Jaws Now Off Martha’s Vineyard & In Aussie Lake
Posted by: Loren Coleman on July 11th, 2008
The Associated Press is reporting that the island where Jaws was filmed got a real-life shark scare when two beaches were closed on Thursday, July 10, 2008, due to an unconfirmed sighting of a great white shark nearby.
A spokeswoman for the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation said state-run South Beach was closed for a time Thursday after the Coast Guard received reports of the shark sighting. Swimmers were also kept out of the water at State Beach in Edgartown.
A plane was sent up to try to confirm the sighting.
In 1974, Steven Spielberg chose Martha’s Vineyard for the movie version of Jaws, depicting a series of deadly great white attacks in the fictional community of Amity.
Shark attacks are extremely rare in waters off New England, but great whites have been known to occasionally prowl in the region.
Meanwhile, half a world away, on July 9, 2008, Australia media was talking about a great white caught in a lake.
An estimated seven-meter (21 ft) long great white shark got netted in waters at a popular school holiday spot at NSW’s Tuggerah Lake.
The fisherman reported snaring the huge shark in nets he had cast off Canton Beach, at the northern end of the lake about 5.30am on July 9th.
He claimed that he actually caught the shark in his net and the shark came up and started thrashing about, and hit his boat. He said it was bigger than his boat – he’s got an 18-foot boat and he said it would have been about 21 feet. Tuggerah Lakes is only about 12 kilometres long and five kilometres wide. It’s not a big lake but it’s a bloody big shark, if it’s true.’ ~ said Chief Inspector Tim Winmill.
The shark was last seen heading south towards the middle of the lake, Chief Inspector Winmill said.
Mick Crowe, president of nearby Soldiers Beach Surf Club, expressed surprise there had been reports of a shark in the lake.
“That’s quite bizarre if that’s the case – Canton Beach is only ankle-deep water for the first 150 metres,” he said.
But the Department of Primary Industries and the Fisheries Department both believed the fisherman’s claims, Chief Inspector Winmill said.
They believe he’s a credible witness, he’s been a commercial fisherman for a long time, he’s well aware of species of sharks. They don’t have any reason to doubt the truthfulness of his allegation.Chief Inspector Winmill
The fisherman would not speak publicly about his encounter with the great white.
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About Loren Coleman
Loren Coleman is one of the world’s leading cryptozoologists, some say “the” leading living cryptozoologist. Certainly, he is acknowledged as the current living American researcher and writer who has most popularized cryptozoology in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.
Starting his fieldwork and investigations in 1960, after traveling and trekking extensively in pursuit of cryptozoological mysteries, Coleman began writing to share his experiences in 1969. An honorary member of Ivan T. Sanderson’s Society for the Investigation of the Unexplained in the 1970s, Coleman has been bestowed with similar honorary memberships of the North Idaho College Cryptozoology Club in 1983, and in subsequent years, that of the British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club, CryptoSafari International, and other international organizations. He was also a Life Member and Benefactor of the International Society of Cryptozoology (now-defunct).
Loren Coleman’s daily blog, as a member of the Cryptomundo Team, served as an ongoing avenue of communication for the ever-growing body of cryptozoo news from 2005 through 2013. He returned as an infrequent contributor beginning Halloween week of 2015.
Coleman is the founder in 2003, and current director of the International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine.
hey loren & everyone very interesting new article about jaws dummmmmmmmmmm lol indeed it does bring back the movie memories. thanks bill green 🙂
I wouldn’t be so enthused about this, Mr. Green. I remember the last time we had a real, true-blue “Year of the Shark.” It was summer of 2001—I remember that people were complaining about the supposed “hysteria” that was being fanned allegedly by the media regarding sharks. They wanted it off the headlines. That and Gary Condit.
And they got their wish. Boy, oh, boy, did they get their wish. I don’t need to remind everyone what happened later on in the year.
So this could be an intimation of something coming up. This of course, if one looks at it from a “superstitious”, “paranoid”, New-Agey point of view like I do, admittedly.
If you don’t, you can ignore this post and shack this up to my increasing and progressive dementia brought on by heat and overthinking. Poor me. Just giving my opinion.
I just don’t believe in coincidences. Or in ignoring potential “flaps.”
Sometimes “heightened awareness” is not necessarily that bad. I’ve read too many of Loren’s books to ignore that. What I’m saying is scientifically worthless, but I believe in following one’s intuition. And my intuition is telling me this is not “random.”
Anyway, to get back to planet Earth…
I wonder what the causes of this could be? This is very interesting.
Anybody? Loren?
At the very least I don’t want another “shark hysteria” like we had some years ago. Sharks and humans don’t need that.
Sharks get enough bad press as it is.
Is the lake water fresh or salt? Connected to the ocean? Don’t want to be seein’ no big fish with teeth that ae bigger than the boat i’m in.
Wasn’t there a situation in Texas years ago where a shark (I don’t think it was a Great White) followed a river inland over a hundred miles? People were attacked. Did I deam this?
My central question is can salt water sharks breathe in fresh water? temporarily, long term? Some fish can surface and “gulp” air if the water is not oxygenated enough.
Tuggerah Lake is connected to the ocean via a small channel. It is saltwater.
Dougal Longfoot thanks for the info.
Now I am wondering if it just recently got there or been there for awhile…….enough food?
Camperguy- In answer to your question, there are actually quite a few, around 43 species in fact, of elasmobranches (which are cartilaginous fishes like sharks and rays) that are known to utilize freshwater habitats. The most famous of these are probably the bull sharks, which are known to penetrate up rivers and even live in lakes. Famous examples are the Lake Nicaragua sharks and the Ganges river sharks. But these species of freshwater tolerant elasmobranches aren’t even confined to sharks such as the bull shark. Some of the most spectacular examples of freshwater osmoregulation occurs in stingrays and sawfish, some species of which live for very extended periods in freshwater. Other elasmobranches, however, are less tolerant of varying salinity levels and it hasn’t been conclusively established just how tolerant the Great White is to a freshwater environment.
The main problem is the difference in osmotic pressure between the internal bodily fluids of the shark and the outside environment. When the bodily fluids are “saltier” than the habitat, there is a large influx of water to osmoregulate. This is taken care of the kidneys at a great metabolic cost to the animal and depending on the creatures ability to adjust, they will either die or make up for the energetic requirements for maintaining osmotic pressure. Many species are known to be capable of this, but the Great White isn’t known to. Although there are cases of Great Whites being captured in brackish water, this species isn’t known to be fond of freshwater environments and I wonder how long it would be able to survive in a lake environment as described here.
Is this all clear? I’m in full science teacher mode here. 🙂
Concerning how it got there, it must have swum in through a river estuary, since even long term freshwater sharks, such as the Lake Nicaragua sharks, do not breed in freshwater. It either swam in or was intentionally released there, and considering the high metabolic cost of trying to adjust to a freshwater environment, I’d be willing to bet that if this shark got into the lake on its own, it did so by accident and is trapped. Considering the evidence of Great White’s ability to stand freshwater, I think it is very likely that it may not survive in this lake for long.
CamperGuy,
regarding the other shark story; I know Bull Sharks are known for swimming up fresh water rivers and they do tend to be very aggressive. I believe Bull Sharks top the list of ‘man-eating’ sharks.
Apparently these sharks can survive in fresh water for quite a long time due to a ‘salt reservoir’ in their bodies that keep their chemistry and electrolytes in balance. I’m not sure if any other sharks can manage this feat or not.
The Aussie shark story fascinates me, it does seem to be MUCH too small a lake for such a large shark, especially if the quote regarding the (lack of) depth is accurate.
Who’s to say, perhaps there is a subspecies of undiscovered cryptid fresh water sharks, I mean after all there are saltwater crocs why not fresh water sharks? There are a lot of unexplained drownings in lakes and rivers where bodies are never found. A bit in left field, but prove me wrong.
Camperguy:
Tuggerah lake is connected to the ocean some places are only ankle deep but other places are a lot deeper upto 20mtrs depending on the tide.
the mouth of the lake that connects to the ocean is anywhere between 150 – 200mtrs wide.
there are a few caravan parks along the edge with plenty of recreational skiing and swimming areas.
there have been plenty of sharks in there over the last 30 years, but nothing that big. it’s possible it swam in on a high tide or perhaps it swam in as a baby.
Plenty of food for it (from memory there is commercial fishing on the lake) along with pelicans and seagulls etc.
Take the 21ft great white shark in Tuggerah Lake with a large pinch (make that a shovel) of salt. Why do all these reports have to mention ‘giant sized’ great white sharks? This immediately calls the ‘claim’ into question.
A few years back there was a dead 5ft baby great white shark found in Tuggerah Lake (there is suspected to be a white shark nursery/pupping ground close by) there but a 20 ft plus great white shark? This would have been fully established by now and would have been spotted frequently. You can’t hide a shark that large there, particularly as great white sharks have a penchant for swimming at or close to the surface.
Unless there is more evidence to support this claim, I would discount it.
greatqualitygoods wrote:
“it’s possible it swam in on a high tide or perhaps it swam in as a baby.”
Considering it is estimated that a great white shark will take approx 15 years to reach a length of 15 ft, that would mean the shark would have to have been there for decades to get to 22ft.
Flame821- In answer to your question, I point you to my post above. A large number of shark, ray, and sawfish species (elasmobranches) can survive for long periods in freshwater environments. It is not only the Bull shark, which is commonly thought.
Like I said, unlike the bull shark and others, the extent of a Great White’s ability to tolerate fresh water has not been fully established and they are not known to frequent these types of environments, so I am skeptical that a baby one could have survived for the amount of time necessary for it to reach the size described. I’d be more willing to believe that an adult wandered in by accident.
No matter how it got there, I feel that its chances for survival are questionable. It’s not so much food, but rather whether it will be able to adjust to the metabolic requirements required to maintain osmotic pressure in the freshwater habitat.
Of course this is if the sighting is even genuine. Like Lyndon, I am more inclined to discount this one in absence of any other evidence.
No further reports then?
Ok, strike this one down as a tall tale (or ‘tail’).
It is not uncommon for sharks to swim in rivers and lakes connected to the ocean. In 1916 the famous Jersey shore shark attacks happened. There were three attacks and the third one was the most interesting. The attack happened in an inland town called Matawan, New Jersey. A man reported seeing a 8 foot shark in the waist deep creek, but the sighting was dismissed. Later that day two boys were playing in the creek, and one of them was dragged under water and his body was not recovered for two more days. Another man attempted to look for the body of the boy later but was bit himself and died at the hospital later on. Thirty minutes after the attacks on the boy and the man, another man was bit on the leg by the shark, but he was upstream.