Whale Shark

Written By Dino DiPietro

Here is a detailed account of the historic catch of a record-breaking whale shark in the waters of Long Island:

🐋 1. Date & Circumstances

  • On August 9, 1935, brothers Arie and Nicholas Schaper of Sunrise Fish Company—working a series of pound nets off Fire Island—hoisted in the unthinkable: a massive whale shark ensnared in their final trap. What began as a routine day turned extraordinary when they realized they’d landed a creature as large as a whale, yet unmistakably a shark. The capture took many grueling hours before they successfully brought it to their Islip docks.

2. Size & Rarity

  • The animal was an astonishing 31 feet 5 inches long—making it the largest whale shark ever caught in North America at that time.

  • Belonging to the species Rhincodon typus, whale sharks are native to tropical waters, making this individual one of the northernmost known specimens, and only the second-largest ever recorded, with just around 80 documented globally up to that point.

3. Public Display & Acquisition

  • News of the massive catch spread quickly. The Schaper brothers even charged admission to view the shark at their fish camp. That evening, specialists E.W. Gudger and Harry C. Raven from the American Museum of Natural History arrived to inspect it.

  • Shortly thereafter, millionaire William K. Vanderbilt II purchased the shark and commissioned its mounting for display. This specimen eventually became the centerpiece of the Vanderbilt Museum’s Diorama Hall in Centerport, Long Island.

4. Commemoration & Restoration

  • A historical marker installed at the corner of Montauk Highway and Degnon Boulevard in Islip reads: “Largest in North America 31’5”. Captured off F.I. by Schaper Bros, Islip 8/9/1935. On display at W.K. Vanderbilt Museum.”

  • Over the years, the mounted shark suffered from environmental damage—heat, cold, and leaking fixtures. In 2003, a federal Save America’s Treasures grant funded its restoration and preservation.

5. Significance

  • This whale shark remains a remarkable anomaly—not only due to its size and remote capture location, but also because such encounters are exceedingly rare in northern Atlantic waters.

  • It has since become an iconic exhibit, drawing scientific interest and preserving a unique moment in Long Island’s maritime history.

Dino DiPietro