Bull Sharks, as dangerous as they say?

[DORSETBOY]

When divemastering and instructing and otherwise just pis*ing about in the water around Koh Tao I would regularly be diving with Bull Sharks of upto 4m in size at Chumpon Pinnacle, I never saw any display threats and noone to my knowledge was ever attacked.

I was told that they were more docile in the wamer waters of the Gulf of Thailand than those found in more colder waters. I studied marine biology at university and have never heard of this myself, anyone else know if this is true?

 

[cyklon_300]

involved with the majority of fatal attacks on humans include tiger, GW, bull, and oceanic whitetip...

IIRC, bulls (aka Zambezi shark) do a fair job of munching folks in S. African waters.

Don't know of any studies correlating frequency of aggression and water temps.

 

[BILLB]

According to the annual Shark Week on many cable systems, Bull Sharks have earned the title of the most dangerous sharks. Bull Sharks have been know to swim even into fresh water in search of food.

It is believed that the fatal attack in Pensacola on a young boy was a Bull Shark. Itis believed that a historical attack on several people in a NJ rivers can be attirbuted to Bull Sharks,

 

[Diversauras]

Almost all the shark attacks are on swimmers and not divers. The files are on line at:
http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/Sharks/ISAF/ISAF.htm.

I have seen them in NC waters, mainly on the inshore wrecks like the Hutton, and they are menacing looking but never had any sort of incident.

 

[zeN||]

Check out the spearboard.com if you want to read some harrowing tales of bullsharks zeN

 

[Aquatic Eagle]

The bull shark is one of the three sharks listed as the most aggressive. The other two being the Great White and the Tiger shark. Bull sharks can and do swim in freshwater. They have been sighted far up the Mississippi River. They are responsible for more reported attacks than any other shark. Hope that helps.

 

[Rick Murchison]

From what I have read, seen & heard, I am satisfied that most (not all) bull shark bites are "chance encounters" - Bulls frequent the same places swimmers do; when they run into one another the bull just naturally takes a bite to see if it's food. Most often this is all there is - a single bite and release. Of course, given the nature of the bull's dentition, this is no small matter and often a substantial and sometimes life-threatening injury.
My personal observation of bull sharks over the years is that they are a little squirrelly, erratic, indecisive, sometimes aggressive and never to be trusted.
Rick

 

[Stone]

Rick Murchison once bubbled...
My personal observation of bull sharks over the years is that they are a little squirrelly, erratic, indecisive, sometimes aggressive and never to be trusted.
Rick

Our encounters in the Gulf have increased. Nearly every meeting results in the shark retreating, but having fish on a stringer changes the equation. We tend to watch each other's back.

 

[DORSETBOY]

Appreciate your comments, I think next time I'll probably exercise a lot more caution!

Did have one experience on chumpon pinnacle where 3 bull sharks were swimming in an ascending circular pattern beneath me and my buddy, they got fairly close and we ended up aborting the dive. I don't know if this would constitute aggressive behaviour but from some of the comments it would sound best to err on the side of caution!

 

[jiveturkey]

Bull sharks in Koh Tao? I didn't even think they had white tips! How long ago was that?