You're at the beach standing at the water's edge, shielding your eyes from the sun glaring off the water, you gaze out at the far horizon.

There's a tanker ship out there, barely visible, little more than a gray smudge against the azure sky.

Overhead, a twin-engine plane rides the currents, trailing a banner, advertising a seafood buffet,

and margaritas by the bucket. Wait, what was that? Did you see that? Was that a trick of the light?

Or was it? No, no, no, there it is again. Look, is that a, is that a fin? You know you're seeing a shark's fin.

And now you're about to hear a shark tail unlike any other.

A shark tail that makes jaws look like finding Nemo.

This is the terrifying true story of the sea demon.

And they got a small beam of light against the mirror.

True. True weird stuff.

The very first human being to encounter a shark and come out on the losing end? No one knows, but the very first

attack to make the news? Got it. It happened in the Havana Harbor in Cuba in 1749. The 14-year-old boy

involved had already been plenty unlucky before he ever decided to go for that fateful swim.

His name was Brooke Watson.

He was born in England in 1735, an orphaned at the age of seven. With no relatives handy to take over the boys' raising, he was shipped off to an aunt and uncle in the colonies. Like a character

straight out of a Dickens novel, seven-year-old Brooke Watson found himself journeying across the Atlantic to a new life in the new world, expected to buck up and face his fate with a minimum of fuss and drama.

And before you think, suck it up, kid, there's a pizza buffet on the Lido deck, five swimming pools, and a roller coaster aboard. Remember when and where Brooke Watson is. Traveled by sea in the 18th century was mostly awful. The journey from his home in England to Boston would have taken at least a month and that's under ideal circumstances.

Wind, weather, the risks of shipwreck and piracy, crowded conditions, sickness and

uncertainty.

This was no celebrity cruise for Brooke Watson, his fellow passengers.

And don't for a minute think that anyone so much has glanced at the little orphan and thought,

Oh, poor child.

...