12 Most Infamous Shark Attacks in History

Beach days aren't as inviting after reading about the worst shark attacks in history.

On the list of things that can kill you, sharks are among the least likely. Driving to work is statistically more dangerous than going for a swim in the ocean. Even getting attacked by a hippo is more likely, as is being crushed by a vending machine. That said, there’s something uniquely horrifying about shark attacks. Getting squished by a snack dispenser is much less violent than being preyed upon by a 2-ton killing machine.

Even though fatal shark attacks are few and far between, occurring about once every two years in the U.S., they’re memorable when they happen — especially when the attack is unusually gory. Of all the shark attacks recorded, these 12 are the most fear-inducing. Maybe we’ll just stick to swimming at the gym for now.

12. The First Recorded Shark Attack

Wikimedia Commons

Year: 1749

Result: Survived

The first documented shark attack occurred in the mid-1700s. A British sailor, Brook Watson, took a dip off the coast of Cuba. A shark mistook him for prey and attacked, circled and struck a second time. His crewmates pulled him out of the water, and Watson survived, minus one leg.

Interestingly enough, he went on to become a member of the British Parliament and the Mayor of London.

11. A String of Shark Attacks on the Jersey Shore

Wikimedia Commons

Year: 1916

Result: Several fatalities

Temperature shifts can alter the behavior of animals, and beachgoers in the summer of 1916 discovered this in the worst of ways. The first to be attacked was 25-year-old Charles Vansant. He was attacked by one shark, possibly two, and one of his legs was torn to shreds. He passed away from blood loss.

Charles Bruder succumbed in a similar manner just a week later. This was followed by a two-for-one attack on July 12 in which 12-year-old Lester Stillwell was pulled under by a shark, and 24-year-old Stanley Fisher jumped in to his aid. The shark turned on him next, and they both perished.

10. The Horrific Atrocities of World War II Pig Baskets

Wikimedia Commons

Year: 1942

Result: Over 200 fatalities

In 1942, about 200 Allied soldiers were captured by Japanese forces in Java. The commander-in-chief ordered all prisoners to be shoved into bamboo baskets, which were then loaded into military trucks and transported to open-air cargo wagons, where they were exposed to blistering sun for hours.

But their suffering was far from over. The prisoners were then shoved onto boats and thrown into shark-infested waters, where they were all eaten alive. The events became collectively known as “the Pig Basket Atrocities,” and the commander who gave the order was convicted of a war crime and sentenced to a decade in jail. It should have been for life, if you ask us.

9. USS Indianapolis

Wikimedia Commons

Year: 1945

Result: Mass casualties

The final days of World War II were marked by countless atrocities, but most were caused by other humans. As terrible as that is, the crew of the USS Indianapolis were even more unlucky. The ship was attacked by a Japanese submarine, and 300 sailors and Marines died during the initial sinking. For the 900 or so who survived, the horrors were only just beginning.

The survivors were left adrift in the Philippine Sea, trying to stay afloat and keep dehydration and hypothermia at bay. Then, the sharks came. As survivors floated quietly awaiting rescue, the silence was periodically broken by screams as someone became a seafood dinner. After a three-day rescue effort, only 316 people survived from the original 900 left after the ship sank. While 579 men were found, many had been partially eaten. It remains the largest mass shark attack in history.

8. A Teen Eaten Alive at Lover’s Point

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Year: 1952

Result: Fatal

Tuba player Barry Wilson was just a kid when his story was prematurely brought to a close. He hit the beach at Lover’s Point in California when a shark latched onto him, shaking him from side to side in its jaws.

Rescuers couldn’t get there in time, and he was dragged under. He fought as hard as he could, continuing to resurface as bystanders tried desperately to pull him free for a full 30 minutes. Before they made it to shore, he succumbed to his injuries, bleeding to death.

7. The Loss of 13-Year-Old Rodney Fox

Rodney Fox

Year: 1953

Result: Survived

Rodney Fox was known as one of Australia’s most promising young spear-fishermen at just 13 in 1953. He was doing what he did best when a great white grabbed him around the ribcage and dragged him below the surface. He fought back with everything he had, scratching at the shark’s eyes util it let go. It circled back, however, and attacked again. He shoved his arm into the shark’s throat, tearing his flesh from the bone when he pulled his arm free. The shark tried a third time to take Fox down, but he escaped that, too.

Despite the severity of his injuries, which included most of his shattered ribcage exposed, a torn lung and gruesome internal bleeding, he survived. It was pure luck that none of his major arteries were severed. After 462 stitches and a shark tooth removed from his body, he made a (mostly) full recovery.

6. A Rare Example of a Shark Eating Someone Whole

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Year: 1959

Result: Fatal

In 1959, Robert Pamperin hit the beach near California’s La Jolla Cove. He planned on collecting sea snails with his friend Gerald Lehrer. Little did he know the sunny beach day would be his last. Lehrer was mid-dive when he heard his friend’s ear-splitting scream. He surfaced just in time to see Pamperin’s body being pummelled like a ragdoll before being violently dragged into the deep.

Lehrer tried to help, but when he swam below the cloud of blood, all he could do was watch as the great white dragged his friend away. The Coast Guard found nothing of Pamperin besides a single plastic swim fin.

5. The Worst Pacific Coast Attack of the 1980s

Dramatic scene of huge Great White Shark attacking bait near divers in a cage in the clear blue ocean

Getty Images

Year: 1984

Result: Fatal

More shark attacks tend to occur on America’s Pacific Coast than on the East Coast. In 1984, there was a string of serious shark attacks over a span of two weeks.

The worst happened to Omar Conger, a professional abalone diver in his 20s. He was in the water next to a floating mat where his friend was resting in between dives when the dark outline of a large shark appeared. The silhouette of the great white’s signature, ominous fin was the only warning he had before he was dragged under. The shark eventually let go of Conger, and his friend hauled him back onto the dive mat, but he died from loss of blood before they reached land.

4. The Most Scarring Shark Attack Ever Witnessed

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Year: 1985

Result: Fatal

No shark attacks are pretty, but the dealth of Shirley Ann Durdin was particularly horrific. The infamous 1985 attack started on an ordinary day in Peake Bay, South Australia. Durdin, just 33 at the time, was diving for scallops while her husband and four children relaxed on the beach. The peace was shattered when a great white shark came out of nowhere and brutally tore her to shreds. According to witness reports, the shark was around 20 feet long, and Durdin’s body was torn in half by the shark’s very first strike.

Her entire family watched from the shore, unable to help. Durdin’s husband reportedly shouted, “She’s gone, she’s gone,” from the sand. This is one of the few cases in which a shark truly saw a person as prey, eating Durdin entirely rather than attacking and swimming away.

3. The Dismemberment of Randall Fry

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Year: 2004

Result: Fatal

In 2004, Randal Fry and Cliff Zimmerman decided to dive for abalone along the California coast. Instead of abalone, they found themselves face to face with a massive shark. Zimmerman had just started to dive when he felt a rush of water run past him with the force of a speeding submarine. Where his friend was floating moments before was nothing but a cloud of blood and a tornado of grey and white fins.

Zimmerman made it back to shore unscathed, but Fry never got out again. The next day, his severed head was discovered, along with his mangled body.

2. Sydney’s First Horrifying Shark Attack in Decades

Curiosity Vault / YouTube

Year: 2022

Result: Fatal

Before 2022, the last recorded fatal shark attack in Sydney, Australia, was way back in 1963. Sydney makes a point of cautioning beachgoers about shark sightings, but nature remains unpredictable.

A large fin surfaced near a diver. In a matter of seconds, the water turned red. The fight didn’t last long, and the victim was dragged under the surface. The police later recovered his remains. Even if someone had tried to rescue him immediately, the attack was so aggressive that his injuries would have been fatal. One witness was so scarred by the experience that they swore never to set foot in the ocean again.

1. The Gruesome End of Manuel Lopez

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Year: 2023

Result: Fatal

Manual Lopez was scuba diving off the coast of Mexico near Benito Juárez in Sonora. It was an ordinary day for him, collecting tripe mollusks to sell. He had been warned of great white shark sightings nearby, but he took the risk.

He jumped in the water on Jan. 6, 2023, and never came out again. A 19-foot great white attacked him, tearing off his head in a matter of seconds, while local fishermen looked on in horror. To honor his memory, take his tragic experience as a lesson: No amount of money is as valuable as your life.