[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…

[dgbrown]

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

[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?

[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.

[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

____________________________________

[Zuriel]

1,740 miles from STL to the gulf is about 550 too many. More like 1200. It’s about 700 miles to drive STL to NO. Those poor barges have a LOT of steering to do in the lower ol Muddy.

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

Back in the 1980s here was a shark caught in the Elephant butte dam in New Mexico. It had been placed there by someone on a trip from Mexico.

[Georgia Girl 2]

Bull sharks are routinely seen in freshwater rivers.

[Doctor Congo]

Crazy theory here:
Maybe the sharks get into the river by chance, and continue up the river because they need water current to flow thru their gills to get oxygen. Sharks need to be in constant motion to breathe, but they have been filmed sitting in one place where the current flows fast enough for them to breathe.

It’s easier on the shark to swim upstream than downstream because the current gives them more oxygen. Once they are ‘trapped’ in the river they naturally go upstream.

Does that make sense?

[VastRWCon]

I once caught a catfish while surf fishing off the beach.

[Sirius Lee]

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

Well it doesn't mean they like the pork steaks. Doesn't mean they don't like 'em either. We can't rule out that they don' t NOT like them in any event.

[heavy metal]

they’re quite enterprising too...

i’ve seen their vacuum cleaners in several stores...

[piasa]

Could be it is more common and they simply aren’t caught on the equipment most people use in the river because sharks can bite through anything but a heavy wire lead.

You used to be able to catch a mess of shrimp in the Mississippi near where the Ohio comes in, too. That used to be the north shore of the Gulf of Mexico a very, very long time ago.

As a side note, the Mississippian Indians who built the mound city of Cahokia across from St. Louis made edged weapons/ war clubs with shark’s teeth embedded in them. But they were not bull shark teeth, they were great white shark teeth which they had obtained in trade. They were highly prized but scarce so flintknappers learned to make imitation shark’s teeth out of Burlington Flint. Portions of these weapons were uncovered in a farmer’s field near the mound site.