queensland When was the first shark attack in the Brisbane River?

[AFO]

Some trivia to test the community

[OneLastCast]

OMG Google doesn't know everything!!!

[taib]

3 attacks back in that era. In order

1880

1901

1921

One unconfirmed attack in 1862. Tales of Brisbane, christopher Dawson.

Been more recent ones like in 2005 at colleges.

Cheers

[Milan]

There have been three recorded shark attack deaths in the river (1880, 1901 and 1921), and one other unconfirmed death of an Aboriginal boy in 1862

Indeed

[Binder]

Dunno, the Aboriginals didn't keep written records.

Interestingly enough,there have been 14 shark attacks in Australia so far this year.

[Sofish]

There have been three recorded shark attack deaths in the river (1880, 1901 and 1921), and one other unconfirmed death of an Aboriginal boy in 1862. The shark can be aggressive, grow up to 3 m in length and is unusual for a shark species because it can inhabit water containing less than 50% seawater.

wikipedia

[madmullet]

The Brisbane River is home to a very large population of bull sharks, thus swimming is not advised due to the dangers imposed by this predatory fish. Ipswich City Council warns against swimming as far up as Colleges Crossing.[17] There have been three recorded shark attack deaths in the river (1880, 1901 and 1921), and one other unconfirmed death of an Aboriginal boy in 1862.[40] The shark can be aggressive, grow up to 3 m in length and is unusual for a shark species because it can inhabit water containing less than 50% seawater.[41]

i found this info as well

but other than just knowing this knowledge now, i didn’t know

:whistle: :whistle:

[faulked]

fair bet there have been shark bites in the river since people started swiming in it i know at first settlement times some white fellas were crossing the river towards west end when they saw a young aboriginal get taken .

[dave45]

I forget where I read it but any mishap where a body is not recovered gets documented as a drowning.

Many of them would have to be shark attacks.

[AFO]

Well this is from 1788 onwards when Europeans have been able to keep records. This is for an attack, not necessarily a death.

[Scope]

I forget where I read it but any mishap where a body is not recovered gets documented as a drowning.

Many of them would have to be shark attacks.

That would have been something printed or recorded by Vic Hislop

[big al]

i can remember hearing of one around late 40ts or early 50ts

[elops]

1824

[Scope]

Was it nov 30 1847?

[AFO]

Apologies to all those that voted, for some bizarre reason the poll was deleted. I have recreated it again now, so please vote again if you want.

[ellicat]

I voted on the original one.

I cannot see a poll still.

[fishingnut]

All better now, changed my vote

[Surfingant]

Interesting to see the amount of votes 1880 is getting, I'm still trying to find something relating to an attack and not a death.

[billythakid]

Well this is from 1788 onwards when Europeans have been able to keep records. This is for an attack, not necessarily a death.

human or animal ???? i remember reading about dogs being made to swim across the river behind boats as they wern't allowed onboard , 1860 >> 1890's were the main years were dogs were getting taken reguarlly

Maybe my memory is bad but i'm sure i read it somewhere

[Surfingant]

Is 1982 meant to be 1882 Admin?

I can't find anything remotely solid on the first attack. I'm sticking with my original vote of 1825 based on the fact I can't find anything solid and it seems early enough to be correct Also is 1788 correct as the year records were kept? as this is what is on the Aust. Geographic site- There have been 877 shark attacks in Australia since records began in 1791, 216 of which have been fatal.

[AFO]

Is 1982 meant to be 1882 Admin?

I can't find anything remotely solid on the first attack. I'm sticking with my original vote of 1825 based on the fact I can't find anything solid and it seems early enough to be correct

no it is meant to be 1982, just out of order

[elops]

Did not see the poll earlier had a vague recollection of something from the 1824 Oxley expedition, I was wrong (first record of the Brisbane River Cod from this expedition though). Voted see that only 2 others have it right so far, man lost a leg while going for a lunch time swim.

[wheel fish]

found this reference :

The first recorded report of a shark attacking a dog in Brisbane came back in 1848, when a dog belonging to David Peattie was bitten on the side and chest while swimming across from Kangaroo Point to North Brisbane. The wounds were so severe that it died shortly after reaching shore.

Just how frequent such attacks were over the following years is not known, but by the 1860s newspapers carried regular warnings of the dangers of people and dogs swimming in the river, often with a stark demonstration of what could happen. In December 1867 two dogs were killed in the same week. The first was near the Russell Street ferry, when the dog was so badly bitten on it's hind legs that the owner "was obliged to drown him". A few days later a valuable Newfoundland dog (a breed that can grow up to 70kg) was reportedly "destroyed by a shark" near the Kangaroo Point ferry stop. Both incidents were used as a warning to the many young boys who bathed in the river every day (there was no running water at home in those days).

reference taken from - Shovelnose: Tales of the Brisbane River sharks.

apparently bull sharks were known as Shovelnose sharks then

[Scope]

Do we have an answer yet?

[Bagless]

I'm also suspecting it was a dog that received the unfortunate honour. Mind you if we're going to include animals I'd be pretty confident that there have been shark attacks happening in the Brisbane river long before it was even named . So in that case there is literally no accurate answer to the question as it's currently phrased .

[AFO]

Answer: 1848 (from the latest research)

7 people got it correct

When time permits I will put more information up about it.

[Scope]

I voted for 1848 because it was closest to the earliest I could find.

I'm pretty sure I've got one from 1847 though.....