National Geographic: Eight-foot bull sharks found in Potomac River


Photo of the shark caught in the Potomac
Photo credit: buzzsmarina.com

Two eight-foot bull sharks - a prime suspect in two of New Jersey's fatal shark attacks in Matawan Creek in 1916 - were caught in the Potomac River near Washington D.C this week.  While the shark sightings of early summer in New Jersey slowed greatly over the past month, the capture of these bull sharks resembles their likely trips up the brackish Matawan Creek that fateful summer of 1916.  Unlike nearly every other species of North Atlantic shark, the bull shark is comfortable in brackish water.

Fisher Willy Dean caught an eight-foot shark in the Potomac River this week, NBC 4, a local television station, reported. "Dean put out a net Monday at Cornfield Harbor in the Potomac three miles north of Point Lookout with hopes of catching cow-nosed rays for a Solomons Island Marina biologist. When he checked Monday night, everything seemed normal. But when he checked again Tuesday morning, he made a startling discovery," NBC 4 said.
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Posted by WILDNEWJERSEY at 9/10/2010 1:30 PM
Categories: Sharks
Tags: washington d.c. potomac river matawan creek sharks bull shark
 

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