 is crazy, man, Are you really going to tell everybody 0:05:52.880 --> 0:05:56.120 who does Joseph Dunn? I don't think so. I think 0:05:56.120 --> 0:05:59.480 we should just leave the mystery boy, Joseph Donne, the 0:05:59.560 --> 0:06:03.040 mystery boy who is of legal age to be acting 0:06:03.279 --> 0:06:06.480 in a podcast play without any kind of like child 0:06:06.600 --> 0:06:09.599 labor laws being broken. Right, that's right. And Joseph he 0:06:09.640 --> 0:06:11.240 was actually from New York and he and his brother 0:06:11.279 --> 0:06:14.400 Michael went to visit his uh aunt and uncle and Cliffwood, 0:06:14.400 --> 0:06:16.720 New Jersey and go swimming in the creeks there with 0:06:16.760 --> 0:06:21.240 her buddy Jerry Howard hand and things turn pretty gruesome 0:06:21.240 --> 0:06:24.920 for all of them. So some rotten luck for the 0:06:25.040 --> 0:06:28.960 Jersey shore. With that, should we go ahead and proceed 0:06:29.000 --> 0:06:31.240 with the s y s K radio play? Okay? What 0:06:31.279 --> 0:06:35.560 do you call this thing? Uh? Uh? Call it listener 0:06:35.600 --> 0:06:39.359 mail from a fan in Canada. That's terrible. Okay, how 0:06:39.360 --> 0:06:42.760 about the Shark Diaries of the attacks at Mattawan Creek 0:06:50.920 --> 0:06:56.600 July one, nine four p m. Dear Diary, We're headed 0:06:56.640 --> 0:06:58.920 to Beach Haven on the train and it could not 0:06:59.000 --> 0:07:02.400 be any hotter. I'm covered from head to toe in 0:07:02.440 --> 0:07:07.119 woolen cotton, and it is quite tiresome. I consider trying 0:07:07.120 --> 0:07:10.000 the ocean out this time, but Father says that women 0:07:10.040 --> 0:07:14.160 should not bathe with Besides, whoever thought wool stockings and 0:07:14.200 --> 0:07:17.760 seawater go together should be run up a flagpole, lead 0:07:17.840 --> 0:07:20.200 weights and the hymn of the skirt. It's as if 0:07:20.240 --> 0:07:24.160 they're attempting to drown us. Even so, it will be 0:07:24.200 --> 0:07:26.760 grand to be at the beach for Independence Day. My 0:07:26.880 --> 0:07:30.800 brother is beside me making fun of my diary. He 0:07:30.880 --> 0:07:33.360 has threatened to steal it and shared around his office. 0:07:34.560 --> 0:07:36.520 I'm sure there would be quite bored with it. Though 0:07:37.720 --> 0:07:39.720 we must be close to a riding, because I can 0:07:39.720 --> 0:07:53.440 smell the salty air. July one, nineteen sixteen, m Dear Diary. 0:07:54.440 --> 0:07:56.920 The resorts are all booked full, and I bet half 0:07:56.920 --> 0:08:00.400 of New Jersey and Pennsylvania are at the shore. Every 0:08:00.440 --> 0:08:05.240 fifteen minutes a train dispatches another thousand people. It is 0:08:05.320 --> 0:08:07.760 quite a sight. Who would have thought that the ocean 0:08:07.760 --> 0:08:11.480 would draw such a crowd. There are young men everywhere 0:08:11.760 --> 0:08:15.520 playing cards and keeping an eye out for commers. Father 0:08:15.600 --> 0:08:18.960 and sister are resting out before dinner, and I'm roasting 0:08:19.000 --> 0:08:21.560 on the hot sand, watching my brother swim to England. 0:08:21.600 --> 0:08:25.160 Presumably he promised me a walk on the beach but 0:08:25.240 --> 0:08:27.960 befriended a dog that seemed keen for a swim instead. 0:08:28.880 --> 0:08:32.840 I call him Patches. Currently, he and Patches are swimming 0:08:32.840 --> 0:08:36.600 out well past the others, both doing their best dog paddle. 0:08:38.520 --> 0:08:41.000 I can barely see him from here, but he looks 0:08:41.040 --> 0:08:44.439 to be having loads of fun. He's yelling and waving 0:08:44.480 --> 0:08:46.920 his arms for Patches, but it looks like the pooch 0:08:47.000 --> 0:08:50.600 has exhausted himself and is heading back. I'm beginning to 0:08:50.640 --> 0:09:10.920 think that July nine, two pm where to arrived this 0:09:11.000 --> 0:09:13.120 morning of an attack on a human in beach Haven, 0:09:13.280 --> 0:09:18.040 possibly a shark most odd naturally. Dr Lucas has already 0:09:18.080 --> 0:09:21.960 discounted it, but I wonder my inexperience next to Lucas 0:09:22.040 --> 0:09:25.040 is pronounced yet I doubt his resolve to test his 0:09:25.040 --> 0:09:28.800 own hypotheses now he nears retirement and news of sharks 0:09:28.800 --> 0:09:32.960 feeding on humans is not something that appears to interest him. 0:09:33.000 --> 0:09:36.040 His lack of investment was striking. I need to go 0:09:36.120 --> 0:09:38.680 to beach Haven and investigate, but I am bound to 0:09:38.720 --> 0:09:42.160 the museum. The Fish commissioners said that it was likely 0:09:42.200 --> 0:09:44.920 after a dog in the water with the victim stripped 0:09:45.000 --> 0:09:47.000 the man to his bone on the right and lost 0:09:47.000 --> 0:09:50.200 several pounds of flesh on the left. My early thought 0:09:50.360 --> 0:09:53.920 is a tiger, or perhaps a bowl. Lucas is convinced 0:09:53.960 --> 0:09:57.079 there are no great whites round here. The victim was 0:09:58.559 --> 0:10:09.240 very young. July two, nineteen sixteen, three thirty a m. 0:10:10.920 --> 0:10:15.000 Dear diary, I cannot believe the words that I am 0:10:15.040 --> 0:10:20.480 about to write. My brother has died. He was swimming 0:10:20.520 --> 0:10:23.199 far out in the water when the people around me 0:10:23.240 --> 0:10:26.960 began shouting. I saw a long, dark shadow in the 0:10:27.000 --> 0:10:30.760 water just behind him. A man said that it was 0:10:30.840 --> 0:10:34.280 a shark, but I don't know. I've never seen one. 0:10:35.280 --> 0:10:37.640 It had a tall fin that sat high in the water. 0:10:39.280 --> 0:10:42.840 It took him by the legs and drew him under. 0:10:44.679 --> 0:10:48.160 A lifeguard swam out to retrieve him, but it was 0:10:48.240 --> 0:10:52.320 too late. He was gone by the time he reached shore. 0:10:53.640 --> 0:10:56.160 The water ran red with his blood around my feet, 0:10:56.240 --> 0:10:59.240 and I've never felt so helpless in all my life. 0:11:00.559 --> 0:11:03.240 His left thigh was in shreds all the way to 0:11:03.280 --> 0:11:07.960 the bone. His right leg was hollowed out from waste. 0:11:08.000 --> 0:11:24.880 To me, his lifeless face stared skyward. July two pm. 0:11:25.080 --> 0:11:27.720 Summer has come upon us fully. It was more than 0:11:27.840 --> 0:11:30.760 ninety degrees yesterday, and it may have been even hotter today. 0:11:31.520 --> 0:11:34.640 Business has been steady, but slower than it was in 0:11:34.640 --> 0:11:37.760 the spring and the winter before that. Mary and I 0:11:37.800 --> 0:11:39.760 went for a walk down by the creek after church 0:11:39.800 --> 0:11:42.720 on Sunday. She told me about our students. We talked 0:11:42.720 --> 0:11:45.840 about Mattawan. We both love it here and don't desire 0:11:45.880 --> 0:11:48.480 the bright lights of Philadelphia or New York. It is 0:11:48.520 --> 0:11:50.840 a close community and we look out for each other. 0:11:51.600 --> 0:11:54.800 I want to raise a family here. I've grown quite 0:11:54.840 --> 0:11:57.200 fond of Mary, and I believe that in three weeks 0:11:57.200 --> 0:12:00.120 it can be called a genuine courtship. She's kind and 0:12:00.440 --> 0:12:05.199 pretty smart. It comes from a good family. There's a 0:12:05.280 --> 0:12:07.440 rumor in town that a man was attacked by a 0:12:07.520 --> 0:12:11.440 giant fish yesterday in beach Haven. Captain Cantrell has told 0:12:11.480 --> 0:12:14.120 us all stories of man eaters at sea, but has 0:12:14.160 --> 0:12:17.080 also regaled us with tales of giant squids and way 0:12:17.080 --> 0:12:19.880 heaves as tall as four stories. He's well known to 0:12:19.920 --> 0:12:22.040 stretch the truth, and his words should be taken with 0:12:22.040 --> 0:12:31.559 a pinch of salt. July two to nineteen sixteen, seven 0:12:31.679 --> 0:12:36.679 thirty six pm. Dear Diary, July, Oh July. I cannot 0:12:36.720 --> 0:12:38.560 believe I have not written in my diary since the 0:12:38.640 --> 0:12:41.040 end of the school year. Summer break was supposed to 0:12:41.080 --> 0:12:42.800 be my time to catch up on this sort of thing. 0:12:43.480 --> 0:12:47.000 Ah well, lad Da, I am being courted by a man. 0:12:47.520 --> 0:12:50.120 He's tall and broad, with blonde hair and blue eyes, 0:12:50.280 --> 0:12:53.319 very handsome. He's beloved in town as well. His name 0:12:53.360 --> 0:12:56.400 is reputable as the mayor himself. He's a tailor and 0:12:56.480 --> 0:12:59.000 has one of only four shops on Main Street, and 0:12:59.080 --> 0:13:02.680 as consequently quite a snappy dresser. We took a walk 0:13:02.720 --> 0:13:05.160 after church on Sunday and talked about life and our 0:13:05.240 --> 0:13:07.640 hopes and dreams, and our families and our past and 0:13:07.640 --> 0:13:10.760 our future. I'm just over the moon about it. Really. 0:13:11.400 --> 0:13:13.440 He loves Mattajuana as much as I do, and would 0:13:13.440 --> 0:13:15.760 not give a nickel for the bells and whistles of Philadelphia. 0:13:16.720 --> 0:13:18.720 We were in his shop this afternoon and I watched 0:13:18.760 --> 0:13:21.480 him cut a suit jacket. It was really something, a 0:13:21.559 --> 0:13:25.439 true art. A strange thing happened as well. Captain Cotrell 0:13:25.520 --> 0:13:27.240 came by and told us a man in beech Haven 0:13:27.240 --> 0:13:30.559 was attacked by a fish, perhaps a shark. Very odd 0:13:30.600 --> 0:13:46.600 to hear such a thing. Ju sixteen am, Dear Diary. 0:13:47.240 --> 0:13:50.400 Today's Independence Day and it's very hot here in New York. 0:13:51.120 --> 0:13:54.160 Father is home because it's a holiday for families. We're 0:13:54.160 --> 0:13:56.400 supposed to think about freedom today, but I don't know 0:13:56.400 --> 0:13:59.240 what they mean. My brother told me there was a 0:13:59.240 --> 0:14:01.880 man who got buy a shark in New Jersey. But 0:14:02.000 --> 0:14:04.120 I think he's just trying to scare me because we're 0:14:04.160 --> 0:14:06.840 traveling to visit my aunt's house in Cliffwood next week. 0:14:07.360 --> 0:14:09.079 They say a lot of people go to the beach 0:14:09.080 --> 0:14:11.440 now and swim in the ocean, but we only go 0:14:11.480 --> 0:14:14.480 in the creek in Mattawan with our friends. We're going 0:14:14.520 --> 0:14:18.080 to parade earlier today. My brother said he would buy firecrackers, 0:14:18.400 --> 0:14:21.720 even though Mom said not to. I'm putting a picture 0:14:21.760 --> 0:14:23.440 of New York in this diary so I can show 0:14:23.440 --> 0:14:26.360 my friends at Mattawan what the city looks like. I 0:14:26.400 --> 0:14:28.360 hope we get a good mark for my diary riding 0:14:28.400 --> 0:14:34.160 project when we start school. I like it. M July three, 0:14:34.240 --> 0:14:39.240 nineteen sixteen, five seventeen pm, Dear Diary. I decided to 0:14:39.240 --> 0:14:41.760 take lunch to Stanley today at his shop. I do 0:14:41.840 --> 0:14:43.720 not want to run him off by calling too much. 0:14:43.720 --> 0:14:45.560 But I missed him, so I threw caution to the wind. 0:14:46.240 --> 0:14:48.080 He seemed very pleased to see me, and we made 0:14:48.120 --> 0:14:50.000 plans to go to the Twin Lights Lighthouse at the 0:14:50.040 --> 0:14:52.720 Atlantic Highlands on the Bay. It is going to be 0:14:52.800 --> 0:14:56.240 just splendid and I can hardly contain myself. I'll pack 0:14:56.280 --> 0:14:58.480 a picnic supper and we'll watch the sun set together 0:14:58.520 --> 0:15:02.200 and then the big fireworks show. My favorite. Stanley traded 0:15:02.240 --> 0:15:05.040 a man a tailored suit for life insurance today a 0:15:05.200 --> 0:15:08.040 cecil suit, which was far too generous. What on earth 0:15:08.080 --> 0:15:10.720 does a man his age need with life insurance? But 0:15:10.800 --> 0:15:13.080 that is also what I am growing to love about him. 0:15:13.200 --> 0:15:16.480 His generosity is only matched by his kindness. He plays 0:15:16.520 --> 0:15:19.480 baseball with the children and they absolutely adore him. I 0:15:19.520 --> 0:15:21.400 want to bring him by the schoolhouse this fall to 0:15:21.400 --> 0:15:24.680 meet my students. Listen to me already planning for fall 0:15:24.720 --> 0:15:27.160 with him by my side. Oh and I just had 0:15:27.200 --> 0:15:29.080 to clip out the ads Stanley placed in the MOTTA 0:15:29.120 --> 0:15:47.760 one journal U nineteen sixteen m Dear Diary. I met 0:15:47.760 --> 0:15:50.400 the lifeguard who tried to save my brother at the funeral. 0:15:51.120 --> 0:15:54.680 He was very kind. I believe that he did everything 0:15:54.720 --> 0:15:58.080 he could do to save my brother. No one has 0:15:58.080 --> 0:16:01.200 ever been attacked by a fish before, and many doubt 0:16:01.280 --> 0:16:05.200 the events as they occurred. There have long been stories 0:16:05.200 --> 0:16:08.480 of man eaters in the sea, but I most believed 0:16:08.480 --> 0:16:12.960 them to be legend. I was there. I know I 0:16:13.000 --> 0:16:17.400 saw him flung from the water. I saw his mangled 0:16:17.480 --> 0:16:22.520 left leg exposed fully to the bone. It had been 0:16:23.120 --> 0:16:28.200 virtually torn from his body. The Times ran a small 0:16:28.280 --> 0:16:33.080 story on page eighteen. My brother deserved more, so much more. 0:16:41.560 --> 0:16:47.040 N six am another shark attack yesterday in New Jersey 0:16:47.320 --> 0:16:50.560 Spring Lake. The Times this morning is already all over 0:16:50.640 --> 0:16:54.680 this event. So much for dodging a media circus. Lucas 0:16:54.680 --> 0:16:58.400 finally agrees that something is amiss. This is no blasted 0:16:58.440 --> 0:17:01.960 sea turtle. We have eye witness accounts this time. It's 0:17:02.000 --> 0:17:04.480 clear that someone should go to Spring Lake and examine 0:17:04.520 --> 0:17:06.960 the body. I feel like I'm the most qualified man 0:17:07.000 --> 0:17:10.480 in New York, maybe even the country. Lucas may fight 0:17:10.520 --> 0:17:13.679 me on this press conference in the morning at the museum, 0:17:13.760 --> 0:17:15.400 so we had better get our ducks in a row. 0:17:16.040 --> 0:17:17.679 Lucas said that the jaw of the shark is not 0:17:17.720 --> 0:17:22.480 strong or capable of severing human bone. I have grave doubts. 0:17:27.119 --> 0:17:35.120 July sixteen PM, Dear Diary, It's been almost a week 0:17:35.160 --> 0:17:38.879 since we lost my dear brother. I found his journal 0:17:38.920 --> 0:17:42.280 today and reading his final entry breaks my heart each 0:17:42.320 --> 0:17:46.439 time my eyes pass over it. We received word this 0:17:46.560 --> 0:17:48.880 morning that another bay there was killed two days ago. 0:17:48.960 --> 0:17:53.240 It Spring Lake, a bellhop at a local resort. His 0:17:53.320 --> 0:17:55.919 attack has drawn much more attention than our own just 0:17:56.040 --> 0:18:00.600 days ago. I feel terrible for his family. Perhaps in 0:18:00.640 --> 0:18:03.840 time I can reach out to them. No one seems 0:18:03.880 --> 0:18:05.960 to know what is happening on our beaches that were 0:18:06.040 --> 0:18:09.719 so different just days ago. What was previously a welcome 0:18:09.800 --> 0:18:12.800 distraction from the polio epidemic in New York is now 0:18:12.800 --> 0:18:15.560 a beach awash with the blood of our brothers and sons. 0:18:16.840 --> 0:18:27.199 I pray for the end of summer. M Word has 0:18:27.240 --> 0:18:29.800 come to Mattawin that another bather was attacked on the 0:18:29.800 --> 0:18:33.000 shore yesterday. This time it was spring Lake, not far 0:18:33.040 --> 0:18:36.400 from here. If this is true, it is most uncommon. 0:18:36.400 --> 0:18:38.760 We have never heard of a shark attacking a man, 0:18:38.800 --> 0:18:40.800 and now we have heard stories of two in just 0:18:40.880 --> 0:18:43.960 one week. I imagine that the news will disrupt activity 0:18:43.960 --> 0:18:46.200 at the shore. Luckily, for us, all we have to 0:18:46.200 --> 0:18:49.720 worry about is the odd catfish nipping our toes. I 0:18:49.760 --> 0:18:52.320 tried to talk Mary into coming for a swim sometime, 0:18:52.359 --> 0:18:54.440 but she said she prefers to watch me from the bank. 0:18:55.119 --> 0:18:57.399 I think she's just being shy. She said that she 0:18:57.440 --> 0:18:59.440 would not want Captain Cottrell to see her in a 0:18:59.480 --> 0:19:01.760 bathing on, and I think she may have a good point. 0:19:02.119 --> 0:19:05.439 She's smart, she is. Surely the shark business is just 0:19:05.720 --> 0:19:08.200 people's imagination getting the best of them. There are no 0:19:08.320 --> 0:19:27.480 sharks in New Jersey. July seven, nineteen sixteen to seventeen PM, 0:19:27.480 --> 0:19:30.560 Stanley just phoned and said that Captain Cantrell reported another 0:19:30.560 --> 0:19:33.320 shark attack on the shore. They did not believe him 0:19:33.320 --> 0:19:36.240 at first, but the newspaper confirmed it. It was at 0:19:36.240 --> 0:19:38.520 Spring Lake this time, which means much more to do 0:19:38.600 --> 0:19:41.680 about it, I'm sure. Stanley said that a scientist in 0:19:41.720 --> 0:19:44.560 the paper insisted that sharks do not come to New Jersey, 0:19:45.040 --> 0:19:47.200 and even if they did, they would not be interested 0:19:47.240 --> 0:19:49.960 in humans. I just do not know what to think 0:19:50.320 --> 0:19:53.200 sharks biting people in New Jersey? Whoever heard of such 0:19:53.200 --> 0:19:55.680 a thing? Stanley swims in the creek, but you would 0:19:55.680 --> 0:19:57.720 not catch me dead in there you cannot see six 0:19:57.800 --> 0:20:01.480 inches into the water, but hides. Captain Cottrell is always 0:20:01.520 --> 0:20:03.720 running up and down in his motor boat. And let 0:20:03.720 --> 0:20:05.639 me just say that he will never see me in 0:20:05.640 --> 0:20:17.960 a skirtain stockings. The very thought makes me pale. Nineteen 0:20:18.119 --> 0:20:22.679 sixteen three pm press conference went well enough. Lucas was 0:20:22.720 --> 0:20:26.200 met with questions straight away. The first blasted question asked 0:20:26.200 --> 0:20:28.159 what he would tell the thirty mayors of the Jersey 0:20:28.200 --> 0:20:32.959 Shore about their beaches. High loath reporters. We did our 0:20:33.000 --> 0:20:35.760 best to calm nerves. Lucas is convinced that it was 0:20:35.880 --> 0:20:38.960 mistaken identity and that the incidences are a merely a 0:20:39.119 --> 0:20:42.840 sad coincidence. He avoids using words like man eater and 0:20:42.920 --> 0:20:44.879 does a much better job with the press than Murphy 0:20:44.920 --> 0:20:48.320 or I could. Asbury Park has erected wire netting, and that, 0:20:48.560 --> 0:20:51.960 along with caution, should do for now. It is highly 0:20:52.000 --> 0:20:54.479 unlikely that we should ever hear of another shark incident 0:20:54.520 --> 0:20:57.840 on this coast. Even so, this is rich with opportunity 0:20:57.880 --> 0:21:00.639 for our records. A man has never been attacked by 0:21:00.640 --> 0:21:04.159 a shark before in the United States, and I go 0:21:04.280 --> 0:21:14.480 to see him tomorrow. J P. M just returned from 0:21:14.480 --> 0:21:18.920 the examination of victim number two, Charles Brewder, Spring Lake, Swiss, 0:21:18.960 --> 0:21:22.560 with no family in the States. The Times was correct 0:21:22.600 --> 0:21:25.600 in its story. Both legs were taken, one at the 0:21:25.640 --> 0:21:28.920 knee and one at midcalf. Lifeguards rode out in a 0:21:28.960 --> 0:21:31.919 boat this time and pulled his body in. One remarked 0:21:31.920 --> 0:21:34.920 about how light it was, not realizing initially the legs 0:21:34.920 --> 0:21:41.840 were missing. Most disturbing, the flesh was torn in strips, jagged, 0:21:42.160 --> 0:21:45.560 the bones splintered like wood. There's no doubt that this 0:21:45.680 --> 0:21:49.760 was the result of a shark. But what species? Could 0:21:49.840 --> 0:21:53.280 it be? A road great white? The President has mobilized 0:21:53.320 --> 0:21:56.160 the Coast Guard. I am reporting news to his men now. 0:21:59.480 --> 0:22:07.879 M July nine, nineteen sixteen PM. Dear Diary, My brother 0:22:07.960 --> 0:22:10.200 told me today in church that another man was eaten 0:22:10.240 --> 0:22:12.679 by a shark in New Jersey. But Mom said it 0:22:12.720 --> 0:22:15.879 wasn't true. She said they both got bit and died. 0:22:16.720 --> 0:22:19.080 But sharks only go into the ocean, and I don't 0:22:19.119 --> 0:22:21.920 need to be scared of them. In Mattawan, Mom said 0:22:21.960 --> 0:22:24.080 after supper tonight she's going to talk to her aunt 0:22:24.119 --> 0:22:26.360 on the telephone, and my brother and I could talk 0:22:26.400 --> 0:22:29.040 to our friend and Mattawan because he has a telephone 0:22:29.040 --> 0:22:40.040 now too. J nineteen, sixteen, eight am. Dear Diary. My 0:22:40.119 --> 0:22:42.000 brother and I talked to our friend on the telephone 0:22:42.080 --> 0:22:45.680 last night. It was really swell. Mom says that he's 0:22:45.720 --> 0:22:48.280 a hooligan, but my brother said he's a good egg 0:22:48.400 --> 0:22:51.880 and swims good too. We asked him about the sharks 0:22:52.119 --> 0:22:54.800 and he said nobody there talked about it, but they 0:22:54.800 --> 0:22:57.440 are sad. He said we could sneak into the dock 0:22:57.480 --> 0:23:00.360 at the New Jersey Clay Company and no sharks there. 0:23:06.240 --> 0:23:13.159 July eleventh, nineteen sixteen, eleven p m. Dear Diary, It 0:23:13.240 --> 0:23:15.760 has now been ten days since we lost my brother. 0:23:16.840 --> 0:23:21.640 I missed him so much, we all do. His car 0:23:21.720 --> 0:23:24.120 is still in front of the house, and I catch 0:23:24.240 --> 0:23:28.440 myself seeing him behind the wheel. After the second attack, 0:23:29.000 --> 0:23:31.880 a scientist who studies ocean fish came to Spring Lake. 0:23:33.000 --> 0:23:36.560 He's having a hard time with the local journalists. They've 0:23:36.560 --> 0:23:39.600 printed that my brother was bitten by a giant sea turtle. 0:23:40.320 --> 0:23:43.840 They've written that it was a bloodthirsty rogue shark. The 0:23:43.960 --> 0:23:49.240 scientist makes claims of sensationalism and pleads for patients. He 0:23:49.320 --> 0:23:51.399 says that only a great white has been known to 0:23:51.440 --> 0:23:54.240 attack a human and that there are none in New Jersey. 0:23:55.000 --> 0:23:59.120 Resorts have hired armed guards to patrol the beaches. They've 0:23:59.119 --> 0:24:04.720 erected wire nets for bathing areas. I never want to 0:24:04.720 --> 0:24:18.440 see the ocean again. July eleventh, nineteen sixteen, nine fifteen pm. 0:24:18.520 --> 0:24:22.640 Dear Diary, I'm in bed now. My brother is teasing me. 0:24:23.440 --> 0:24:25.720 He said that when we go back to Mattawan, it's 0:24:25.760 --> 0:24:28.720 going to be scary. He said that last summer he 0:24:28.760 --> 0:24:31.480 felt something touched him underwater by the dock, and he 0:24:31.480 --> 0:24:34.399 said it was a shark. Probably. I'm supposed to be 0:24:34.440 --> 0:24:37.160 asleep now because it's my bedtime and we leave early 0:24:37.200 --> 0:24:41.040 in the morning. I'm scared of the shark, but I 0:24:41.040 --> 0:24:43.320 don't want him to know, because he'll tease me again. 0:24:51.280 --> 0:24:56.800 July twelve, sixteen eleven. Am back at the museum at last. 0:24:57.359 --> 0:25:00.479 Seems like all's calm now. It has been nearly a 0:25:00.480 --> 0:25:03.080 week since the Bruder attack. The media has taken a 0:25:03.160 --> 0:25:05.960 rest for the time being. There is much research to 0:25:05.960 --> 0:25:08.560 be done now. Lucas and Murphy are keen to hear 0:25:08.680 --> 0:25:11.720 my account. Everyone looks to us now for answers, and 0:25:11.920 --> 0:25:14.600 for now my colleagues are deferring to me as the 0:25:14.680 --> 0:25:20.399 only ichthyologists. Popular theories abound. Ship sinkings and sailor depths 0:25:20.400 --> 0:25:23.240 in the North Sea are creating a taste for human flesh. 0:25:23.640 --> 0:25:27.480 Naval bombings are driving European sharks this way. Some have 0:25:27.560 --> 0:25:30.320