A Look Back:

Newport Beach lifeguards armed with heavy-caliber rifles patrolled local waters in search of sharks in 1959; a fisherman netted a 4-ton bonito shark off Newport in 1942; and at least five men lost their lives to sharks during a tragic fishing trip in 1962, according to historical news accounts.

The earliest shark attack off Newport recorded in the Los Angeles Times historical archives occurred July 4, 1924.

A local man, Richard Gunther, and 14-year-old Donald Cavanaugh were fishing about a mile off Newport Beach when a large shark began circling their 18-foot boat, the Times reported on July 5, 1924.

“The shark circled the boat several times and then raced toward it,” The Times reported. “It attempted to seize the boy, who sat cowering in his seat. The maneuver was repeated a number of times, the boat threatening to capsize each time.”

Gunther ordered his young friend to lay in the bottom of the boat, while he jabbed at the shark with a fishing spear.

The angry shark tore a hole in the side of the boat as Gunther tried to fight him off for nearly an hour, The Times reported. Finally, two men, Al Warnick and Albert Himes, came to Gunther and Cavanaugh’s aid and the mortally wounded shark swam off.

A fisherman named John Midovich once netted a 4-ton bonito shark near Newport Beach, The Times reported on Feb. 19, 1942.

Midovich was the skipper of the San Pedro gill-net fishing boat Zora.

Another boat with heavy winch gear was called in to help haul in the beast, once Midovich realized there was something massive caught in one of Zora’s large nets. The shark was weak and nearly dead when they pulled it out of the water.

“Midovich reported that sale of the liver alone should net a fancy sum and more than repay him for the damage to the net,” the Times reported. “Throngs of fishermen gathered at the dock to see the unusual catch.”

The fishing boat Mardie came across the remains of a nine-man fishing party that went missing off Newport Beach, The Times reported on May 14, 1962.

Six dead men were found floating in the water wearing life jacket about four miles off shore. One man appeared to have drowned, while the other five were badly mangled and covered in shark bites, The Times reported.

A school of sharks still surrounded the dead men when the Mardie happened upon the scene.

“There were so many sharks the men had to lower steel stretchers into the water to fish out the bodies,” Orange County Deputy Coroner Eugene Miller told The Times.

The men were all from the 25-foot cabin cruiser Cindy, owned by Chester McMain of Norwalk. The boat apparently sank while the men were out on a fishing trip, leaving them to fend for themselves in shark-infested waters.

In 1959, Newport Beach lifeguards armed with rifles ran daily patrols up and down the shore to protect beachgoers from sharks.

“At least one lifeguard on the boat is armed with a heavy rifle, and a close watch is kept for an sharks that might be a danger to bathers,” The Times reported.