This day in New Jersey history — Sharks invade the shore

According to a book by Joseph G. Bilby, James M. Madden, and Harry Ziegler, on July 6th in 1916, terror along the Jersey shore continued. A local hotel employee was attacked by a shark and bled to death.

Apparently, it had been a particularly bloody summer. Four people were killed by sharks at the Jersey shore that year, a year that was particularly busy at the beaches because of a heat wave and a polio epidemic (Wow, times were different). Some towns went as far as erecting steel nets along swimming areas to keep the sharks out. The attacks occurred at Beach Haven, the one mentioned at Spring Lake, and the next two in the Matawan Creek in Keyport. In fact, the movie Jaws is based on the attack in Matawan.

More from New Jersey 101.5