Bull Shark

Habitat-

Bull Sharks are found in the east coast and the gulf of Mexico. They have also been seen in rivers as they are able to survive in freshwater and can swim up stream!

Rainfall: The gulf of Mexico gets an average of 39.4 inches of rain a year.

Plants: Bull sharks are predators that live in shallow waters. They can be found eating alge and other plants as well such as sea grass. 

Animals: Sand bar sharks, Tiger sharks, Salmon, Shrimp

Temperature: Bull sharks are normally found in shallow waters with a temp around 32 degrees celcius. 

Terrian: Bull sharks normally live in shallow and tropical shorelines. However, they can swim up rivers to blackend and hard waters.

Distribution-

The bull shark is found worldwide in shallow tropical shores. 

The Bull Shark is not an invasive species. 

Diet- 

The bull shark is not a picky eater. They mostly eat fish, but can also eat other shark species, marine mammels, birds, and turtles. They can also eat other bull sharks. 

Bull Sharks eat around three times a week, and can eat around three percent of their body weight per feeding. 

Bull Sharks are known to use the bump and bite technique to catch their prey. 

Bull Sharks are not picky eaters, therefore they do not have any special foods they consume. 

Social Structure-

Bull sharks generally travel alone and be very territoral. Bull sharks are solitary hunters most of the time, though they do sometimes team up with other bull sharks to make hunting easier. A group of sharks is usually called a school, but may also be called a shoal.

Bull sharks are the most dangerous sharks in the world, according to many experts. This is because they're an aggressive species of shark, and they tend to hunt in waters where people often swim: along tropical shorelines.

Bull sharks are individual therefore they are not neccessary led by a female or male. However, female bull sharks are bigger and heavier than male bull sharks. 

Bull sharks make friendships with other and once and awhile make a school. But normally bull sharks are individuals. 

Reproduction- 

Bull Sharks mate during late summer and early fall.

It is unsure how many mates that bull sharks tend to have. 

Bull Sharks mate when they come across a female during the time of early fall and summer.

During courtship the male shark bites at the female and will grasp one of the female's pectoral fins in his mouth. If a female allows a male to mate with her, the male will insert his claspers into the female, which are extensions of the pelvic fins used to transfer sperm into the female's cloacae.

After 12 months, Bull sharks can give birth up to 1-13 young. 

They mate via internal fertilization and give birth to well-developed, live young. Though they give live birth, bull sharks do not connect to their young through a placenta. Instead, during the gestation period, the embryos survive off of yolk sacs attached to each individual.

Development-

A shark's life cycle goes through four stages, beginning with fertilization before moving through incubation and gestation to the birthing process. Once born, sharks spend several years in the nursery before reaching sexual maturity and entering adulthood.

Bull Sharks reach sexual maturity at the ages of 8-10.

Bull sharks are usually solitary hunters, but sometimes they do hunt in pairs. They can cruise through shallow waters with quick acceleration and high aggression toward other animals and humans. They are known for its unpredictable, often agile and aggressive behavior.

 Male sharks have paired intromittent organs called claspers. Claspers are modifications of the pelvic fins and are located on the inner margin of the pelvic fins. Females do not have claspers.

Causes of death-

Predation: Bull sharks can be predators to young bull sharks, tiger sharks, sandbar sharks, there has also been times where alligators can comsume a bull shark. 

Sexual Competition: Bull sharks can compete with eachother some times, but often do not fight with eachother or other species for a mate. 

Disease: Sharks are known for their natural resistance to diseases and viruses despite their primitive immune systems. One article even reports that sharks are immune to all viruses! Doctor Zasloff realized that squalamine is an important contributing factor to sharks' effective immune systems. 

Other causes: Bull sharks mainly die from humans for their fins, liver oils, and skins.

Competition-

Inter-species: First, bulls are undoubtedly aggressive, and they have to be in order to survive. Bull sharks are cannibalistic, eating younger bull sharks as well as other shark species. Being aggressive helps them survive before they become fully grown.

Inter-species with other species: They hunt in murky waters where it is harder for the prey to see the shark coming. Bull sharks have been known to use the bump-and-bite technique to attack their prey. After the first initial contact, they continue to bite and tackle prey until the prey is unable to flee. This is competing becuase they sometimes have to compete for the same prey against each other. 

Bull sharks compete with eachother over food, prey and sometimes can lead to eating eachother. 

Invasive species: The bull shark is listed as a near threatened species and their biggest threats are habitat loss and being bycatch from fishing. Because bull sharks favor shallow coastal waters, they are among the most likely sharks to attack humans.

IUCN Rating-

Bull sharks are on the IUCN red list as VU (vulnerbale)

The population of the bull shark is around 100,000.

The first attack of a bull shark on human was recorded in 1916.

Efforts made: Beaches have been putting up signs warning that they have seen sharks near the shore in the past. They reccommend to stay alert and do not enter water if their are sharks present.