There are not many animals out there that we fear as much as the shark. There are plenty of people who fear the deep blue sea purely because of them. Now, we want you to know that movies tend to portray them as more dangerous than they really are. However, some people have still been victimized by their powerful jaws. Others have survived to tell the tale, but plenty of these victims have not gotten so lucky. With this in mind, check out the most terrifying shark attacks that history has ever seen. Just a heads up… some of these photos are very graphic!
The Most Horrific Shark Attacks In The History Of Mankind
Randy Fry
Randy Fry and his friends had been diving off the California coast when tragedy struck. He had been swimming when the shark came after him. Cliff Zimmerman, his friend, said that the animal “came out of nowhere and just grabbed him.” They only found his body the following day. However, his head had been detached from his body. We cannot imagine how hard it must be to stumble upon a sight like that.
Randy Fry
Terry Manuel
This 1974 incident took place off the coast of South Australia. Terry Manuel finished an afternoon dive when a great white shark hit him at a speed of 25 MPH. Talbot, his boatmate, was able to hold onto his arm and pull him back into the boat. He bled to death before rescuers could come to his aid, however.
Terry Manuel
David Lilienfeld
David Lilienfeld was a young bodybuilder who had been spending a day at the beach with his family. They had been hanging out at Kogel Bay in Cape Town, South Africa when the unbelievable happened. He had just entered the water when a shark attacked him. People watched in shock as the animal ripped into the right leg of the 20-year-old athlete. He was pronounced while he was inside an ambulance.
David Lilienfeld
Todd Endris
Not a lot of people on the list got happy endings, but Todd Endris did. He had been riding the waves of Monterey Bay in 2007 when he was approached by a great white shark. The terrifying creature almost ripped the skin off his back! While this was happening, a school of dolphins came to help him and made the shark swim away. We can see why so many people think that this was a miracle. If you ask us, this sounds like something that would come from a movie. Good for him!
Todd Endris
The USS Indianapolis
The USS Indianapolis was hit by two types of 95 torpedoes launched by a Japanese submarine. It sank after this. There were 1,196 people aboard the ship, 300 of whom went down with it. The Navy did not know about it right away, which was why the survivors had been in the water for three and a half days. When the rescuers got there, only 317 survived. Many of them died from thirst, salt poisoning, and exposure. However, the most unfortunate ones died after encountering tiger sharks and oceanic whitetip sharks. What a way to go.
The USS Indianapolis
Mick Fanning
Pro surfer Mick Fanning had been participating in the J-Bay Open Surfing Competition when a shark attacked him in 2015. They caught the incident on tape! The athlete was seen swimming away from the marine creature. In the end, he was able to reach the shore and walk away without any damage. We are glad that things ended happily for this guy.
Mick Fanning
Elio Canestri
It was a gorgeous sunny day in 2015 when 13-year-old Elio Canestri went to the coast of Reunion Island with some friends. He left a note for his mother to tell her that they were going to surf there. When the group was in the sea, a shark grabbed the young boy on the abdomen and right arm. A boat arrived to rescue him and take him out of there. However, he passed away not long after that.
Elio Canestri
La Seyne
This is one of the oldest shark attacks that you will find on our list. In 1909, a French liner called La Seyne and a British India Navigation vessel called the Onda collided. The thick fog prevented the boats from seeing each other. When the ship went down, there were hundreds of sharks right below. It is believed that a hundred people were devoured by these animals.
La Seyne
Omar Conger
Two men had been diving off the coast of Santa Cruz in 1984. As Omar Conger swam to the surface, he got attacked by a gigantic great white shark. The 16-foot creature shook him violently and dragged him to the depths of the ocean. Chris Rehm, his diving partner, was the next target. When the shark let go of Conger, Rehm managed to escape and call for him. Sadly, his partner was already dead by then.
Omar Conger
Ian Redmond
Ian Redmond and his bride had been enjoying a romantic vacation in Seychelles in 2011. He had been snorkeling only several yards away from the coast when he was attacked by a shark. The animal bit off his legs and one of his arms. Even though they were able to pull him into a boat, he did not survive.
Ian Redmond
Rodney Fox
Rodney Fox was trying to defend his title during a competition held in Aldinga Beach, South Australia in 1953. We are sure that he did not expect it all when something grabbed him by the waist. Luckily, he survived this. However, he had to get 92 stitches in his right hand and arm, as well as 462 on his chest. Look at the photo to see the aftermath of the shark attack!
Rodney Fox
Bethany Hamilton
On the morning of Halloween in 2003, Bethany Hamilton was riding the waves off the coast of Hawaii. The famous surfer had been surfing when a shark attacked her and left her on the board with an arm dangling off of it. She lost 60% of her blood and had to get several surgeries. The good news is that she recovered and even returned to the water not even a month after the incident.
Bethany Hamilton
Shirley Ann Durdin
In 1985, Shirley Ann Durdin had been spending some time with her family at Peake Bay, Australia. She was snorkeling when she was attacked by a 7-foot shark all of a sudden! Her family could do nothing but watch in horror as her body was torn apart. The only thing that remained of her was a headless torso.
Shirley Ann Durdin
David Borman
David Borman was 19 years old when this incident took place in September 2003. He and six pals were hanging out at Dunes, South Africa. He had just entered the water with a surfboard when he was attacked by a great white shark! He had a black wetsuit and fins on, so he might have been mistaken for a seal. When they were able to bring him to the shore, he already lost a lot of blood. The teenager was pronounced dead right away.
David Borman
Marcia Hathaway
Actress Marcia Hathaway and Frederick Knight, her fiancé, had been spending the day at the beach in Sydney in 1963 when she got viciously attacked! A shark viciously attacked her when she got into the water. It was a very brutal attack, and she lost most of her right leg. He was able to pry the shark away and rescue her. Despite his efforts, she died from losing too much blood.
Marcia Hathaway
Sarah
A girl only known by the name Sarah had been enjoying the waters of the Indian Ocean with her family in 2012. She was snorkeling when a shark bit her in half. It dragged half of it into the depths of the sea.
Sarah
The Jersey Shore Shark Attacks
During the summer of 1916, the residents of Jersey Shore were being terrorized by a shark. A great white shark took the lives of young men by the name of Charles Bruder, Charles Vansant, Lester Stillwell, and Watson Stanley Fisher. There was also an unnamed lifeguard who was maimed by the creature, as well as another victim called Joseph Dun. People say that it served as the inspiration behind the Jaws series, although Peter Benchley has denied these claims.
The Jersey Shore Shark Attacks
Robert Pamperin
Robert Pamperin and Gerald Lehrer took a snorkeling trip at the La Jolla Cove in California together in 1959. Sadly, tragedy struck when a 22-foot great white shark attacked Pamperin. By the time his friend heard him screaming, the shark already had him up to the waist. Unfortunately, they only managed to retrieve one of the fins that Pamperin had been using.
Robert Pamperin
Barry Wilson
Even though Lovers Point is nothing short of picturesque, we are not kidding when we say it is dangerous. A teenager called Barry Wilson had been swimming here when he was attacked by a shark. According to witnesses, the shark came out of the water and pulled the young man underwater. When he resurfaced, he was flailing in his own blood. Even though five swimmers tried to fight off the animal and bring the young man to the shore, he died from the blood loss before help could get there.
Barry Wilson
Lloyd Skinner
In 2010, engineer Lloyd Skinner from Zimbabwe went for a swim that ended in his death. He was only 37 years old at the time of his death. While in Cape Town, he went to a place called Fish Hoek to swim even though he was warned that sharks might be around. Reports said that the one to attack Skinner was the size of a dinosaur. Witnesses also had to seek professional help to get over the incident. After all, they did see a man with his arm in the air, his body in the mouth of a sharp. Phyllis McCartain, a British tourist, said this to the Cape Times: “We saw the shark come back twice. It had the man’s body in its mouth, and his arm was in the air. Then the sea was full of blood.” Reports also said that pieces of the body kept washing ashore in the days that followed the shark attack.
Lloyd Skinner
Brook Watson
A British merchant called Brook Watson was the first shark attack victim in recorded history. The attack took place in Havana in 1749. The reports said that the shark attacked him before it backed off only to zero in some more. It was a good thing that the other crew members were there and pulled Watson to safety. The merchant lost a leg and a foot, but this did not stop him from achieving great things in life. He eventually served in Parliament and even became the Lord Mayor of London. This 1777 painting by John Singleton Copley is called Watson and the Shark! What a legend.
Brook Watson
Heather Boswell
Off the coast of Easter Island, a student called Heather had been taking a dip with her colleagues in 1994. All of a sudden, they were terrorized by a 14-foot shark! One of her colleagues got a nasty bite, but the shark took a bite of Heather’s leg as well as she was getting pulled onto a nearby boat. We cannot imagine how traumatic such an experience must have been.
Heather Boswell
Dylan McWilliams
Dylan McWilliams suffered some horrible luck in life. In 2018, a shark bit his leg while he was spending some time off the coast of Kauai, Hawaii. The year before that, he went through a bear attack in Colorado! “I was looking around and saw a bunch of blood,” he told CBS News in Colorado.
Dylan McWilliams
The Carolinas Shark Attacks
During the summer of 2015, the residents near Carolinas probably thought that they were going through Jaws in real life! A shark or several attacked eleven people over the course of a few weeks. In the Outer Banks, a 17-year-old boy had been in the water when he was attacked by a shark. It bit him on the leg, hands, and buttocks. The good news is that he survived the incident.
The Carolinas Shark Attacks
Paul De Gelder
Paul de Gelder, an Australian Navy diver, was attacked by a male bull shark off the coast of Sydney in 2009. He was able to survive the attack and even started a career as a shark activist and motivational speaker. We are impressed that it turned him into an advocate for the marine creatures. He debunks misconceptions about how sharks want to harm humans when they often just mistake us for seals.
Paul De Gelder
Christopher Myers
This incident took place in Cape Cod. A great white shark bit the legs of Christopher Myers as he bodyboarded in 2012. It surprised a lot of people since it was the first time that a great white shark had been spotted there since 1936. Luckily, he was taken to the hospital right away and survived the attack.
Christopher Myers
Francisco Javier Solorio Jr.
In 2012, a shark attacked a surfer by the name of Francisco Solorio Jr. near Vandenberg Air Force Base. The reports say that the shark was around 15 feet long. It bit his torso and killed him not long after that. They later found the surfboard, although it had a huge bite mark right in the middle.
Francisco Javier Solorio Jr.
Leeanne Ericson
In 2017, Leanne Erickson was lucky enough to survive a terrible shark attack. A great white shark took a bite of her right leg and dragged her underwater. Fortunately, she had the presence of mind to punch it in the eye, which made it let go of her leg. She had to spend nine weeks in intensive care but recovered.
Leeanne Ericson
Achmat Hassiem
In 2006, another incident took place in Cape Town, South Africa. This time, Achmat Hassiem was the victim of a great white shark. Despite the fact that he had his right leg bitten off, he grew to love swimming. As a matter of fact, he brought home a bronze medal in Men’s 100m Butterfly at the London Paralympics six years after that.
Achmat Hassiem
Steven Robles
Around 45 minutes after a fisherman hooked this shark, it attacked Steven Robles. He was a competitive ocean swimmer who had been training by Manhattan Beach, California that day in 2014. “I stared at the shark face to face, looking into his eyeballs as he bit right into me,” he shared with CBS News.
Steven Robles