Historical reference record — not independently verified
Shark incident at Ailuk Island Ratak Marshall Islands — October 5, 1897
Original historical summary
The original reference is retained below. Supplementary source details appear in the fact panel; protected facts and unresolved differences remain unchanged.
A historical reference describes an event at Ailuk Island Ratak Marshall Islands in 1897-10-05. Recorded activity: Fishing. Classification: Unprovoked. Outcome: Fatal.
Original reference details
- Location recorded in the historical reference: Ailuk Island Ratak Marshall Islands.
- Date: 1897-10-05.
- Activity: Fishing.
- Classification: Unprovoked.
- Outcome: Fatal.
Source limitations and unresolved differences
- No shark species identification is supported by the retained evidence.
- The historical report involves several children; no single-victim demographic is assigned.
- This restoration uses a supplied historical summary citing the general GSAF incident log, not a case-level primary document. It has not been independently verified.
Fact panel
- Date
- October 5, 1897
- Date precision
- Exact
- Location
- Ailuk Island Ratak Marshall Islands
- Country
- Marshall Islands
- Activity
- Fishing
- Incident classification
- Unprovoked
- Area / state
- Ratak
- Person / vessel
- 5 children
- Outcome
- Fatal
- Species
- 3 sharks
- Species confidence
- Reported
- Coordinate precision
- Unknown
Location context
Historical locations can be approximate. No coordinates have been assigned from the place name, and this record does not imply a map marker or a current risk estimate.
Incident location
Ailuk Island, Ratak, Marshall Islands
The recorded area has not yet been matched reliably to the map.
Sources and verification
- Historical incident log (general reference) — Global Shark Attack FileSupports: General reference cited by the supplied historical summary; not independently checked against a case-level record.
- GSAF-derived structured public mirror (sascha-pst/bullish_on_sharks/global_shark_attacks.csv) — github.comSupports: Supplementary historical fields; existing reviewed facts retained
Shark incident records can change as investigations develop. This page shows the current verification status and was last restored from supplied historical reference material on 2026-09-04.
Historical facts retain the provenance and uncertainty of the cited references. Source timestamps record when the supplied material was imported, not an independent source retrieval or verification.
Supplementary content updated: 2026-09-24. This does not change the original verification status or review date.