Reef or bull shark?

[Heatheroe]

Two were spearing, I was snorkeling the Atlantic side of Long Island Bahamas yesterday. W had only speared one fish which we quickly put in a floating cooler when a 5 or 6 foot shark started checking us out. This one was particularly aggressive and even came up in a very shallow coral shoals area and took us by surprise, coming inches from my thigh. Unfortunately my SIM card was full after 22 minutes so we didn't get any shots of the shark. Our Bahamian guide thought it was a bull shark but it didn't have any of the bulk or girth you normally associate with a bull. Can someone help with tips on differentiating the two? Based on the level of aggression I day a bull but it looked more sleek like a reef shark. We won't be going back there to spear again, it was a pretty crazy experience.

 

[tahqa]

This is a caribbean reef shark:




And this is a bull shark:

 

[diver 85]

Hard to say on that one---might,?could--- have been a reef shark with an attitude??

 

[CAPTAIN SINBAD]

Are we saying that looks wise a bullshark = fat reef shark?

 

[Heatheroe]

The shark was not fat like the bull in the photo above but I don't remember the caudal fin being as long as the one in the reef shark pic. The shark was coming up in the shallows exposing its fins. The shark would leave but come back when we got back in the water to traverse to another section of beach as we headed back to the area where the car was. That was one determined shark. We even used the spears to try and fend it off but it was not deterred at all. I am not recommending tourists to snorkel here for a while (Poseidon Point on Long Island). There were some fish pots north of us and the locals we've spoken with think the shark was aggravated by trapped fish in the pots.

 

[Johnoly]

The best way is from a side view. On the bull, notice that the top dorsal fin starts are about midway of the side pectoral fin. On the Reefie, the dorsal fin starts behind the side pectoral fin. This picture only discusses the bull versus reefie. The area you were in is also visited by lemons, sandbars, tigers, dusky's and on and on. Putting a positive ID on it really needs a good close picture. But I would encourage you to come diving in Jupiter to enjoy the sharks. We have all of the above and it's really cool, bring a camera !!

 

[Heatheroe]

The best way is from a side view. On the bull, notice that the top dorsal fin starts are about midway of the side pectoral fin. On the Reefie, the dorsal fin starts behind the side pectoral fin. This picture only discusses the bull versus reefie. The area you were in is also visited by lemons, sandbars, tigers, dusky's and on and on. Putting a positive ID on it really needs a good close picture. But I would encourage you to come diving in Jupiter to enjoy the sharks. We have all of the above and it's really cool, bring a camera !!

thanks for the info, that is exactly what I was looking for!! Based on this description I would say it was a reef shark. we saw one other one on a dive trip on the lee side of the island. It was after the spear fishing incident so I was glad I could be in the water with a shark again without being completely petrified, although I was not as comfortable as I was before the incident which is probably not a bad thing after all. We also saw a very large shark's shadow along the Columbus Monument area. We were in the boat and followed the shark for a bit but again, no photos. The head was very large. our boat captain thought it could be a very large nurse shark but we are thinking it might have been a hammerhead too. There was a bit of ripple in the water making the shark's outline a bit distorted. Had it not been for that, we would have been able to identify it better. It was an extremely calm day and high tide. I would love to visit this area again for some snorkeling (by boat) on our next trip.

 

[finnfanrm]

Its been my experience that reef sharks and sandbars are way more aggressive and persistent than bulls