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ACTIVITY: Swimming CASE: GSAF 1878.08.08 DATE Thursday August 8, 1878 LOCATION: The incident took place in the Atlantic Ocean at Gowanus Bay, Brooklyn, New York, USA. NAME: George (or Charles) Gates DESCRIPTION: He was a 14-year-old boy. He lived at 48 President Street in Brooklyn. BACKGROUND MOON PHASE: Waxing Gibbous, 84% of the Moon's visible disk was illuminated. First Quarter Moon, August 5, 1878. Full Moon, August 12, 1878. ENVIRONMENT: Sharks were frequently taken by fishermen in Gowanus Bay. He was swimming near the Erie breakwater off Red Hook, Point Brooklyn. TIME: Afternoon NARRATIVE: George Gates and 16-year-old Arthur Cole hired a boat at Red Hook point and went out crabbing beyond the breakwater at the foot of Columbia Street. After they had been out for some time, George decided to bathe. Removing his clothes he plunged into the water from the bow of the boat. As George surfaced, he shouted loudly for help and Arthur saw a shark seize him by the hips. Arthur snatched up the stone the boys had used for an anchor and threw it at the shark. The stone hit the shark and it disappeared. Arthur pulled George into the boat and rowed rapidly to McCarthy’s boat-house at the foot of Columbia Street. INJURY: Surgeon Coudray, who dressed the wound, said that nearly a pound of flesh had been torn off the boy’s hip. FIRST AID / TREATMENT: A messenger was sent to the 11th Precinct Station-house. Believing the story was a hoax and before summoning the ambulance by telegraph, the Police sent an officer to ascertain the facts, arriving 30 minutes after George was bitten. The police summoned an ambulance, which arrived a half hour being summoned by the police. The patient was transported by ambulance to St. Peter’s Hospital. Next day the wound was sutured. He subsequently developed a high fever and exhibited extreme agitation but occasionally he was lucid. On Tuesday August 13, 1878, his condition worsened and he died that evening. SPECIES: Not identified. According to Arthur, the shark was eight feet in length. SOURCES: New York Times, August 9, 1878 & August 16, 1878 Daily Kennebec Journal, August 14, 1878, et al Sunset Gowanus Bay, 1880 by Henry Farrer © Global Shark Accident File, 1992. All rights reserved. This report may not be abridged or reproduced in any form without written permission of the Global Shark Accident File.
