20 Shark Agamst Man 



to have been killed by sharks. Australia is regarded as one of the most 

 shark-infested countries in the world. Since 1919, there have been about 

 100 reported attacks on swimmers in Australia— less than three a year. 

 And at one beach, even after three attacks took place, it was calculated 

 that for each bather attacked by a shark, about 30 million bathers had 

 suffered no more than sunburn. Of the swimmers who have enjoyed 

 Florida waters in modern times, less than one out of every 5 million 

 bathers has been attacked in any way by a shark. 



But statistics cannot still the fear evoked by the sight of a dark dorsal 

 fin or just an ominous shadow beneath the surface— or the panic loosed 

 on beaches when an attack does occur. 



Brodeur was attacked on August 21, 1960, and a mild panic began. 

 Police of several New Jersey shore towns ordered the beaches closed. Life- 

 guards at New York City's teeming beaches were ordered to use "extreme 

 alertness and caution" in watching not only for sharks but also for 

 panic caused by baseless shark reports. (A New York Park Department 

 spokesman explained that in past shark scares children had been trampled 

 during the stampede out of the water.) 



On August 24th, a man in 4^2 feet of water 75 yards offshore in 

 Bridgeport, Connecticut, was nipped on the left arm by a shark. The 

 panic increased. Sharks were being reported— and, occasionally, caught— 

 off beaches from Boston to Florida. Beach after beach was closed. In 

 New York City, policemen armed with submachine guns manned six 

 police launches, which, along with two helicopters, were assigned to 

 special shark-patrol duty. 



On August 30th, still in 1960, a man swimming 2 miles from shore at 

 Ocean City, New Jersey— about 40 miles south of the scene of the 

 Brodeur attack— was savaged by two or more sharks. His right leg was 

 severely torn and his body slashed, but he managed to swim ashore. 

 Eventually, he recovered without losing his leg. 



The panic was really on now: 25,000 bathers were ordered out of the 

 water after a shark was reported off New York City's Orchard Beach. 

 (There were no reports of children being trampled.) Coney Island 

 bathers scrambled ashore when poHcemen, firing rifles and submachine 

 guns for the benefit of cameramen, inadvertently triggered a shark scare. 



It was like 1916, with modern touches. Besides the submachine guns 

 and the helicopters, a Navy blimp was put on shark-spotting duty, and 

 Coast Guard cutters scoured the sea, directed to reported shark packs 

 by radio. 



The anxieties of bathers presumably were put to rest by the knowl- 

 edge that nearly every modern weapon was being used against the shark. 

 But few realized what a senseless war it was. For the seas abound in sharks. 



Sharks menace popular bathing, boating, and water-sports areas all 



