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'Matawan Creek' is a creek and partially a tidal estuary of the Atlantic Ocean. It lies in the northeastern sector of New Jersey across from Staten Island, New York. The creek was made infamous due to horrific shark attacks on July 12, 1916, occurring 15 miles (25 km) upstream, which killed 12 year old Lester Stillwell and his 24 year old would-be rescuer Watson "Stanley" Fisher and severely injured 12 year old Joseph Dunn later that same day.
This account, in addition to a number of other shark attacks in the local area, are believed to have been the inspiration for the popular novel ''Jaws'', written by Peter Benchley, who in turn co-wrote the screenplay for the blockbuster film of the same name directed by Steven Spielberg. Benchley was a New Jersey native, and had done research on the Jersey Shore shark attacks of 1916 previously.