Description: The Bull Shark is mostly gray above and white below. Males can reach a length of seven feet and weigh up to 200 pounds. Females can be eleven feet long and weigh over 700 pounds. Unlike most sharks, Bull Shark can easily tolerate fresh water and frequently swim up rivers. Bull Sharks can be dangerous to humans and are probably responsible for a significant portion of all shark attacks. Bull sharks are highly territorial and will attack anything that enters their territory.

Diet: Bull Sharks are solitary, aggressive hunters that eat fish, other sharks, rays, dolphins, turtles, birds, mollusks, crustaceans, and even terrestrial mammals (including the occasional human). They usually hunt in shallow water.

Range/Habitat: The Bull Shark is found throughout the world’s tropical and temperate waters. It is found in both salt water and freshwater, in oceans bays, rivers, and even lakes. It has even been recorded in the Mississippi River, as far north as Illinois! Another Bull Shark was found in Lake Michigan in 1955. Bull Sharks are almost always found in water less than 100 feet deep.

Reproduction: The viviparous (the embryos form within the body of the mother) Bull Shark breeds in the summer in slow-moving water. The mother gives birth to about a dozen pups after a gestation period (the amount of time the young are inside the mother) of about a year. Bull Sharks take about ten years to reach reproductive maturity.