{"product_id":"what-were-the-shark-attacks-of-1916-isbn-9780593521595","title":"What Were the Shark Attacks of 1916?","description":"\u003cb\u003eThe panic-filled summer of 1916, when multiple deadly shark attacks shocked the nation, is chronicled in this gripping addition to the \u003ci\u003eNew York Times \u003c\/i\u003eBest-Selling What Was? series.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOn July 1, 1916, witnesses watched in horror as twenty-eight-year-old Charles Vansant was attacked and killed by a shark in shallow water off Beach Haven, New Jersey—the first recorded shark attack in American history. Scientists claimed a shark could not be responsible, but more deadly attacks soon followed along the Jersey Shore and up the freshwater Matawan Creek, setting off a nationwide panic that led the White House to declare a “War on Sharks.” In this illustrated book, which features 16 pages of black-and-white photographs, readers will learn about the likely culprit (or culprits) in the attacks—the great white shark and the bull shark—and how the bloody summer of 1916 would change how people viewed sharks forever.\u003cb\u003eNico Medina\u003c\/b\u003e is the author of more than a dozen books in the Who HQ series, including \u003ci\u003eWhat Was World War I?\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eWho Was Jacques Cousteau?\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eWhere Is the Great Barrier Reef?\u003c\/i\u003e He spent many of his childhood summer days in New Smyrna Beach, Florida, the \"Shark Bite Capital of the World,\" where \u003ci\u003eJaws \u003c\/i\u003ealways seemed to be playing on TV.\u003cb\u003eWhat Were the Shark Attacks of 1916?\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e    July 11, 1916—-Matawan, New Jersey\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Fourteen--year--old Rensselaer “Renny” Cartan Jr. was sweating. It was almost two o’clock—-the hottest time of day, and Renny had been working at his dad’s lumber and coal business since morning. Usually around now, the factory owners and shopkeepers of Matawan, New Jersey, allowed their young employees a quick break to cool off in the creek. Soon enough, Renny was released from his work duties.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e He met his younger cousin Johnson, who stocked shelves at his dad’s department store. The boys met some friends and headed down Main Street.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e The factories along Matawan Creek manufactured a wide variety of goods, from candy and matches to pianos and pottery. The creek was also used to transport fresh produce to New York City, thirty miles away.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e But for Renny and his buddies, Matawan Creek was a place to have fun.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e The boys headed down the creek’s muddy embankment. Their favorite spot was a small cove at a bend in the creek, a sort of private swimming hole. It was next to the old limeworks, a processing plant where mountains of oyster shells had once been crushed into powder. But industry and pollution had killed off the area’s oysters, and the limeworks had closed.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Within seconds of arriving, the boys had tossed their clothes into the grass and leaped naked into the water. Recent heavy rains had kicked up sediment from the creek bed, making the water murkier than usual. But who cared how muddy the water was, as long as it was cool?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Renny climbed onto a dock piling. As he joked with his friends, he began to lose his balance.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e He had no idea as he fell what awaited him beneath the surface.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e The water was neck--deep. Suddenly, Renny was clipped by a huge, hard object whooshing in front of him. Sharp pricks of pain bloomed across his chest. The water around him turned red.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Panic washed over Renny. Wide--eyed, he spotted the largest fish he’d ever seen.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e It was a \u003ci\u003eshark \u003c\/i\u003e! Swimming in the creek among his friends!\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Renny screamed and rushed out of the water. His chest was bleeding from wounds caused by the shark’s abrasive skin.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Sharks’ bodies are covered by V--shaped, toothlike scales called denticles that help them swim quickly and quietly. Sharkskin is so rough, it was once used as sandpaper.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e On shore, Renny’s friends tried to calm him. No one \u003ci\u003eelse\u003c\/i\u003e had seen the shark. Maybe a branch had scraped Renny.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e But Renny \u003ci\u003eknew\u003c\/i\u003e he’d been struck by a shark, just like those two men at the Jersey Shore.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Five days earlier, in the seaside resort town of Spring Lake, a man was swimming in the Atlantic Ocean when he was brutally attacked and killed by a shark. Five days before that, \u003ci\u003eanother\u003c\/i\u003e man had been killed in Beach Haven. Nothing like this had ever happened before in the United States, and it was all over the nation’s newspapers.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e But Matawan was a mile upriver from the closest body of salt water. How could a shark have traveled this far inland?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Renny’s cousin and friends returned to the water, as Renny pleaded with them not to. They wouldn’t listen. No \u003ci\u003eway\u003c\/i\u003e had Renny seen a shark! His imagination must’ve gotten the better of him.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Renny walked home to get his cuts bandaged. He feared for his friends. But they were lucky that day.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e When a shark made its way up the creek the following day, the people of Matawan wouldn’t be so lucky.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003eChapter 1\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003eApex Predator\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Some believe the shark that slashed Renny Cartan—­and the shark or sharks that killed the men on the Jersey Shore—­was a young great white shark.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Also known simply as \u003ci\u003ewhite sharks\u003c\/i\u003e, these fearsome predators get their name from their white bellies, which help camouflage (or hide) them when viewed from below. The white color helps the shark blend in with the sunlight. The top of a white shark is dark, making it harder to spot from above.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e The white shark’s scientific name, \u003ci\u003eCarcharodon carcharias\u003c\/i\u003e, means “biter with the jagged teeth”—­and the name fits. Its razor-­sharp teeth are serrated, like steak knives. These two-­inch-­long triangular chompers are designed to slice through flesh and bone. And with jaws so strong, they can exert four thousand pounds of pressure per square inch—­six times more powerful than a lion’s jaws. A single white shark bite is often deadly.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e About twenty-­six teeth line a white shark’s top jaw, with around twenty-­four along the bottom. Behind the front set of teeth lie up to six additional rows of softer “baby teeth”—­that’s as many as 350 teeth! Every ten to fourteen days, each set of front teeth falls out and is replaced by the next row.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Great whites are truly great in size. Males grow up to fourteen feet long. Females can be more than twenty feet and weigh five thousand pounds! They are even \u003ci\u003eborn\u003c\/i\u003e big—­up to five feet long and eighty-­five pounds.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e White sharks don’t lay eggs; they give live birth. Females carry two to twelve pups in their womb for up to fourteen months. Sometimes pups will eat one or more of their siblings before they are born. The surviving pups must swim away quickly, so they don’t become a snack for their mother!\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e A white shark never stops swimming. Unlike other fish, it has no swim bladder (an internal expandable sac) to help keep it afloat. If it stops swimming, it sinks.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Young white sharks feed mainly on fish, rays, and other sharks. As they grow, they begin to eat sea mammals, like seals, sea lions, and dead whale carcasses. These animals are rich in blubber, which the sharks store as energy in their livers. After a big, fatty meal, white sharks can go a month or two before feeding again.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e When it’s hunting, a white shark goes on high alert. It can smell a meal one-­third of a mile away. It can also detect electromagnetic pulses in the water. This sixth sense is called electroreception. A special organ under the nose receives signals from these vibrations from miles away and guides the shark toward its prey.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eGreat whites are ambush hunters that surprise their victims from below. When a shark spots a potential meal, it waits for just the right moment. Then, in a burst of speed up to forty miles per hour, its torpedo-like body rockets toward the surface.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe shark rolls its pitch-­black eyeballs back into its head to protect them from thrashing flippers. After catching its prey in its jaws, the shark will sometimes breach—­break the surface—­flying up to ten feet in the air.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e After that first ferocious bite, white sharks often swim away and wait for the animal to bleed to death. This saves the shark’s energy and prevents injury by its struggling prey. White sharks are careful, practiced hunters, not mindless killing machines, as often portrayed in the movies.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e They are also world travelers. White sharks have been known to swim from the Gulf of Mexico to Massachusetts. Some migrate between California and Hawaii, more than two thousand miles! They usually spend colder months in temperate or tropical areas. (Some scientists believe white sharks are born and grow up in these waters.) When the weather warms, they move to cooler zones.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Why travel such distances? For food, of course! And where there are seals, there are sharks. Cape Cod, Massachusetts, is home to a large and growing seal population during the summer months. The Farallon Islands, thirty miles off San Francisco, California, host thousands of seals and sea lions, attracting hungry white sharks every autumn.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e White sharks have been stalking the oceans for up to ten million years. (Humans have existed for only about three hundred thousand.) In that time, they have evolved to become apex predators.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eApex\u003c\/i\u003e means “the top.” An apex predator has few natural enemies.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Sharks have been worshipped as gods—­and feared as demons—­since ancient times. Native Hawaiians offered human sacrifices to appease the shark gods. Workers building the US naval base at Pearl Harbor discovered the remains of a four-­acre underwater pen, enclosed by lava rocks. This marine arena is believed to have hosted death matches between men, armed only with short spears, and sharks. (The sharks usually won.)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Shark attacks on humans today are extremely rare. Worldwide, between fifty and one hundred occur annually; five to ten are deadly. A person is thirty times more likely to die from a lightning strike—­and \u003ci\u003eone thousand\u003c\/i\u003e times more likely to drown.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Still, attacks happen—­and they follow patterns. Attacks come from below or behind. Surfers in dark wet suits are sometimes targeted, because they resemble seals. A person swimming solo--like a lone sea lion, separated from its pack—­is also more likely to attract a shark’s attention. More than eight out of every ten attacks occur when there are no other swimmers within ten feet.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003eMegalodon\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003eSharks have been around since before the dinosaurs, and the great white has not always been the ocean’s apex predator. It once shared the seas with a much larger shark known as Otodus megalodon.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003eMegalodon evolved about twenty million years ago. Its name means “big tooth”—-its teeth were more than six inches long! Megalodon was the largest predatory fish to ever exist. It was sixty feet long—-three times longer than a white shark!—-and it weighed more than sixty tons. It fed on dolphins, whales, and other sharks—-maybe even great whites! Recently, megalodon has been the subject of big--budget action movies, but that’s just science fiction. This ocean monster has been extinct for 3.6 million years.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Often, the shark strikes fast and swims away after one bite. But that is not what happened in New Jersey in 1916.","brand":"Penguin Workshop","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46301274472677,"sku":"NP9780593521595","price":16.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780593521595.jpg?v=1767743918","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/what-were-the-shark-attacks-of-1916-isbn-9780593521595","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}