Hello, do any of you have any colorful local lore, or especially any unusual or quite probably imaginary "monsters". Many areas of the US including (especially?) my own have a local oral tradition of stories about strange places or people, which would qualify as "strange" Where I live, there even is a magazine about them. and many books. But as anybody who grew up around here can testify, some of these stories are true. One can visit the places they happened.
As somebody who lives inland, I rarely, if ever have felt threatened by sharks. Certainly, Ive seen them in the water while deep sea fishing. And even run my fingers over their mny rows of sharp teeth in a restaurant near Tomales Bay in Nothern California, a popular vacation spot for great white sharks, its my understanding.
But as far as I know they have never made their way up the Passaic (perhaps the most polluted river in the USA ) into my neck of the woods. They would have to jump very far or portage their way around the Great Falls in Paterson in order to access its upper reaches, and the Great Swamp. (an Amazon like area where its easy to imagine primordial creatures.) There are fish in there, including some very large ornamental carp, some of which look like the colorful fish in a koi pond. So a shark would probably find enough to eat. But I think we could count on the Great Falls in Paterson, keeping them out. Or at least providing a challenge worthy of the giant man eating, primordial fish.
On a railroad bridge over a creek quite a bit south of here, there is a mural of "Jaws" teeth around the central arch f a railroad bridge with three arches, reputed to be the site of a vicious shark attack in 2016. But wait, this bridge is over a middle sized freshwater creek and
quite a long distance from the ocean.
And so starts a true story, which actually was made into he novel and film, This shark attack was very real, two lost their lives and another lost his leg, this was the true story behind Peter Benchley's "Jaws" novel and film, If indeed Sydney is a city with a substantial shark problem, where the nightly news report features a shark report. I think you might want to hear what happened here in NJ. If there is any lesson we should take away is that when somebody tells us they have seen a shark in a place where they might pose a danger to humans we should listen to them!
To understand the relevant geography one has to know about the so called inland seaway. The US Atlantic coast is a great area for boaters and sailors because of a series of barrier islands that provide an easy north south route, protected from the ocean that goes for hundreds of miles along the eastern coast of the US. Its these narrow barrier islands that run north and south that provide the havens for sharks who seem to like warmer waters behind them. They used to be among the favorite haunts for pirates who terrorized shipping between the islands of the Carribean and the rest of North America and Europe. Unlike Australia we don't hve man eating crocodiles in any real abundance. However there are alligators which seem to be inching their way northward as temperatures rise, and also occasionally sharks. ANd some alligators, probably former ets have indeed been found in the New York City sewer system.
New jersey, it will become evident, is also very fertile ground for the "science" of cryptozoology, or the making up of mythical animals. As well as eccentricity. A tolerant attribute which I think promotes mental health.
Here are some resources on this attack, which may be one of the most famous shark attacks of all time.
Article in WeirdNJ Magazine
Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jersey_Shore_shark_attacks_of_1916 (dozens of links)
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