By Isle of Wight Observer
The Isle of Wight Observer published on 27th September 1862 contained this dramatic and rather sad tale of how a shark was caught and killed off the Island’s coast. The editor appeared to treat the story with some scepticism.
LUCCOMBE – Capture of a Shark.
To the Editor,
While sitting upon a rock last Friday, about two o’clock p.m., I observed a large fish floundering in the sea a short distance from the shore. On bringing my telescope to bear upon it I descried a huge fin above water, and while still wondering what it could be I saw it turn on its side, evidently to seize some prey, and this convinced me it was shark, and a very large one too. Hastily summoning some fishermen, we embarked in a boat, armed with a hook on an iron chain, baited with beef. This on approaching the monster we dragged behind us. He immediately seized it in his rapacious jaws, and then — well for us was it that we were powerful men, for his efforts to escape were fearful — he tried with his teeth to cut the chain; he almost turned his stomach inside out to disgorge the hook, but in vain. The struggle lasted half an hour, when, quite spent, he suffered his head to be drawn above water, and confining his tail with a noose we drew him to shore and dispatched him with great difficulty by beating him on the head. He measured 18 feet 4 inches, and from his enormous mouth, containing six rows of hard, flat, sharp-pointed teeth (of which I counted 120), and the total absence of spiracles, its skin rough, hard, and prickly, I judged it to be the Cartharias vulgaris, or white shark, which is, according to Cuvier, sometimes found on the British coast. I wished to have preserved the skeleton, but found the next day, to my regret, that not having been properly secured the huge mass had been washed out to sea.
J.M.M. Luccombe Chine
[All that we can say, as to the truth of this “shark story,” is, we have been close to the locality during the week, and no one knew or said anything about it.—Ed ]