Matawan Creek

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Matawan Creek is a creek and partially a tidal estuary of the Atlantic Ocean. It lies in the east central sector of New Jersey across from Staten Island, New York.

During the Jersey Shore shark attacks of 1916, the creek was made infamous due to horrific shark attacks on July 12, 1916, occurring 15 miles (25 km) from the ocean. A shark or sharks killed 12-year-old Lester Stillwell and his 24-year-old would-be rescuer Watson "Stanley" Fisher and severely injured 12 year old Joseph Dunn later that same day.

This account, in addition to a number of other shark attacks in the local area, are believed to have been the inspiration for the popular novel Jaws, written by Peter Benchley, who in turn co-wrote the screenplay for the blockbuster film of the same name directed by Steven Spielberg. Benchley was a New Jersey native, and had done research on the Jersey Shore shark attacks of 1916 previously.