With the introduction of television in 1975 and the launch of the summer blockbuster Jaws, the 1976 media exaggerated a series of aggressive great white encounters in False Bay that were attributed to a suspension in sealing operations – the first in a decade. When a ‘bite’ finally took place it was on the wrong side of the mountain, in cold water, dispelling many of the myths that South Africans had built up of great white behavior over the years while living on the tip of Africa.

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Introduction

No shark bite, or attack, had occurred between Table Bay and Llandudno in over 30 years. There was a theory for this, albeit a very shaky one.

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The Bite

On 26 November 1976 Geoffrey Spence went to see the summer blockbuster, “Jaws.”

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Media Analysis

In November 1976 reports started flooding of aggressive great whites in False Bay. Shark Hunters sharpened their assegais.

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Missing

While a number of people connected to the '76 bite have been contacted for the articles on this site, we are still missing many more.