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Shark Month Profile: The Bull Shark

By  //  June 3, 2014

ABOVE VIDEO: The bull shark is widely considered one of the most aggressive sharks. Bull sharks are known to swim upstream and have been found hundreds of miles away from the ocean in rivers, including rivers in South America’s Amazon River. Bull sharks have also been found in the Mississippi River, as far north as Illinois. In 2020, Bull sharks were reported in New Jersey’s Navesink River

bull-shark-180Thanks to Peter Benchley’s novel, “Jaws” (Along with Steven Spielberg’s movie adaptation of the novel),  the great white shark earned the reputation as the world’s most aggressive shark, but the shark which inspired Peter Benchley’s may have been the bull shark.

During the first 12 days of July in 1916, five shark attacks were reported along a  inside seone coastal town of New Jersey were initially reported as great white shark attacks. Decades later, many marine scientists believe bull sharks were the likely perpetrator, due to the fact that several of the attacks occurred up stream.

Newspaper headlines from the shark attacks that inspired Peter Benchley to write "Jaws." Marine scientists now believe bull sharks, not great whites, may be the shark to blame for the attacks.
Newspaper headlines from the shark attacks that inspired Peter Benchley to write “Jaws.” During the past century, further research has led some shark researchers to theorize that bull sharks may be the species to blame for the infamous New Jersey Maneater attacks.

BULL SHARK FACTS

SEE VIDEOS OF BULL SHARKS IN FLORIDA CANALS [CLICK HERE]

BELOW VIDEO: BBC’s profile of the bull shark.

BELOW VIDEO: National Geographic’s profile of the bull shark.