Frank Mundus

Frank Mundus (October 21, 1925 – September 10, 2008) was a sport fisherman in Montauk, New York who is said to be the inspiration for the character Quint in the movie and book Jaws. Up until his death, he chartered out his boat "Cricket II" for those seeking the thrill of big game fishing.

He started out as a shark hunter but then later became a shark conservationist.

Mundus' early techniques, which included killing whales merely for chum and harpooning sharks (practices which are outlawed today), earned him criticism even at the time. In the last few years of his life Mundus had campaigned for shark fishermen to catch and release their prey including a conservation book White Shark Sam Meets The Monster Man. In 2008 the Cricket spent much of the summer docked near Atlantis Marine World in Riverhead, New York where conservation of the predators was preached.

Mundus died on September 10, 2008, due to complications from a heart attack he suffered on September 6, the day he returned home to Hawaii after spending the summer in Montauk. According to his obituary he had spent the last night in Montauk aboard the Cricket II which had made him famous and had his heart attack in the Hawaii airport immediately after returning.

Mundus, who was of German descent, was born in Long Branch, New Jersey and moved to Brooklyn when he was young. In 1945, he began a charter fishing operation in Brielle, New Jersey, with the Cricket. In 1947, he had the Cricket II custom-built.

He moved to Montauk in 1951 saying he wanted to start charters for bluefish. In his first year at Montauk he played an important role in the rescue and retrieval of "The Pelican" an overloaded party boat in which 45 of 64 on board perished after capsizing in a squall, including its captain Eddie Carroll. He was among the second wave of searchers, and helped tow the hull of the Pelican to port with ten dead bodies still trapped inside. The disaster was the worst in Montauk recreational history and led to numerous laws regulating the industry.

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