"Lurking behind the clickbait, a story of risk and reality."

"Our story starts 103 years ago – not only before basic cable, but before Hollywood became Ground Zero for showbiz. The situation begins at the Jersey Shore.

On July 1, 1916, a 25-year-old man bled to death, pulled to shore in front of the Engleside Hotel in Beach Haven, a popular getaway spot for Philadelphians. Six days later and 45 miles to the north, a hotel bell captain was dismembered, and newspapers began to take notice. On July 12, a young boy and his attempted rescuer died in a tidal creek.

Sharks as man-eaters became a phenomenon for the first time, and shark-hunting became a macho competition. And it was literally overkill, since humans kill roughly a million sharks for every one human killed by sharks. More on that later."

Peter Dykstra reports for Environmental Health News July 7, 2019. [2]