the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Matawan NJ, from the “History Girl”on July 12, 1916 eleven miles from the ocean was the scene of the Matawan Creek shark attack. Thomas Cottrell, a sea captain, spotted an 8 foot long shark in the creek in the early afternoon but locals dismissed him for being delusional from the extreme heat and recent commotion along the shore regarding shark attacks. Around 2:00 pm that day, local boys, including Lester Stillwell, 11, were playing in the creek at the Wyckoff dock. In the water the boys saw what appeared to be an “old black weather-beaten board or a weathered log.” A dorsal fin appeared in the water and the boys realized it was a shark. Before Stillwell could climb from the creek, the shark attacked him and pulled him underwater. The other boys ran for help and several men, including local businessman Watson Stanley Fisher, 24, came to investigate. Fisher and others dived into the creek to find Stillwell’s body, but he was also attacked by the shark in front of the townspeople. His right thigh was severely injured and he bled to death at Monmouth Memorial Hospital in Long Branch later that day. Stillwell’s body was recovered 150 feet upstream from the dock on July 14.
Continue reading Sharks Hit the Jersey Shore on Anniversary of the 1916 Matawan Creek shark attack
