Has there ever been a shark in the Mississippi River?

Fossil records reveal bull sharks’ past presence in the Mississippi River but not in its upper basin, meaning the behavior studied in 1937 and 1995 is relatively new for the species. First, that far upstream travel became a new behavior for the species around 1 million years ago.

What shark was found in the Mississippi River?

bull sharks
The two reviewed hundreds of reports of bull shark sightings on the Mississippi River and compared them to archaeological and paleontological evidence of bull sharks moving through the river in the distant past.

How far north in the Mississippi River has a bull shark been found?

The furthest inland a bull shark has ever been seen in North America is Alton, Ill. Alton sits along the Mississippi River about 15 miles north of St. Louis, and 1750 miles from the Gulf of Mexico.

What species of shark lives in the Mississippi River?

There is one species of shark that lives in the Mississippi River and it is the Bull Shark. They are a shark species that lives both in fresh water and salt water. The Bull Shark is also one of the dangerous shark species. The shark that inspired the Jaws movie was mostly likely a Bull Shark not a Great White!!

Where are bull sharks found in the Mississippi River?

After Hurricane Katrina, many bull sharks were sighted in Lake Pontchartrain . Bull sharks have occasionally gone as far upstream in the Mississippi River as Alton, Illinois, and up the Ohio River as far as Manchester, Ohio. Bull sharks have also been found in the Potomac River in Maryland.

How far up the Mississippi River have bull sharks been found?

Bull sharks have been reported as far inland as 2220 miles (3700 km) up the Amazon River in Peru and more than 1800 miles (3000km) up the Mississippi River in Illinois. In Africa they are also known as the Zambezi shark as they frequent this river, whereas in India they are sometimes called Ganges sharks.

Do sharks live in the river?

Freshwater sharks are sharks able to live in freshwater lakes and rivers, including: the bull shark, Carcharhinus leucas, which can swim between salt and fresh water, and are found in tropical rivers around the world.