Deep Dark Water - Shark Attack StoriesIts Not Safe.               Shark Attack Chronicles.

Aggressive by nature, bull sharks are considered by many to be the most dangerous shark in the oceans.

They also have one very interesting feature which distinguishes them from their famous cousins ( the great white and tiger sharks ). Bull sharks can swim in fresh water.

Yep, that’s right. It might be the last place you expect to be harassed, but bull sharks have been known to swim upstream into rivers and lakes! They’ve been spotted thousands of miles up the Amazon River, and in South America they’ve even been seen leaping up river rapids ( like salmons ) to reach Lake Nicaragua. Its even been seen as far up the Mississippi River as Illinois.

Named for their unpredictable disposition, their short, blunt snout, and the fact that they often “head- butt” their prey before attacking, the bull shark are fast and agile and will eat just about anything that comes their way.

Wrong cage, wrong time. This wasn’t an actual shark attack as the shark just got stuck investigating the cage, but I may have died right then and there from a heart attack! You can see the divers freaking out and trying to get away from the jaws. They actually have to maneuver past the freaked-out shark’s jaws and out the opening at the top of the cage!

Just looking at a picture of a great white shark can simultaneously evoke feelings of awe for its strange beauty and of dread for its killing prowess. Imagine how your body would react if you were to suddenly meet one in the open waters.

When seen from above, the shark tends to blend into the sea due to its darker dorsal coloring. Its camouflaged as well from below as its lighter grey - white color casts a minimal silhouette against the sun. With rows of razor-sharp teeth and elegant lines, its easy to see why its such an effective predator.

They usually range anywhere from 13 to 16 feet in length and generally weigh between 1500 to 2500 lbs. Occasionally, however, there are a few large ones weighing as much as 4200 lbs and growing as long as 20 feet.

This shark is known as an apex-predator, meaning its main function is to control the population of other fish. Any animal with a high content of fat is preferred , with great white typically targeting rays, tuna, smaller sharks, dolphins, seals, and sea lions. They have been known to sample nearly anything, however, and have even eaten objects they are unable to digest.

The only exceptions to the apex-predator rule is humans, which have contributed greatly to the sharks conservation status of “threatened”. There is also the occasional attack on a great white by an orca. Dolphins have been known to kill great whites, by repeatedly ramming the shark in groups. Larger great whites have also been known to feed on smaller specimens.

Studies have shown that they typically hunt in the mornings, usually within two hours after sunrise. Apparently its the most difficult to see a shark near the bottom around this time. A great white will typically attack its prey with a forceful bite, leaving the animal wounded and then later go in to finish after its stopped struggling.

Date: August 23, 2007 Late-night
Location: Sarasota Bay, Florida
Shark: Bull Shark

Andrea Lynch was on a boating trip with friends off of the coast of Sarasota, FL when she and some others decided to go for a late-night swim. A 7ft-long bull shark interrupted the fun. As she lay on her back in the ocean the shark anchored its teeth into her side, sinking them into her hips and ribs.

“I was screaming. There was blood all over.”

The shark shook her, and then released quickly, allowing Andrea to race back to the boat. Apparently, since it was night her friends didn’t see the attack and thought she was joking, refusing to believe that a shark had attacked her.

“I reached back with my hand”, she said, “and felt these gashes on me, and there was blood running down my body and pooling into the boat.” She ended up with 17 puncture wounds several of them just narrowly missing her lungs.

She later joked, “Either it didn’t like the taste of human or it thought I was too bony.”

Date: June 21, 2008 9 AM
Location: West Cove Catalina Island Southern California
Shark: 15 Foot Great White

It was a family day the Pereira family would never forget! Bettina, her husband Andrew, and their three children took a fishing boat to the West Cove of Catalina Island on June 21st, 2008.

Betty decided to take a kayak out around that part of the cove. She was in 50 feet deep water, which quickly dropped off to nearly 500 feet beyond her starting location. Suddenly she felt what seemed like a boat slam into the back of her kayak!

Looking around, she turned and saw the huge body of a shark coming up fast from underneath her kayak. The force of the shark’s next impact threw her and the kayak into the air, Bettina landing directly on the sharks back, feet first. She pushed off of the shark’s body and started racing towards the family’s boat.

Later Bettina said that all she could think about as she headed for the boat was that her family was going to watch her get killed by a shark. She was eventually picked up by another boat in the area whose crew had witnessed the event. They said she was in giddy with a certain euphoria over still being alive.

Sources: sharkattacksurvivors.com, lionofjudah