Human fishing for sharks can be deadly
Taken on a 1 inch rope
“We wanted to fish for the shark on Monday night but I couldn’t get any bait and we had to wait until Tuesday night.
“It was a cow night with heavy rains and winds.
“We baited three lines, two with eel and one with mullet.
“He hit deep water about 100 meters from the spot and we knew right away we had him.
“We had a strong 1” marine grade sisal rope with a 3” hook and we knew we weren’t going to lose it.
“We were in Mike’s 12 foot aluminum dinghy. He dragged us around but we skull dragged the shark for about an hour until we stranded it and then used an oar to put a couple of dongs on its head.
“It took us almost another hour to get to the spit where we had parked the car.
Samples taken by the doctor
“The shark weighed about 600 pounds. We loaded it onto Mike’s station wagon and brought it to his house.
“Today hundreds of people must have come to see it.”
dr Shane Watson takes blood samples and teeth from the shark for analysis.Credit:Bob Rice
A doctor, a member of the Shark Research Association, took blood samples and teeth from all parts of the shark’s jaw.
He took them to the Australian Museum’s Fish Curator, Mr Gilbert Whitley, to compare them with three fragments of shark teeth taken from Miss Hathaway’s body.
The shark Mr. McCulla caught had lost a tooth from its lower jaw.
Mr Whitley expects to finalize his settlement today.
The doctor took the blood samples to Mr CO Cramp at the Department of Health Forensic Laboratory at the Coroner’s Court.
dr Cramp said last night he expects to hand his findings to the coroner today.
“They’re very delicate tests that have only been developed in the last six years, but they give an indication of whether the shark swallowed human blood,” he said.
Arrangements for the funeral
Arrangements were made for Miss Hathaway’s funeral yesterday.
Loading
The service will be held at 2:00 p.m. today by Rev. Gordon Powell at St. Stephen’s Church, Macquarie Street, and then proceeds to Northern Suburbs Cemetery.
Miss Hathaway and her mother worshiped regularly at church.
On February 1, the Herald reported that tests on the shark’s teeth showed it wasn’t the one that fatally mauled Marcia Hathaway. The year after the actress’ death, Willoughby Council placed 60 shark warning signs along the Middle Harbor shoreline. The signs reading “Danger man-eating sharks, stay out of water” were in English and Yugoslavian.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/from-the-archives-1963-man-s-shark-haul-may-be-killer-20230125-p5cffz.html?ref=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=rss_national_nsw Human fishing for sharks can be deadly
