Investigation of 1916 shark attacks continues
By josh davidson
Staff Writer

VERONICA YANKOWSKI John and Christine Nichols of Pennsylvania talk with National Geographic television producer Ashley Hoppin about the 1916 shark attack in Matawan Creek that killed Nichols’ great uncle, Stanley Fisher.

MATAWAN — It has been decades, but researchers are still looking to solve an infamous crime in the borough.

The crime was not a murder committed by a human being, nor did it take place on land.

What officials are investigating is a shark attack that took place on the Jersey Shore during the summer of 1916.

While sharks that caused other area attacks were caught, the one involved in the attack in Matawan Creek was not.

The attack involved an 11-year-old boy named Lester Stillwell and his friend Joseph Dunn, 10.

The two boys were attacked while swimming in the creek. A local man, Stanley Fisher, jumped in to try to rescue the boys.

Fisher, who was 25 years old, and Stillwell both were killed, while Dunn was seriously hurt.

In the series of shark attacks that occurred that summer, four people were killed and Dunn was the only surviving victim.

According to Julius Kish, who gives tours of Matawan’s Burrows Mansion Museum, 94 W. Main St., no doctor lived or worked in town in 1916.

Kish told a small group gathered at the Matawan Historical Society on Friday that the victims suffered massive blood loss while being transported to the Matawan Train Station during the rescue effort.

He said Stillwell passed away before the train arrived and Fisher died at the hospital.

While Peter Benchley, author of the novel Jaws, claimed he had no intention of reproducing factual events in his tale of shark attacks, he did research the 1916 Matawan attacks while writing his book, said Stillwell.

Because the 1916 shark attacks took place in vast waterways extending 94 miles from Matawan to Beach Haven and occurred over a period of 12 days, the evidence reaches all the way to Long Island, N.Y., and therefore solving the mystery has been difficult.

After years of intense research, the biggest question raised has been why were there so many shark attacks happening in such a short period of time? What made this group of sharks suddenly go out of control?

While researchers from National Geographic Society, Washington, D.C., are presently dredging the bottom of the creek in the hope of recovering sharks teeth and other materials from the now calm waters, during the time of the attacks the area was in panic mode.

Nets were placed in the water 86 years ago in an attempt to prevent further attacks. Fishermen, as well as U.S. Coast Guard personnel, were sent out to catch the sharks.

By the end of July 1916, the shark attacks made national newspaper headlines.

The attacks came when people first began using the waters for recreational use.

National Geographic is planning to film its endeavors and create a program based on its research of the shark attacks.

While attempting to find out more about a past researcher of the attacks, John Nichols, the National Geographic Society crew discovered a distant relative of Fisher, the young shark attack victim. In a twist of fate, the discovery was made because the researcher the society was searching for had the same name as Fisher’s distant relative.

"The [National Geographic] television producer was looking for relatives of researcher John Nichols," said John Nichols, Fisher’s distant relative.

Nichols traveled to Matawan last week from Pennsylvania to witness the society’s efforts. After asking if he was the researcher John Nichols, Nichols told them no.

"I’m not a relative of John Nichols (the researcher). I am the great nephew of Stanley Fisher," said Nichols.

"My grandmother was his (Fisher’s) only sibling," said Nichols. "His (Fisher’s) sister, my grandmother, had two children. One was alive at the time of the attack and that was my father."