Yes, There are Bull Sharks in rivers

[Sam]

Predator TackleLike Page

LA RIVER MONSTER!

Fisherman Sammy Guillory was running his Trot Lines in the Achafalaya River. Surprised when your expecting a good size catfish. Instead it's a juvenile Bull Shark .

[wdp]

Bull sharks actually swim upriver into fresh water to give birth. The pups will then stay in fresh water until they are large enough to leave the freshwater sanctuary and head into saltwater. I think it's to keep them safe from larger saltwater predators. Pretty sure bull sharks are the only species that can live in freshwater for extended periods of time. This also happens off the African coast on the Zambezi River. But the bull sharks down there are called....... you guessed it, Zambezi Sharks. There are also documented cases of freshwater bull shark attacks in the rivers of Australia. 

 

I'm not a marine biologist, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night (where I watched a lotta Shark Week).

[BrackishBassin]

They're frequently caught in the rivers near me. The water is brackish (for the most part), but they've gotten 8' sharks. Definitely not juveniles here. 

[wdp]

59 minutes ago, BrackishBassin said:

They're frequently caught in the rivers near me. The water is brackish (for the most part), but they've gotten 8' sharks. Definitely not juveniles here. 

I think I've heard it stated on Shark Week that adult bull sharks have been found as far as a couple hundred miles upriver. 

 

Scary thought isn't it. My mind wanders back to the days of my youth when we skied on the river a lot. Always thought our biggest concern was gators & water moccasins. But not sharks! ?

[Chance_Taker4]

I've heard of them occasionally in the Mississippi River and someone 2 weeks ago reported catching one in the Ohio River (Find that hard to believe). Jeremy Wade did a show on it to in the first season of River Monsters. As @wdp pointed out as well Wade catches a lot of Bull Sharks in the African river systems when filming most sometime it is edited out sometimes they show it. Bull Sharks are alos reported to be found in Lake Michigna, very rare that it happens last report was 2014, but it happens.

[wdp]

2 minutes ago, Chance_Taker4 said:

I've heard of them occasionally in the Mississippi River and someone 2 weeks ago reported catching one in the Ohio River (Find that hard to believe). Jeremy Wade did a show on it to in the first season of River Monsters. As @wdp pointed out as well Wade catches a lot of Bull Sharks in the African river systems when filming most sometime it is edited out sometimes they show it. Bull Sharks are alos reported to be found in Lake Michigna, very rare that it happens last report was 2014, but it happens.

Dang! Never heard that they've been found in Lake Michigan. 

 

It wouldn't be so bad if bull sharks weren't at the top of the list of attacks on people. I think the top 3 list of attacks on humans is bull, tiger and great white. 

[Chance_Taker4]

4 minutes ago, wdp said:

Dang! Never heard that they've been found in Lake Michigan. 

 

It wouldn't be so bad if bull sharks weren't at the top of the list of attacks on people. I think the top 3 list of attacks on humans is bull, tiger and great white. 

Looking at a map I don't know what river system they follow to make it that far. But again the big mystery here in Ohio this summer was a Walleye that was tagged and released in Lake Erie in 2011 was caught in Green Bay this spring and researchers are trying to figure that one out to.

[GeeseMelvin]

I know they get up into the Chesapeake bay and in some cases they work their way up into the Potomac river. There was also one scenario a handful of years ago where a Manatee worked its way all the way up the coast and into the Chesapeake bay. Hahaa super journey man. 

[scaleface]

A river rat good friend of mine showed me a jar of buffalo teeth that he picked up off of logs on the Mississippi river . He said muskrats bring them up thinking they are  muscles , then when they find out they are not , just leave them there . In that jar was a shark tooth .This is  up in Missouri .

[Logan S]

Every few years one of the commercial fisherman will catch one in the Potomac and other tidal rivers around here...I'm sure they are in there fairly regularly, we just don't see them.  We see saltwater species while bass fishing in the summertime every year, even more if its a year light on rain.

 

If there are no physical barriers on a warm-water river connected to the ocean it's a pretty good bet that Bull Sharks will visit from time to time.  I'm pretty skeptical of Bull Sharks in Lake Michigan though, the amount of physical barriers and the fact that for most of the year it's too cold for them makes it seem like more of an urban legend to me - But stranger things have happened I suppose.

[geo g]

I know they have been caught as far north as Illinois in the Mississippi river.  Amazing creatures that can change their whole body chemistry to handle freshwater.

[BrackishBassin]

7 hours ago, wdp said:

I think I've heard it stated on Shark Week that adult bull sharks have been found as far as a couple hundred miles upriver. 

 

Scary thought isn't it. My mind wanders back to the days of my youth when we skied on the river a lot. Always thought our biggest concern was gators & water moccasins. But not sharks! ?

 

Yep. I used to swim in the rivers here, but between the Vibrio outbreaks and the bull sharks, my swimming days are over. Is it unlikely that you're going to get bit? Definitely. But there's only one person that doesn't give a crap about the statistics, the person the shark decided to chomp on. 

[Looch]

I found a dead goat and more than a few dead deer in the Ohio River, doesnt mean they live in it. Someone brought that dead bull shark back from vacation and dropped it onto the boat ramp as a prank, same with the one found in the Tennessee . No access to the ocean = no sharks, sharks are bad dudes but they aren't jumping 60-75ft high locks and dams

 

that is if you mean this one:

http://www.fox19.com/story/12476977/shark-found-washed-up-on-ohio-river-boat-ramp 

 

if you mean the fake clickbait ones you see on Facebook, those are usually Australian bull shark miscaptioned(on purpose)

[Sam]

2 hours ago, Looch said:

I found a dead goat and more than a few dead deer in the Ohio River, doesnt mean they live in it. Someone brought that dead bull shark back from vacation and dropped it onto the boat ramp as a prank, same with the one found in the Tennessee . No access to the ocean = no sharks, sharks are bad dudes but they aren't jumping 60-75ft high locks and dams

 

that is if you mean this one:

http://www.fox19.com/story/12476977/shark-found-washed-up-on-ohio-river-boat-ramp 

 

if you mean the fake clickbait ones you see on Facebook, those are usually Australian bull shark miscaptioned(on purpose)

 

Looch, the bull shark in the story is in Louisiana, and the river is easy to access from the Gulf of Mexico.

 

No idea about the others but it is very interesting reading.

[Looch]

Im aware of that

[dirvin21]

Interesting comments. as known I'm from Australia and my local river is loaded with bull sharks mostly juveniles but a shark up to 8 feet is not an uncommon capture. From what I understand bull sharks give birth in freshwater-brackish water to reduce competition and predation of the young sharks. Most of the really large sharks are generally caught during the annual sea mullet run when mullet school up and slowly migrate from the upper river into the ocean during this time the bull shark population explodes in the river.

The area of the main bull shark population also happens to be the most popular area for waterskiing in 35 years I have never heard of n attack in the river in fact the sharks seem to only feed on mullet or eel when they are in the river.

Bull sharks get a bad reputation but when you consider how few attacks there are for how close they regularly come close to humans they are no more dangerous than any other of the whaler species.

[Doelman]

No one has ever caught a bull shark in Lake Michigan, that's just an old wives tale.  I use to see them all the time in brackish water, always a little unnerving watching a 6-8 footer swim past you in a kayak.  Being scared of sharks swimming in a freshwater river is a bit...absurd.  That's like being afraid to go outside because you might get struck by lightning on a blue bird day or get hit by a meteorite.  

 

There's apparently a bunch of bull sharks living in a lake on a golf course in Australia.

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/wildlife-on-golf-courses-animals-can-be-an-extra-hazard-for-players-20151015-gk9phi.html

I wonder why no one has ever introduced bull sharks to a private lake as an attraction, I bet people would pay money to go see that.

[Chance_Taker4]

On ‎8‎/‎2‎/‎2017 at 3:36 PM, Doelman said:

No one has ever caught a bull shark in Lake Michigan, that's just an old wives tale.  I use to see them all the time in brackish water, always a little unnerving watching a 6-8 footer swim past you in a kayak.  Being scared of sharks swimming in a freshwater river is a bit...absurd.  That's like being afraid to go outside because you might get struck by lightning on a blue bird day or get hit by a meteorite.  

 

There's apparently a bunch of bull sharks living in a lake on a golf course in Australia.

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/wildlife-on-golf-courses-animals-can-be-an-extra-hazard-for-players-20151015-gk9phi.html

I wonder why no one has ever introduced bull sharks to a private lake as an attraction, I bet people would pay money to go see that.

The Shadd Aquarium teaches customers that Bull Sharks have been in Lake Michigan but wouldn't survive more that 5 months in there. Also (not shark related) but in Ohio there was a law stating no one can fish for whales on Sunday to preserve the Lake Erie Whale population so that means at one point there were Whales in Lake Erie so I would say there were probably Sharks in Lake Michigan. 

[MassBass]

I think fall is the time around here when the sharks come around. I have angled a dead bait on the bottom of the river for juvenile shark, but you might as well take up unicorn hunting. 

[Doelman]

On 8/4/2017 at 11:18 AM, Chance_Taker4 said:

The Shadd Aquarium teaches customers that Bull Sharks have been in Lake Michigan but wouldn't survive more that 5 months in there. Also (not shark related) but in Ohio there was a law stating no one can fish for whales on Sunday to preserve the Lake Erie Whale population so that means at one point there were Whales in Lake Erie so I would say there were probably Sharks in Lake Michigan. 

there were never whales in Lake Erie.... there are some dolphins and a porpoise that can survive in freshwater, but no whales.  Also, how would they breathe in a cold winter when the lake is frozen completely over?  Also, the shedd aquarium actually says the opposite, that there is no evidence there is or ever has been sharks in any of the great lakes in any recent time frame.

[J Francho]

 

[jr231]

As someone who grew up literally right by the beach on lake Michigan. Spent 20+years of my life there.  That water stays cold. Unbearably cold fall through spring and still cold in the summer. Sure there are fundraisers like the " polar bear swim " and such but for bull sharks... Not happening. 

 

Doesn't mean some idiot couldn't put one in there..  someone tried with piranha. But they won't live long. 

[SuperCorona]

On 8/2/2017 at 3:36 PM, Doelman said:

No one has ever caught a bull shark in Lake Michigan, that's just an old wives tale.  I use to see them all the time in brackish water, always a little unnerving watching a 6-8 footer swim past you in a kayak.  Being scared of sharks swimming in a freshwater river is a bit...absurd.  That's like being afraid to go outside because you might get struck by lightning on a blue bird day or get hit by a meteorite.  

 

There's apparently a bunch of bull sharks living in a lake on a golf course in Australia.

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/wildlife-on-golf-courses-animals-can-be-an-extra-hazard-for-players-20151015-gk9phi.html

I wonder why no one has ever introduced bull sharks to a private lake as an attraction, I bet people would pay money to go see that.

 

Maybe some state employee will think that's a good way to get rid of grass carp.

[J Francho]

1 hour ago, SuperCorona said:

 

Maybe some state employee will think that's a good way to get rid of grass carp.

 

Sounds legit.

[Doelman]

8 hours ago, SuperCorona said:

 

Maybe some state employee will think that's a good way to get rid of grass carp.

As a state employee.... I can think of worse ways to get rid of grass carp