Historical reference record — not independently verified
Shark incident at Lelepa Island Shefa Province Vanuatu — October 1961
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A historical reference describes an event at Lelepa Island Shefa Province Vanuatu in 1961-10. Recorded activity: Paddling an outrigger canoe. Classification: Watercraft. Outcome: No injury.
Original reference details
- Location recorded in the historical reference: Lelepa Island Shefa Province Vanuatu.
- Date: 1961-10.
- Activity: Paddling an outrigger canoe.
- Classification: Watercraft.
- Outcome: No injury.
Source limitations and unresolved differences
- No shark species identification is supported by the retained evidence.
- The date is intentionally shown with limited precision; no day is invented.
- The shark bit/overturned the canoe; this is a watercraft interaction.
- 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.
- The supplied source lists 1961-10-01; the existing reviewed date is retained pending case-level reconciliation.
Fact panel
- Date
- October 1961
- Date precision
- Month
- Location
- Lelepa Island Shefa Province Vanuatu
- Country
- Vanuatu
- Activity
- Paddling an outrigger canoe
- Incident classification
- Watercraft
- Area / state
- Shefa Province
- Person / vessel
- male from Lelepa Island
- Sex
- M
- Outcome
- No injury
- Species
- Two shark's teeth recovered from canoe
- Species confidence
- Reported
- Coordinate precision
- Region
Incident location
Lelepa Island, Shefa Province, Vanuatu
Approximate area: Shefa Province
The marker represents the named area, not the exact incident site.
The interactive map loads when it comes into view. Incident details remain available as text.
Location precision: Approximate area
Representative map position for Shefa Province from Natural Earth. This marks the general area, not the exact incident site. This is historical location context, not live shark tracking or a measure of risk.
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.