The Sharks Of The USS Indianapolis

The star of Jaws is of course the great white shark, even if he is exaggerated in size and ability. The film also features a cameo of sorts from an actual dead tiger shark. A whaaaaaat?

But, the one shark which goes unseen, unheard - yet kills more people than the shark featured in the film - is the species of shark that is said to have attacked the crew of the USS Indianapolis in July 1945.

Quint may never have been on the ship, it's mission to deliver the near bomb to be dropped on Hiroroshima, but its mission, its sinking and those sharks, were very real.

And those sharks were oceanic whitetips, they were always in the water, it wasn't them that sank the ship with torpedoes , but over those days that followed, it would become known as the worst shark attack in history.

Ocean whitetips are often known as being sharks that attend shipwrecks, and this was no different. They'd be attracted by the dead, the dying, the remnants of the ship which sank in just 12 minutes, and by the commotion and confusion in the water.

Not that the sharks knew there were humans, they were just a feeding opportunity in the the open ocean, in the wrong place at the wrong time. The open ocean is essentially an ocean “desert”, where meals are few and far between, so this inquisitive shark will bump and access any potential source of food.

Being an open ocean shark, so you won't find them coming to a beach near you - you'll have to sink in a boat or crash in a plane in their domain. Which plenty did during both World Wars, and so that reputation has stuck.

As with other shark species, Whitetips are now the ones that are fearing man. Officially on the endangered list, their huge fins have been like moths to a flame for those involved in finning. Or the sharks dying as a result of bycatch, when sharks are accidently caught by longliner boats fishing for tuna. These nets get stretch for 50 miles or more, with thousands of hooks. Trapping any marine life that gets in it way.

The waters once teamed with these curious magical fish, just as they did when Valerie Taylor was filmed swimming with them outside a shark cage for the film Blue Water, White Death (1971). It's doubtful it would even be possible to see the 'swarming' numbers today due to their depletion.

Numbers have plummeted by up to 95% in the last couple of decades. Whitetips only have small litters of pups every couple of years, so such small numbers are hugely impacted by overfishing.

We are removing them from the ocean faster than they can reproduce. And that isn't just bad news for the sharks, it impacts the eco-system that they are top of the foodchain in, and ultimately, if the state of the oceans are compromised, that isn't good news for us either.

Words Dean Newman

If you would like to write for The Daily Jaws, please visit our ‘work with us’ page

Follow The Daily Jaws on Facebook, Twitter, instagram & TikTok