A bull shark has been caught in the Tombigbee River in Alabama.
John Wayne Adams was fishing near McIntosh, which is 45 miles north of Mobile, Alabama when he caught the juvenile bull shark.
The 51-year-old was setting a trot line in hopes of catching catfish.
Trot lines consistent of individual baited hooks attached to floating jugs or buoys, often connected together at spaced intervals by a rope or line that stretches across the water.
“I was baiting up my trot line when I felt something hit one of the hooks I had already baited. It felt pretty good. It turned my boat around. I decided to bait the rest of my hooks and go see what it was. I pulled it up, and this bull shark was smiling at me with all his teeth,” Mr. Adams told Alabama Outdoor News:
The new local celebrity said it is the first shark he has ever caught in the river.
While it may be the first shark Mr. Adams has caught, it’s not the first time a bull shark has been caught in a river.
Bull sharks can survive in both fresh and salt water and have been know to travel far inland.
Earlier this month we reported on a bull shark caught in an Australia river.
Some female bull sharks may actually give birth in fresh water with their offspring staying in the fresh water until they are able to handle the high salinity of the ocean.
This could explain why Mr. Adams caught such a young shark so far inland.
We asked Marine Biologist Jonathan Davis, who is working on tracking bull sharks in Texas, what he thought about bull shark birthing in rivers.
He said “The theory of bull sharks going upriver to pup is not confirmed. It is confirmed that large pregnant bull sharks go nearshore/inshore to pup where there is an estuary or a river that allows for protection and provides plenty of food. It is entirely possible that a pregnant female would go upriver to pup given their ability to tolerate these environments, but this behavior has not been witnessed that I’m aware of.”
Bullies live in all rivers and they have been all the way up north near Illinois. Jaws was partial based on the attacks from 1912.