Sharks in fresh water

[jaycanwk]

This documentary is interesting and a bit scary.

Shark Attack ; Invasion USA (Documentary) - YouTube

I'ts been known for a while that Bull sharks will swim pretty far up fresh water rivers, but what makes me a little more nervous, is that they have found large Greenland sharks far up the St. Lawrence!! The crew toward the end of the film actually got a Greenland shark in 20ft near Baie Comeau Qubec on video!! :shocked2:

 

[Ayisha]

Yay! Wish they would come further up the St. Lawrence, like in Brockville.

 

[Crass3000]

I've heard Bull Sharks have been found as far north as St. Louis in the Mississippi River.

 

[TMHeimer]

This documentary is interesting and a bit scary.

Shark Attack ; Invasion USA (Documentary) - YouTube

I'ts been known for a while that Bull sharks will swim pretty far up fresh water rivers, but what makes me a little more nervous, is that they have found large Greenland sharks far up the St. Lawrence!! The crew toward the end of the film actually got a Greenland shark in 20ft near Baie Comeau Qubec on video!! :shocked2:

Baie Comeau is pretty much still Gulf of St.Lawrence. I recally swimming there and think the salinity was pretty high.

 

[Skittl1321]

Are sharks in freshwater known to be more aggressive?

 

[ajduplessis]

Are sharks in freshwater known to be more aggressive?

Only after a couple of drinks :GRIN:
Jokes aside.......

Shark enter fresh water in search of food as their current foodstock is under pressure from over fishing. Any hungry animal will become more opportunistic (read aggressive) IMO

 

[Steve_C]

Are sharks in freshwater known to be more aggressive?

A mistaken shark attack is more likely to occur in low viz water. Freshwater or water along the beach tends to be low viz.

Note I am talking about the it is moving must be a fish, bite, oops it is not a fish, let go sort of shark attack which we have sometimes along our coast.

 

[ScubaSteve]

I've heard Bull Sharks have been found as far north as St. Louis in the Mississippi River.

I would ask if your leg hurts because it sounds like somebody has been pulling it. That is bordering on 1000 miles (with all the twists and turns the river takes) upriver.

 

[jaycanwk]

Well I'm not sure how far the Greenland shark is willing to travel into fresher water, but they did mention in the video that it was unusual to see them in that area since they are usually found in deeper colder water much further north and they suggested perhaps changing ocean temps. due to climate change may be bringing them in.

 

[CT-Rich]

The deadliest string of shark attacks in US history occurred partly in freshwater. In 1916 five people were attacked, 4 of them died, in and around New Jersey. Two of the deaths and the only survivor occurred in Matawan Creek in New Jersey. I will leave it to others to go into the endless death spiral of argueing the details of the attacks. Here is a Wiki article that you can peruse at your leisure.
Jersey Shore shark attacks of 1916 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

might have been multiple sharks, might have been an animal got a taste for human flesh after eating a few sailors that were victims of a U-boat attack.

Most shark attacks occur in shallow water and are not fatal. Any animal that feels threatened or cornered would will strike out at a the threat. That would give a rational explanation why a shark in fresh water might be more dangerous than they would otherwise be in open ocean. a shallow river or creek would provide a pretty good set up for a wandering shark.


Do they travel hundreds of miles up freshwater rivers? there are plenty of freshwater skates in the SE Asia and the Amazon. Bull sharks, which have a reputation for being pretty aggressive have been well documented in the Amazon and have turned up (or have been alleged to) as far up as Illinois. Is it true? I doubt a couple of rubes could randomly get hold of a shark that they knew virtually nothing about (that would later turn out to be capable of swimming in freshwater) and drag it across pre-interstate America in the heat of summer and claim they caught it in the Mississippi. Of course it may have been one of the earliest Sharknados to ever be documented....

Sharks In Illinois - In-Fisherman

Of coarse, you should really be looking at the risk of shark attack as a relative risk. If you are concerned about Freshwater shark attacks, you might want to stay as far away from soda machines as possible....

Freakonomics » How Are Sharks Less Dangerous than Vending Machines? An Exercise in Conditional Risk


Bull sharks