Fun Facts

Here are some fun/interesting facts about bull sharks!

Bull sharks have the smallest eyes out of any shark, this is why they tend to be very aggressive. Instead they rely on something called electroreception, which is where they sense electrostatic fields coming off of other animals, when the electrostatic field is weaker, they will identify the animal as prey and attack. They also rely on sense of smell to find prey or see. Biologists say this likely happened because of the bottle neck Bull Sharks experienced, since some moved to freshwater murky environments, they evolved to not rely on eyesight so much. 

Many people my assume the classic great white would be the most dangerous shark to humans, but its actually the bull shark. Their natural habitats are where we like to swim, warm shallow beaches. They are especially more territorial during mating season, which is when we tend to go on vacation to these areas. Plus their reliance on electroreception and smell often has them mistaking humans for food. They have about 120 attacks on record, nearly all unprovoked. Also, due to their aggression they are rarely put into aquariums.

At a whopping 6000 newton bite, Bull Sharks take the win for the strongest shark bite for todays existing sharks. Stronger than the great white and the hammer head. This likely happened because, once again, they used to live in very murky water, so having a strong bite helped secure prey better.

The 1974 novel Jaws by Peter Benchley, was likely never about a great white, instead a bull shark. Benchley said the book was inspired by a shark attack on the New Jersey coast in July 1916, however experts say the shark attack wasn't actually a great white since they rarely travel in that area and Bull Sharks are way more common. Despite this the movie also portrayed a great white. 

Since Bull Sharks can survive in both fresh and salt water, they choose which one to be in based on their age. New borns and slightly older tend to stay in freshwater since they are young and have more than enough energy to effortlessly stay in a low salinity enviornment. As they get older they start switching between the habitats. Really old Bull Sharks will strictly stay in salt water because their bodies are more worn out and takes a lot more effort for them to survive in low salinity enviornments.