Description
· What they look like
The bull shark gets its name from its stocky body and bad boy reputation. Known by many different names throughout the world, including Zambezi shark, Van Rooyen's shark (Africa); Ganges shark (India); Nicaragua shark (Central America); freshwater whaler, estuary whaler, and Swan River whaler (Australia).
The first dorsal fin is large and broadly triangular with a pointed apex. The second dorsal fin is significantly smaller. The pectoral fins are also large and angular. Bull sharks have relatively small eyes, suggesting that vision may not be as important a hunting tool for this species, this would appear logical considering its murky habitat .
· Colour
Bull sharks are pale to dark gray above, fading to white on their underside. In younger individuals the fins have black tips which fade to a dusky color as they grow.
· Teeth
Upper jaw teeth of the bull shark are broad, triangular, and heavily serrated. Lower jaw teeth have a broad base, and are narrow and triangular with fine serrations. Although the teeth are smaller they are very similar to that of the great white, this similarity has put blame in the past on great whites for attacks most probably caused by bulls. See picture.
· Size
The maximum reported length of the bull shark is 11.5 feet (350 cm), weighing over 230 kg.
· Food
Bony fishes and small sharks make up the vast majority of the bull shark's diet. They also regularly consume stingrays and juvenile sharks including small individuals of their own species in their inshore nursery habitats. Other food items occasionally reported in bull sharks include sea turtles, dolphins, crabs, shrimp, sea birds, squid, and dogs.
Habitat
Bull sharks occur in tropical to subtropical coastal waters worldwide as well as in numerous river systems and some freshwater lakes. They have been reported 3700 km up the Amazon River, and over 3000 km up the Mississippi River.
Being the only shark species that readily occurs in freshwater it and can spend long periods of time in such places, juvenile bull sharks using these areas as nursery grounds.
Danger Factor
According to the International Shark Attack File bull sharks have been responsible for at least 70 unprovoked attacks on humans around the world, 17 of which resulted in fatality. Many experts consider this species to be the most dangerous shark in the world, its large size and its prefered habitat of murky coastal/estuarine areas causes the bull shark to come into contact with humans more than any other dangerous shark species in the world.
Bull teeth
Great White teeth