New-York tribune., 1916-07-16
Invasion Is Like Plague of
LOcuStS, Museum
Curator Declares.
MATAWAN CREEK
A BREEDING PLACE
Dangers of Drowning a Thou
sand Times Greater than At
tack of Man-Eater.

This is a shark year. and Il is prob
able that sharks abound in great mum
hers all along the Atlantic coast" said
DR.. Bashford Dean, curator Of fishes
and reptiles Of the American Museum
Of Natural History and professor OF
vertebrate zoology in Columbia Oni'
versity. last night. Just as there are
certain years when swarms OF locusts
and grasshoppers make their appear
snce on land, so there are years when
swarms Of sharks appear IN the seas
Most Of them. however, arc not dan
cerous. the proportion OF what are
popularity termed man-eating sharks
being about one IN one hundred
DR.. Dean, who has caught sharks in
many seas for various scientific insti-
tutions and who is the author Of many
volumes on the subject, believes that
the sharks which have been terrorizinG
the New Jersey coast for the last fe"
weeks are specimens of the Gusky
shark. scientifically termed Carcharinus
obscurus. of which a specimen has re-
Gently been mounted and placed on eX-
hibitlon in the museum. Ihls snarK, oi
the family Carcharadon, IS often taken
in North American waters and chooses
the bays along the Atlantic coast as
breeding places.
Species Is Prolific.
Sharks Of this species give birth to
living Young" said DR.. Dean, IN ~
ters often numbering from ten to NJ
teen. From reports of the attack
mon bathers in Matawan Creek, II
would seem that Raritan Bay was Sc
lected bv the sharks as breeding
nlace | believe. too, that there must
have been a number Of sharks, perhaps
half a dozen, in the creek when the
Stillwen boy and Fisher were killed.
for lone shark is seldom dangerous.
Instances where a solitary sharA mas
attacked a man are very rare.
sharks in that respect can De
likoned very we'll to rats and dogs
Singly they fee at the approach OF a
human being, but in packs and Groves
they become bold and Will attack any
living object they see or smell IN 'ne
wateT Sharks invariably swim IN
Jroves. and wherever one shark is seen
II Is Sdle 10 dSo~illN N'''
others in the immediate vlclnlty' al
though but comparatively little mas
beer learned by scientists OF the haDlts
and characteristics OF sharks the'r
method of attack appears 10 be similar
10 that adopted by rats and dogs one
will venture close, then another VIII
,pprcach a trihe closer. and hnally one
viii muster up sufficient courage TO
dart in TO the actual conflict. Ihen
the entire pack will close IN.
Small Sharks Dangerous.
at is a mistake 10 suppose, as is
nopularlv supposed, that a shark to be
dangerous must be large. On the con-
trarv. the largest sharks, with the eX-
ception of the Carcharadon family, are
the least dangerous. The whale shark
for instance, of which specimens forty
feet long have been caught, Is power
less TO attack any one, as its teeth are
so minute as TO be almost microscopic
The dusky shark, on the other hand, Is
one of the most dangerous, and rarely
is longer than ten feet.
"Another popular belief which is en-
tirely wrong is that shark Is qulcs
TO attack and swift and deadly in It's
work. AS matter OF fact, the sharF
is very poor mechanically, and II
handles its mouth and jaws in very
clumsy manner Frequently sharE
will miss its prey, and will require
several lunges and much man9uvrinl
% bring it within biting distance. or
one occasion, while hunting sharks II
the South Pacific, my boat was IN