Biological Mysteries of the Jersey Shore
Hi and welcome to my place on the web. After many years of working as a fisheries observer and marine science educator I have retired to concentrate on exploring the mysteries of the Jersey Shore. On this page we will be exploring topics such as shark attacks, giant squid sightings, sea serpents, mysterious wash-ups and a variety of mysterious events along the coast of New Jersey. The views on my page express my opinions of biological mysteries based on my thirty years experience as a fisheries biologist & observer. If you have opinions of your own that differ I strongly encourage you to start your own blog and publications.
Many suspected sea serpents have been decomposing Basking Sharks. In fact feeding Basking Sharks have sometimes been mistaken for sea serpents. It is possible that at least one of the sea serpent sightings in the Navesink River was a Basking Shark.
One suspect in the Navesink Sea Serpent case is the Sturgeon. New Jersey has two species, the Atlantic Sturgeon and the Short Nose Sturgeon. Both have been known to wash up on Jersey beaches like the one in the photo. I will be interviewing someone this weekend that claims to have seen a large sturgeon in the Navesink a couple weeks ago. The witness is a well known journalist, and I am excited to hear his story. The sturgeon is a possible explanation for at least some of the Navesink Serpent sightings.
This is a Scientific American artist’s depiction of the Sandy Hook Sea Serpent.
This is an artist’s rendition of the Spring Lake Sea Serpent seen in September of 1895, The illustration appeared in the New York Sun.
This strange 30′ globseter came up on a St. James Beach in Alaska in 2018. It was initially thought to be a giant squid carcass because of its dinner plate sized eyes, but later identified as a rotting humpback whale by NOAA.
Dead whales washing up on the Jersey Shore is nothing new. Every year carcasses come ashore. Here is a photo of a dead Sperm Whale at Ocean City in 1911.
Not all blobs that wash up are of animal origin. On August 6, 2003 This mysterious blob appeared in Little Egg Harbor tributary.
State Police and the Department of Environmental Protection called and it was determined to be non-hazardous, but remained unidentified possibly algae. It was later identified as some type of algae.
One of the most famous globsters is that of the St. Augustine Monster. It came ashore in St. Augustine, Florida in 1896. It was the source of much speculation and was believed by many to be a giant cephalopod, possibly a giant octopus. Others thought it to be a decomposing whale or basking shark.
Globsters are the name given to a special type of wash-up. The are composed of organic matter and often have what appear to be hairs covering the surface. They are accompanied by a strong smell and often show signs of shark feeding in the form of bite-marks. Most globsters turn out to be decomposing flesh of whales, basking sharks, or other large marine animals. For years they have been the source of sea monster tales.
In 1977 the Japanize fishing trawler Zuiyo Maru hauled in a strange catch with their net. A carcass that resembled a plesiosaur was seen dangling from the net Anyone would have to admit there is a resemblance. It was , however determined to have been a Basking Shark in a state of decomposition. It serves as an example of how decomposing sea life can often be mistaken for sea monsters.
With Shark Week approaching I am most often asked what shark or sharks do I think is responsible for the 1916 attacks. I really thought I knew the answer, and was ready to publish a book on the subject. I have conducted research that no one has published before. It shows a new timeline for the attacks as to when and where they took place. It really all added up to a the original conclusions of the book Shadows in the Sea being correct. It was my opinion that the attacks started in Atlantic City with the last attacks taking place near Coney Island. It took in new evidence from these four added incidents and really supported the lone Great White theory. It was further of my opinion that the shark was killed in Long Island Sound a week after the last attack. I was pretty ready to publish, but a fly kept coming back in the ointment, the Matawan attack location. I started to try to rule Bull Sharks out of the equation, but to my chagrin kept finding more and more evidence of Bull Shark activity in the area. To top it off lots of physical evidence came to my attention of historical Bull Shark activity in NY and NJ. So I am again back to the start with two lines of inquiry. One includes the Great White. It starts in South Carolina and ends in Long Island Sound. The second involves some highly aggressive Bull Sharks on the East Coast of Florida and ends in Raritan Bay. It is clear I am not ready to publish until I can clear one of the species from the attacks. It is still a biological mystery worthy of investigation. This photo shows ten juvenile Great Whites caught within sight of shore at Sandy Hook, If I had to guess the Great White is the responsible just as Shadows of the Sea concluded, but there is still no smoking gun.
In 1921 this strange creature washed up on the shore in Cape May. Some claimed it was a sea serpent but most thought it was a whale or basking shark. The two giveaways for identification are the lower jaw and shape of head. The lower jaw shows evidence it was a toothed whale with the size and spacing consistent with a Sperm Whale. The teeth have been removed either through decomposition or by souvenir hunters. This identification is pretty well confirmed by the distinctive shape of the head and size. So it is possible the Cape May Carcass of 1921 is a mystery solved.
Biological Mysteries of the Jersey Shore 