THE Narooma News last week ran the “100 years ago” column that focussed on a shark hunting expedition by a group of local brothers that was written up in the Moruya Examiner.
Apart from being just a good yarn, the column also caught our attention because it stated the “man eater” caught in Sydney by the Constable brothers following the attack was a grey nurse shark.
We now know that grey nurse sharks are fish eaters and do not attack humans and so we wanted to clarify the matter.
The Moruya District Historical Society last week was able to provide a copy of a 1965 newspaper article that described the capture by the brothers.
The article includes a photograph that clearly shows and specifically states the shark taken at Lane Cove with human remains inside was a whaler shark.
The Narooma News then sought the advice of renowned shark expert John West, manager of Life Sciences Operations at Taronga Zoo, to confirm.
“The photo of the captured shark that attacked James E. Morgan in 1912 is a definitely a species of whaler,” Mr West said.
“The shark species most likely to bite a human in brackish or freshwater, is known to have attacked other people in similar areas, and is a size of more than 2.5 metres is the bull shark.
“It is my belief this is Carcharhinus leucas, a bull shark.”
The mystery remains why the Moruya Examiner and earlier “Sun” newspaper version of the story made reference to the shark as a grey nurse shark, when the later newspaper article specified it was a whaler shark.
Mr West again has a theory.
“The grey nurse was blamed for the majority of shark attacks in Australia most because the media knew what a grey nurse looked like and any reference to a ‘grey’ shark being involved in an attack was instantly translated to a grey nurse shark,” Mr West said.
“This continues from the mid-1800s to around 1970 when the truth about the grey nurse became evident and their numbers were decimated in the 1950s and 60s.”
The historical society also provided a second photo of interest from its photographic collection that depicts a gruesome pile of sharks caught by Elias Bell and Tom Constable locally at Shelly Beach, south of the Moruya River entrance in 1902.
The caption proudly proclaims the sharks were caught in two hours, a claim we find hard to believe, although maybe not…
Again we deferred to Mr West, who said he believed the photo of the captured sharks on Shelly Beach were also from the whaler family.
“There are several species of Whalers that are very similar in size and shape but even though the photo is unclear it is my opinion that these sharks are most likely to be dusky sharks, Carcharhinus obscurus,” he said.
“They are often found in large school feeding on baitfish schools.”
The 100-year-old report from the Moruya Examiner
PLUCKY CAPTURE: BY THE CONSTABLE BROTHERS, OF MORUYA – A desperate encounter with a grey nurse shark took place in the Lane Cove River on Sunday. The monster was landed. There is every reason to believe that this shark was the author of the tragedy on Anniversary Day when a young man, Morgan, was killed.
Three brothers named Constable, who live in North Sydney, went to the Lane Cove on Sunday with a determination to make an effort to capture the shark, which had been making things lively in the upper reaches of the river about a mile up from Fig Tree Bridge…. A good shark line with large hook attached to a chain was baited with a mullet and thrown out in a spot near where Morgan was first attacked…. The line was made fast to the boat, which was at anchor.
The fishermen had been on shore only a few minutes when they heard a terrific commotion in the river. The water was lashed to foam and the boat was moving up stream at the speed of a motor. Though the Constables had been caught off their guard they were not long in coming to a decision as to what should be done. There was a boat close by, and procuring this they put out three pairs of oars and dashed after their own boat, which the shark had in tow. It was making good towards the bridge when the Constable brothers caught up to the boat…. they managed to get on board their own boat, to which the line was attached.
In spite of frantic lashing the savage fish was unable to get away…. At the end of half an hour the fishermen had the shark exhausted, and triumphantly towed it ashore…. When the rule was put on the shark it was found to be 9½ft. in length and 6ft in girth.
Elated with their success in capturing the murderous shark, the Constable brothers had it towed back to Fig Tree, where they borrowed some old sails and erected a marquee near the wharf. Here the shark was placed on exhibition, and was visited by a throng of sightseers, nearly £30 being taken at the door. This is to be handed over to the mother of the unfortunate man Morgan.
The courageous brothers, Elias, Isaac and Henry ("Tom") are sons of Mr. James Constable, of "Broadview" Gundary. An illustration appears in Tuesday's "Sun" showing the shark after it was hauled out of the water. The Constable brothers are standing beside the dead monster. [3/2]
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