High Tales of History
High Tales of History
High Tales of History
121. The 1916 Jersey Shark Attacks
1 hour 16 minutes Posted Jun 30, 2026 at 2:19 pm.
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Show notes

What if the original Jaws story was real? In 1916, shark attacks along the New Jersey coast turned a summer beach season into a nationwide panic.

In our penultimate episode for the season, Laurel and KT *dive* (ha!) into the terrifying true story of the 1916 Jersey Shore shark attacks — a twelve day reign of terror that shocked the public, inspired Jaws, and forever changed the way people think about sharks. From beach panic to scientific debate, this episode explores the real history behind one of America’s most infamous summer horror stories.

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Mentioned In the Stories:

Map of the Jersey Shore Attacks

Ocean Ramsey Redirecting a Great White Shark

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Source Material and References:

Sources:

Capuzzo, Michael, and Taylor Mali. Close to shore: the terrifying shark attacks of 1916. Ashland: AudioBookShelf, 2011.

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/150702-shark-attack-jersey-shore-1916-great-white

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Intro/outro music: "Loopster" by Kevin MacLeod (⁠incompetech.com⁠) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/