Bull Sharks In The Intracoastal Waterway

[ricki]

Other than the odd published attack, I wasn't aware of bull sharks being in the Intracoastal and connected water bodies with much frequency. I thought perhaps around inlets at tide changes. It looks like I was wrong. I was speaking to a local fishing charter boat Captain who told me that catches of bull sharks close to shore and inlets go up in June and July. He also indicated he was aware of breeding activity in the Intracoastal by Deerfield Island Park ("Capone's Island"). Reading through the literature, it looks like Intracoastal breeding and occurrence of young bull sharks may be fairly common.

From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bull_shark

"Bull sharks mate during late summer and early autumn,[8] often in the brackish water of river mouths. After gestating for 12 months, a bull shark may give birth to four to ten live young.[8] They are viviparous; they are born live and free-swimming. The young are about 70 cm (27.6 in) at birth and take 10 years to reach maturity. Coastal lagoons, river mouths, and other low-salinity estuaries are common nursery habitats.[3]"


A baby bull near the Blue Heron bridge, from the missing tail section it looks like it has already been attacked by other sharks. http://www.palmbeachillustrated.com/PalmBeachDiveSpots

"Bull sharks have an unusual migratory pattern in comparison to other sharks. They are found in rivers all over the world. They have the ability to go from seawater and freshwater. They give birth in the freshwater of rivers. The young bull sharks are free from predators while they grow up in the river before they go out to the sea in order to find mates.[43]" (Continued at the Wikipedia account.)

We were recently talking about bull sharks in Lake Nicaragua. Apparently, they were caught way up in the Mississippi River in Illinois in the 1930's. This was 1750 miles up the river from the Gulf of Mexico. Today there are dams blocking access, unless they can jump them like the rapids on the way to Lake Nicaragua. Now that would be a sight.


These guys caught a five foot bull the next day also in Illinois.
http://www.in-fisherman.com/news/sharks-in-illinois/


A paper on a 30 year study of bull shark occurrence in the Indian River Lagoon.
http://bit.ly/1f5tdF9

National Geographic has an article about the occurrence of bull sharks in fresh water:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/n...lsharks_2.html



Apparently there are a half dozen bulls adding "teeth" to the water hazard at a Brisbane, Australia golf course pond.
http://www.foxnews.com/sports/2011/1...-worlds-first/


So what? Going through old news accounts there are cases of the odd attack in the Intracoastal Waterway.

Most will recall the attack on the 22 year old woman in the ICW of Ft. Laudedale last year.
http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/201...astal-waterway

http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=95960
http://www.sptimes.com/News/083100/T...hought_t.shtml
http://bit.ly/1hvHlcD
http://www.firstcoastnews.com/story/...hark/11028449/

Attacks in the ICW are rare as they are in the ocean. Still, it is good to be aware of the possibility as previously I didn't even realize bulls were in the Intracoastal and connected brackish water bodies with much frequency.

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