Page 104 - (DK) Super Shark Encyclopedia: And Other Creatures of the Deep

UPSTREAM BEACH CRUISER
There is plenty of prey close to
shorelines, and even more in
MARAUDER estuaries and rivers. Bull sharks
catch fish wherever they go,
but big ones may even attack
land animals that venture into
the water.
BULL SHARK

Almost all sharks need salty ocean water to survive,
but the bull shark is just as happy in fresh water. Bull
sharks regularly swim up rivers, sometimes for thousands
of miles. In some parts of the world they even cross rocky
rapids in their river journeys. Coming so far inland can
bring them close to popular bathing spots, where they
have been known to attack humans.

AT A GLANCE

• SIZE 7½–11½ ft (2.3–3.5 m) long • LOCATION Near coastlines in
• HABITAT Warm and tropical tropical regions
coastal ocean waters, and • DIET Fish, including other sharks,
large river systems turtles, birds, dolphins, and some
land-living mammals

Short, blunt
snout

STATS AND FACTS

SALINITY TOLERANCE 35 parts per 1,000
(salinity of normal
seawater) Many sharks enter river
estuaries, but only bull
sharks routinely go
20 40 60 inland. Farther upstream,
0 parts per 1,000 53 parts per 1,000 the salinity, or saltiness,
(lowest tolerance) (max. tolerance)
of the ocean drops as
FARTHEST DISTANCE TRAVELED salty water is replaced by
fresh water. Most sharks
miles 1,000 2,000 die without salt in the
water, but the bull shark
km 2,000 4,000 does just as well in rivers
2,300 miles/3,700 km as in the ocean.
(up Amazon River)
SWIMMING DEPTH

ft 300 600 900
m 100 200 300
0–98 ft/0–30 m 490 ft/150 m
(usual) (max.)

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