The Shark Attacks of 1916
I once spent like two hours typing a whole rant explaining the shark attacks of 1916 and then closed my tab without putting in my edit code and I don't think I've ever been more upset (the whole point of me reclaiming this URL is so I can rant about my special interest which if you haven't clued in atp is the shark attacks of 1916. Hence the URL /1916)
Summary/Rant
Okay so for basic information (without getting into all my and actual scientists' theories) is that there was a series of 5 shark attacks from July 1st to 12th off the coast of New Jersey in 1916. Shark attacks (especially at the time) were EXCTREMELY rare. Like sharks were believed to be harmless or near harmless (which might seem strange to us now but that's mostly due to the shark attack of 1916 which makes them such an interesting topic). Even in 2024 there was only a total of 4 fatal unprovoked shark attacks in the entire world. For four fatal ones and one non-fatal one to all occur within twelve days all along the same coast is INSANE. This created an unprecedented fear of sharks and a sort of frenzy to hunt down any that might have harmed a human. (Fun(?) Fact!! The shark attacks of 1916 are also what caused the movie JAWS to be made!! Although it exaggerated a lot of the details and changed the location it was based off the true story! (I'm only talking about the original the rest are a disgrace like why is the shark suddenly telepathic????) The movie also contributed HEAVILY to the publics altered view of sharks to the point I remember seeing something saying Spielberg himself regretted making the movie but I'll have to find a source so don't quote me on that)
Theories
It was so a bull shark I'll elaborate later but I am so damn certain
Sources (Eventually)
If you need to reach me for whatever reason I'm @Wpbitt on Discord, Tumblr, and Instagram so yeah