- A Perth teenager was killed by a shark after jumping into a river to swim with dolphins, authorities said.
- Officials believe it is a bull shark known for its aggressiveness and ability to swim in freshwater.
- Bull sharks have been documented swimming up the Mississippi River to Illinois.
Shark attacks are rare, but most common in the ocean, off beaches in Florida and elsewhere. But she wasn’t swimming in the ocean when a 16-year-old girl died in a shark attack in Australia on Saturday.
Stella Berry said that when she was with friends riding jet skis on the Swan River in Perth City, Western Australia, her friends decided she would take a jet ski ride. Jump into the water and swim with dolphins what you see nearby. Her friend witnessed the attack, which Australian authorities called an “extremely traumatic” incident for all involved.
Australia’s fisheries minister, Don Punch, said Sunday it was too early to confirm the species of shark involved, but said it was believed to be a bull shark.
“It’s very likely, especially since bull sharks are known to invade estuaries and freshwater river systems,” Punch told the Australian outlet. ABC News.
Bull sharks are considered by many experts to be the world’s most dangerous sharkThey are found in waters around the world and prefer to hunt in shallow coastal areas where people tend to swim, day or night. Bull sharks can grow to be 7 to 11 feet or more in length and weigh 200 to 500 pounds. aggressive nature — which is also where they got their name from.
Unlike most species of sharks, bull sharks can also swim in fresh water for long periods of time and have been known to swim into estuaries.a study On separate trips in 1937 and 1995, published in 2021, they even spotted two great white sharks swimming up the Mississippi River as far north as Illinois.
Bull sharks are reported to be “rarely present” in rivers across five continents, according to the study. The authors said that, in addition to the fossil record, “physiological adaptations” that allow sharks to swim in freshwater indicate that bull sharks have long entered freshwater ecosystems.
Still, you’re more likely to encounter a white shark in rivers than other species, but attacks are rare.
Punch told ABC that the last deadly bull shark attack on Perth’s Swan River was 1923, 100 years ago.
“There have only been six historic attacks recorded on the river, making it seven,” he added.
The recent deadly attack has sparked calls for additional research on river white sharks, as Johan Gustafsson, a marine ecologist at Griffith University, told a Perth radio station. 6PR Tagging fish would help researchers understand them better.
“Believe it or not, we still don’t know a lot about them. We know the wide range of movement and massive behavior of bull sharks, but we don’t know the details. I think it’s a great idea,” Gustafsson told the station.
According to the Florida Museum of Natural History, in 2022 there were 57 unprovoked shark attacks on humans worldwide. International Shark Attack FileThe United States leads the world in shark attacks, with 41 recorded last year, followed by Australia with nine.
Bull sharks, great white sharks and tiger sharks are the most common species involved in attacks.
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