Male bull sharks generally grow to about 7 feet in length, and females grow to 11 feet or more. Adults usually weigh between 200 and 500 pounds.
Sharks must retain salt inside their bodies otherwise their cells will rupture and they will die.
However, bull sharks can survive in fresh water because their kidneys recycle the salt within their bodies, and they have special glands which aid in salt retention.
As a result, bull sharks are capable of swimming in brackish/freshwater rivers and lakes.
Back in 2014 a seven year old was bitten by a bull shark while swimming in Lake Pontchartrain in Louisiana.
A bull shark in Lake Pontchartrain is not too surprising because it connects to the Gulf of Mexico via the Rigolets strait (approx. 8 miles long) and Lake Borgne (a brackish lagoon).
However, back in 1937 a bull shark was caught in the Mississippi River as far north as Alton, Illinois (1,750 miles from New Orleans). Today there are dams which would prevent a shark from swimming that far north.
if2105_IllinoisShark1.jpg
In 2015 a small bull shark was caught in the Tombigbee River in Alabama (45 miles north of Mobile).
ResizedImage951372952428837_zps38506c2c.jpg
Also in 2015, a bull shark was found in a yard in Mobile, Alabama when flood waters receded. It is believed the shark was originally from Mobile Bay.
shark2-797x1024.jpg
Maybe the movie “Sharknado 2” is not so far-fetched after all.
Sharknado-2-The-Live-Blog-Subway-Fight_article_story_large.jpg
Sharks must retain salt inside their bodies otherwise their cells will rupture and they will die.
However, bull sharks can survive in fresh water because their kidneys recycle the salt within their bodies, and they have special glands which aid in salt retention.
As a result, bull sharks are capable of swimming in brackish/freshwater rivers and lakes.
Back in 2014 a seven year old was bitten by a bull shark while swimming in Lake Pontchartrain in Louisiana.
A bull shark in Lake Pontchartrain is not too surprising because it connects to the Gulf of Mexico via the Rigolets strait (approx. 8 miles long) and Lake Borgne (a brackish lagoon).
However, back in 1937 a bull shark was caught in the Mississippi River as far north as Alton, Illinois (1,750 miles from New Orleans). Today there are dams which would prevent a shark from swimming that far north.
if2105_IllinoisShark1.jpg
In 2015 a small bull shark was caught in the Tombigbee River in Alabama (45 miles north of Mobile).
ResizedImage951372952428837_zps38506c2c.jpg
Also in 2015, a bull shark was found in a yard in Mobile, Alabama when flood waters receded. It is believed the shark was originally from Mobile Bay.
shark2-797x1024.jpg
Maybe the movie “Sharknado 2” is not so far-fetched after all.
Sharknado-2-The-Live-Blog-Subway-Fight_article_story_large.jpg
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