OT: news story - interesting..

[byrself]

some bull sharks have been spotted in a freshwater/brackish lake near the new orleans area. i didn't know sharks could live in fresh water for extended periods also according to the article. click here to read.. <a href="http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/wdsu/20020703/lo/1245201_1.html" target="_blank">SHARKS!!!</a>

[steamboat1569]

Tiger sharks have been found as far as near the mouth of the Missisipi River.

[Kris Walker]

The mouth of the Mississippi is saltwater isn't it--where the freshwater meets the Gulf?

As for bull sharks, they are they only sharks that I know of that can tolerate pure fresh water, and they are big menaces in Brazil up the Amazon river where kids like to bathe. They are very dangerous, probably as bad as tiger sharks in my opinion.

kris

[steamboat1569]

I meant the other end of the Mississippi. Here is an excerpt from an article stumbled across.

Bad customers: The most dangerous shark is arguably the great white, a large, aggressive predator. The second-most dangerous in U.S. waters is likely the bull shark, a large (up to 12 feet), aggressive animal that is only one of two shark species to regularly enter fresh water, traveling up the Mississippi River as far as the Ohio River. A third dangerous species is the tiger shark, which can grow to 20 feet. Tiger sharks sometimes eat people, whereas other species seem to attack humans primarily when mistaking them for typical prey, such as sea lions. This species of shark has been found as far as Iowa and Minnesota, in the Mississippi River, as well as the Ohio River.

[Kris Walker]

WOW! I never knew tiger sharks could go that far up! Thanks for the info, ya learn something at work every day, even if it's not work-related!! LOL.

kris

[beattyr]

[quote]Originally posted by steamboat1569:
<strong>I meant the other end of the Mississippi. Here is an excerpt from an article stumbled across.

Bad customers: The most dangerous shark is arguably the great white, a large, aggressive predator. The second-most dangerous in U.S. waters is likely the bull shark, a large (up to 12 feet), aggressive animal that is only one of two shark species to regularly enter fresh water, traveling up the Mississippi River as far as the Ohio River. A third dangerous species is the tiger shark, which can grow to 20 feet. Tiger sharks sometimes eat people, whereas other species seem to attack humans primarily when mistaking them for typical prey, such as sea lions. This species of shark has been found as far as Iowa and Minnesota, in the Mississippi River, as well as the Ohio River.</strong><hr></blockquote>

Great! <img src="graemlins//eek.gif" border="0" alt="[eek]" /> Now I'll be doing all my swimming in a POOL! :D That is, until I get my scuba certificate and I can carry a knife to scare away those big mean ole sharks :)

Rob

[Kris Walker]

Get a big knife. :D

kris

Bull sharks can acclimate to both fresh and salt water, and are commonly found as far as 3000 miles down the Amazon River. Although they are not generally considered man eaters, they are the source of most documented shark attacks (the shark that bit the boy's arm off last year in Fl. was a bull shark).

I, however, do not believe the article about the tiger shark in Minnesota. The Bull shark, Carcharhinus leucas, I can believe, but not the tiger. First, the tiger (Galeocerdo cuvier is too large and they are notorious as human attackers at sea. Things such as liscence plates, tires, and valve fittings have been found in thier stomachs. If they were to travel up the Mississippi, you would have heard of it. Bull sharks are not as likely to attack a person because thier main source of food is smaller fish. Also, bull sharks are more timid toward humans. However, they do attack, and the number of documented attacks is larger than that of any other shark because they are found world wide in warm and cold water. Another reason for their greater documentation of attacks is that they frequent the rivers and ferry runs that are very crowded in the far east (India, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand...). These countries have very large populations and frequent ferry wrecks which leave many thrashing bodies in the water, which tends to attract these sharks.

I have found no documentation to say that Tigers have ever been found inland (fresh water), but there is plenty of documentation on the bull shark.

The following quote is a very good description of the Bull Shark, it's habits and habitats:
[quote]BULL SHARKS / ZAMBEZI ........ Carcharhinus Leucas

This is a shark that is very, very dangerous. Some experts consider this shark to be the most dangerous in the world, even surpassing the Great White Shark. Surprisingly few people have even heard of it. It has a number of different names both in Australia and around the world and people think they are a different species of shark. In Australia this species is also known as Freshwater Whalers, Swan River Whaler and River Whaler. In Africa it is called the Zambezi Shark. In Central America it often goes by the name of Lake Nicaragua Shark. It has also been known as River Shark, Cub Shark, Van Rooyen's Shark, Slipway Grey Shark, Square Nose Shark and more..... This shark is often mistaken for a Bronze Whaler in Australia.

It is a heavy bodied shark with a short nose and a medium sized second dorsal fin. It has broad, serrated triangular upper teeth. It has very powerful jaws. Grows to about 350cm. Studies of this shark believe it lives for about 14 years and prefers to breed in the mouth of rivers. It has a broad diet and will eat almost anything. It has been noted by researchers that it does seem to have a preference for eating baby Sandbar Sharks.

This shark has been found 4000 km from the sea in the Amazon River. It has penetrated right down the Mississippi River in the USA. It can live in almost any water including water with a high salt content as in St. Lucia Lake in South Africa. It seems to prefer rivers and inlets with shallow water and is not often reported far out at sea. However I have heard of a few sitings of these sharks out in the deep ocean in the same areas as Tiger Sharks.

It is also quite happy being in murky or muddy water. In Australia it is often confused with other species especially the Bronze Whaler. It has been found in most of our water systems including Brisbane River, Herbert River, Swan River, Clarence River, Daly River, and even Lake Macquarie.

In Australia, it is responsible for a large number of attacks and deaths. Many of the experts think this shark is to blame for most of the deaths around the Sydney Harbour inlets in the past. Most of these attacks were previously thought to be Great Whites. The poor Grey Nurse was also blamed in the sixties and seventies. The Bronze Whaler has also been mistakenly identified when it was really a Bull Shark.

Until very recently, researchers thought the sharks in Lake Nicaragua. were a separate species because there was no way for the sharks to move in or out. It was discovered that they were jumping along the rapids just like Salmon. Sharks tagged inside the lake were later caught in the open ocean.

In India the Bull Shark cruises up the Ganges River where it has killed and attacked a large number of people. It also eats the corpses that the Indians float on the river. Many of these attacks have been wrongly blamed on the Ganges Shark, (Glyphis Gangeticus) a fairly rare species that is probably the only other shark that can live comfortably in saltwater or freshwater. Due to the large number of attacks that have occurred along the Ganges River, the Ganges Shark has a dreaded reputation in India.

In 1975 a ferry sunk in the Ganges-Brahmaputa delta and 190 crew and passengers were tipped into the water. Up to 50 of these were killed by sharks.

In Africa where it is often called the Zambesi shark it is known to have caused a lot of deaths among swimmers in shallow water. In a six month period during 1961 it is thought to be responible for 3 attacks in the mouth of the Limpopo River. In 1970, a fisherman was working in about 5 foot of water on his prawn net up a river, about 12 miles from the sea in Mozambique when he was attacked by a Bull shark. His arm was taken and later as he floundered under the water the shark returned and and took off his head.

Amanzimtoti, a popular swimming beach in Africa has been given the nickname of 'the worst shark attack beach on earth'. This beach has more than 12 shark attacks. All have occured in murky water.

The Bull Shark can be very aggressive towards divers but I have not yet been able to find any attacks on a diver. text edited out here. From reports I've heard from other divers the behaviour always seems to be the same. The shark starts to circle wide and soon circles again much closer and then finally makes a rush at the diver only turning away at the last moment. I've heard of divers being on safety stops with Bull Sharks swimming around aggressively but no one has been attacked. I've heard a story about one arriving at a controlled shark feed way out in the Coral Sea off Queensland. Once again no one was attacked. There is an interesting account of a Bull Shark in Steve Hogans reviews (text edited out) where he encountered a 3 metre Bull sharke at the'Eel Gardens' in the Coral Sea when he was on Spoilsport . This shark came very close to him but did not attack. I also received an email from South Africa from a diver who has had up to 100 dives with them and never been attacked.
<hr></blockquote>.

If you are interested in more information on a variety of non-aquaria sharks, check out this web site:

<a href="http://members.ozemail.com.au/~bilsons/Sharks2.htm" target="_blank">Sharks Web Site</a>

[steamboat1569]

The above article was just something I stumbled across while visiting a freind in St. Paul, Minnesota. It was in an article I happened to stumble upon while reading a local newspaper. I thought it very interesting, and kept it in a box with other strange things I have read. These may be isolated incidents, or a hoax. I just thought I would dig it out when I seen the post.
I think I will add a disclaimer for everything I write. I was just passing along some info, not trying to fool anyone. I do not seem to find anything on the net about it, just a newspaper from a few yrs. back.

[Kris Walker]

Naw, you don't need a disclaimer. We all know newspapers often screw up facts and stories (as does the press in general), they still often contain valid info that if often a great converstation starter on message boards like this. And who knows, it may have been a tiger shark or a bull shark.

cheers,
kris

I did not mean to imply that you were trying to fool anyone. I just wanted to clarify and to provide accurate information on both the bull shark and on the tiger shark. I think that the article that you have was just written badly, and confused the tiger shark with the bull shark.

[tru conch]

bull sharks are known to inhabit lake nicuragua, a freshwater lake. bulls do have a nasty dispostion, due to the highest amount of testosterone in any animal. the hormones make them very aggressive, along with their "bull" body compostion. i have not heard of the stories about bulls up the mississippi river though. very intersting info.