Bull Sharks Research Paper

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Bull Shark Bull Sharks are a notorious shark for being aggressive and unpredictable. Bull sharks tend to grow around 7ft to 11ft (2.1m – 3.4m). Bull Sharks are very widespread coastal and freshwater sharks inhabiting shallow waters in bays, estuaries, lakes and rivers. Bull sharks are very common sharks and are responsible for most attacks on humans due to their aggressive and violent behaviour but also their ability to be able to swim in fresh and sea waters. Bull Sharks are a very different distinct looking shark, they are very muscular small sharks with grey colour on the top of their body and fades into a white on the bottom of their body, they are broad and have been seen with dark tips on the end of their fins (especially in juveniles),…show more content…
These sharks are caught in fisheries across their range, but fisherman do not usually target them. Because bull sharks breed in estuaries and freshwater areas, they are more vulnerable to pollution and habitat modifications/changes than sharks that only live in the ocean. So far, there has not been any management or conservation programs or plans for bull sharks, as it is unknown whether their numbers are rising or declining. Food: Seeing that Bull Sharks are fresh and sea water dwellers, they have a very broad diet. Bull Sharks aren’t picky about what they eat, whatever they can get their teeth on they will eat, this would be fish, turtles, sting rays, mullocks, birds, dolphins, other sharks, echinoderms ad even terrestrial mammals including antelope, cattle, people, tree sloths, dogs and rats. They are defiantly a opportunistic species! Shape and…show more content…
These facts have resulted in the question of the evolutionary pattern or pathway taken which has resulted in the present day organism. From what we know about the Bull Shark and sharks (which is not a lot) we could tie the question down to “it has turned from a river shark to an ocean shark” hence why it can swim in fresh river waters and also ocean waters. This question has been raised purely on the fact that the bull shark has a lot in common with both river sharks and ocean sharks. Although there is a lot of questions unanswered, we still need the find the main ones “Where did the shark come from and when” and “why it is so different from other sharks”. Much more evolutionary information about the bull shark is needed to be able to put a conclusion of the bull sharks
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