The sharks were often referred to as ‘monsters’, ‘brutes’ or ‘man eaters’, and they were sometimes killed with rifles or even an axe.  

One such instance occurred in January 1893, when three young Sydney men – Wishart, Hargrave and Maynard – had an exciting time before catching a shark which measured 3.3 metres near Coolangatta. 

Apparently, the shark put up a good fight and damaged the party’s boat in the struggle with its captors.

While no swimmers are known to have been taken by sharks in the Shoalhaven, a dog owned by Edward Holland was attacked near the Terara wharf in 1896.

While it managed to escape to shore, the dog had been severely injured and died the following day.

Around the turn of the century, sharks began to find their way up Spain’s Creek where the popular swimming spot was near the suspension bridge.

When a shark 2.9 metres long and 1.8 metres around the girth was caught there in 1902, it was suggested the baths should be shark proofed. 

In the years after WWI, a three metre shark was caught in a net in Broughton Creek, while Alfred Mottram, together with brothers Frank and Tom Peel, combined to capture to capture one in Mottram’s Creek at Pyree that measured 2.6 metres.

When the baths were constructed in the Shoalhaven River at Nowra, swimmers were separated by wire netting, believing they were safe from the sharks periodically seen cruising by. However, a 1929 report from the NSW Shark Menace Committee, revealed there were several gaps in the wire, one 4.5 metres long. 

In the 1930s, fishermen set lines in the stream in an attempt to catch the sharks. On some occasions, the sharks ripped the bait and line from where it was anchored, but Theo Boxsell arrived at Broughton Creek to find a 2.7 metre shark had latched on to the bait and was attempting to make its escape.

When it became exhausted, Boxsell hauled it onto the bank and the shark became an attraction on Berry Wharf over the weekend.