“In a Wild Mood": Navigating Shark-infested Waters during World War II

• In Event: Beyond Fear and Loathing: New Perspectives on Apex Predators

Abstract

Scientists have identified over 500 shark species within the class of cartilaginous vertebrate fish, Chondrichthyes and subclass, Elasmobranchii. The morphology of these charismatic fish is strikingly diverse across different species—from the bioluminescent 7.9-inch dwarf lanternshark, to the spectacularly spotted sixty-foot whale shark. Despite this extraordinary range of speciation, the best-known sharks are four apex predator species historically implicated in biting human beings: the oceanic whitetip; tiger; bull; and great white shark.


Fatal shark bites are exceedingly rare. Yet as opportunistic foragers, sharks have appeared at sites of oceanic human trauma and cultural change throughout American history. This paper will explore the experiences of American military service personnel at sea during World War II. Owing to the war’s vast oceanic geographies, significant numbers of the nation’s 16 million servicemen and women encountered sharks. Newspapers vividly chronicled wartime water rescues in “shark-infested waters,” while service personnel acknowledged their fears of being stranded with sharks “in the water” after surviving a ship sinking or airplane crash. Consequently, the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), in collaboration with the US Navy, decided to launch a shark safety propaganda campaign and to develop a shark repellent in hopes of boosting wartime morale. From 1942 to 1943, OSS officials tested a range of secret unsavory concoctions in the ocean to measure their efficacy in repelling sharks. During the testing period, newspapers heralded the shark repellent program as an innovative breakthrough. Privately, however, the experiment team doubted the effectiveness of any repellent when sharks were, in the words of field tester Stewart Springer, “in a wild mood” while feeding. Nonetheless, the OSS remained committed to the project as a critical component of the war effort, and after considerable supply chain delays, “Shark Chaser,” a copper acetate repellent of dubious effectiveness, was finally released in 1945.

Author

• Janet Marie Davis, University of Texas at Austin