Hi, I’m Billy and I am ANGRY. I am angry at everything and everyone. I live in most warm waters and am also called a Zambezi Shark, though “zambi” sounds too much like “Bambi”, so please keep that one to yourself. I can thrive in either salt water or fresh water and can even travel up rivers. Unlike other freshwater sharks, though, I am actually not a true freshwater shark. Regardless of my ability to survive in freshwater.
The name “bull shark” comes from my stocky shape, broad flat snout and aggressive, unpredictable behavior. We are known by many different names anyway. We share numerous similarities with river sharks and other species. Our females are larger than our males, though I believe that I still rule the roost (though I am not currently with a partner). Our adults can bet to 8 feet long and males average 7 feet long. We are gray on top and white on bottom and our second dorsal fin is smaller than our first.
We have a bit force of about 5,914 newtons, which is the highest among all investigated cartilaginous fishes. This means when I get pissy, you better get out of the way. Since we are diadromous, which simply means that we can swim between salt and fresh water, we can follow you anywhere that there is deep enough water.
Though we are aggressive and can take a bite out of you, we usually eat bony fish and small sharks, including other bull sharks. (Sure, I may be a cannable, but don’t ever get close enough to yell that at me or I may just come out swinging.) We are opportunistice feaders and will eat whatever we can come across. This includes turtles, birds, dolphins, terrestrial mammals, crustaceans, and echinoderms. We hunt in murky waters were we can hide from our prey. Due to this, we are rather solitary creatures.
If ever we are begin attacked, we can regurgitate our current food as a distraction to whatever is currently coming after us. This is a natural reaction and doesn’t mean that we are cowards, only that we are going to live to hunt another day, if possible.
When we are born we are left to fend for ourselves, which may well be considered the reason for our aggressiveness. This is also something that saves us, however. You see most sharks are born in salt water where we are born, most of the time, in fresh water. Since the other sharks can’t get to us, we survive until we are big enough to make our way out to the oceans.
All in all, I’m not a bad guy, none of us are. We do get aggressive because you are in our territory and because you look like food. But then if you were walking along and a happy meal walked up next to you, wouldn’t you pull a few fries from the box? I would. Oh, in this analogy, you are the happy meal, just sayin.
