Yes, Sharks Have Been Spotted in the Mississippi River Near St. Louis

Fox2now ^ | Jul 13, 2021 | Joe Millitzer

[nickcarraway]

This is “Shark Week” and fascinating new research reveals something rare, scary, and exciting does happen in Midwestern waters. A study in the Journal of the Marine and Fishery Sciences says that sharks have been spotted twice in the Mississippi River near St. Louis over the past 84-years.

One of the sharks was caught near Alton, Illinois on September 6, 1937. The city is located around 1,740 miles from the Gulf of Mexico. It weighed 84 lbs and was about five feet long. At the time, the Lock and Dam at Alton was the first major obstruction going north on the Mississippi River.

The other shark was caught in 1995 at the Rush Island Power Station near St. Louis.

Most bull sharks in freshwater have been spotted in Florida and Louisiana. But, it is extremely rare for them to travel over a thousand miles upriver.

Researchers Dr. Ryan Shell and Nicholas Gardner have some theories about why the sharks would travel so far north. One hypothesis is that this may be new behavior.

The other idea is that sharks have a wide global range and it may be deeply rooted in the evolutionary history of the species.

But, other than the two examples over 84 years, there appear to be no other records of bull sharks in the Midwest. This includes examples from indigenous people and the recent fossil record.

There is one more idea the researchers have as to why sharks would be spotted near St. Louis:

“The third possible hypothesis is simply that the tendency of the bull shark to move into the upper Mississippi River is rare and anomalous to the point of being unprecedented in North America.”

They believe that the subject of sharks in the upper Mississippi River needs more research to find the answers.

[EvilCapitalist]

Why are there lawyers near St. Louis?

[BipolarBob]

The fourth hypothesis is that the bull shark just got too big for the backyard swimming pool and had to be released into the wild.

[CatOwner]

Next up: Mississippi River sharks test positive for the Delta variant of COVID-19.

[arthurus]

Sharks have been seen a couple of thousand miles up the Amazon. Some sharks have a gland that secretes a substance that coats their bodies and allows them to spend time in fresh water. But when you go to take a swim in the back yard you have to be careful about the pool sharks.

[gov_bean_ counter]

She came down from Cincinnati. They hey just followed her…

[Pollard]

nice

[dgbrown]

Give me a year and some research money and I will get to the bottom of it. It’s climate change, of course.

[golux]

This free PBS movie is one of the best on the subject:

https://www.pbs.org/video/great-white-shark-new-perspectives-of-an-ancient-predator-zidgxv/

[E. Pluribus Unum]

https://www.rainforestcruises.com/jungle-blog/sharks-in-the-amazon-river

[OKSooner]

Did it have a laser beam and a chainsaw?

[ConservativeMind]

Maybe it likes carp?

[Hootowl]

I know bull sharks have been seen as far north as Rock Island.

[blueunicorn6]

There is just so much we can learn from sharks.

They have a real interest in the St Louis Arch.

[Viking2002]

One was spotted in the mouth of the Potomac near DC several years back. Yes, they can survive in fresh/brackish water for quite a while. Problem is, bull sharks are one of the more aggressive species of sharks. Too bad they can’t traverse land on their pectoral fins like snakeheads. I’d like to drop one or two off on Capitol Hill and tell them the buffet opens at noon.

[Dusty Road]

We’ve caught several fishing in the river around Empire La. Usually you get spooled since we’re fishing for redfish. I’ve never got one in.

[ETL]

“The bull shark (Carcharhinus leucas), also known as the “Zambezi shark” (informally “zambi”) in Africa, and “Lake Nicaragua shark” in Nicaragua, is a requiem shark commonly found worldwide in warm, shallow waters along coasts and in rivers.

It is known for its aggressive nature, and presence in warm, shallow brackish and freshwater systems including estuaries and rivers.

Bull sharks can thrive in both salt and fresh water and can travel far up rivers. They have been known to travel up the Mississippi River as far as Alton, Illinois,[3] about 700 miles from the ocean. However, few freshwater human-shark interactions have been recorded.

Larger-sized bull sharks are probably responsible for the majority of near-shore shark attacks, including many bites attributed to other species.[4]

Unlike the river sharks of the genus Glyphis, bull sharks are not true freshwater sharks, despite their ability to survive in freshwater habitats.”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bull_shark

____________________________________

[Salamander]

When my dad used to have a boat in Coles Point VA, where the Potomac meets the bay, some guy had a big dead Bull Shark hanging on the campground pier, one day.

This is why I do not swim *anywhere*.

:D

[Salamander]

Infamously, in Jersey

https://yesterdaysamerica.com/matawan-shark-attack-a-deadly-day-in-1916/

[ETL]

Thanks, I was actually trying to remember that one. I knew there was a story about a shark attacking people somewhere in my part of the country (northeast) but couldn’t recall much else. I’m in New York City.