Many experts consider bull sharks the most dangerous sharks around the world. These sharks are the aggressive ones among their species. They hunt prey under seawater where people usually swim, especially in the tropical shorelines. The typical bull sharks live in different parts of the world in a shallow and warm part of the ocean.
Even though many incidents have been reported of bull shark attacks that resulted in various deaths and critical injuries, humans aren’t their typical prey. In fact, they eat almost everything, but their diet usually comprises fish. They do prey hunting day and night, and they also eat other sharks.
These are some characteristics and behaviors of these gigantic animals in the ocean. Hence, read on the list of interesting facts below to know more about bull sharks.
Table of Contents
Saltwater and Freshwater Habitats
All living organisms need to keep a particular ratio of salt and water within their bodies. For all organisms living in different bodies of water, it’ll be a challenge for their physical structure to maintain the proportion. Their cells become dehydrated when their bodies absorb too much salt content. Also, their cells become bloated when they absorb too much freshwater.
Fish can maintain the required salt-and-water ratio. If the saltwater fish absorb too much salt, they can typically flush it out by urination. The freshwater fish also have their anatomical design to avoid getting their cells either dehydrated or bloated. Most fish can’t control their bodies to exert how much salt to remove from their kidneys.
Therefore, most species of fish survive living either in freshwater or saltwater. However, bull sharks are different because they can live in both habitats. It’s one of the fantastic bull shark facts that you should know. Their bodies can regulate the salt content to excrete during urination.
If bull sharks are in the saltwater, their urine is highly concentrated with salt. However, their kidneys keep enough salt content to survive when they are in the freshwater. Bull sharks have their livers and rectal glands to help maintain the salt-and-water ratio.
Newborn Bull Sharks
The age of the bull sharks can help you determine where they typically live. According to expert studies, newborn bull sharks or when they are still in the juvenile stage, they are preferably living in the freshwater. When they age, they simply live in the saltwater. It might also be the reason they can survive living in both freshwater and saltwater habitats.
Bull Shark Diet
Like what previously mentioned, humans aren’t part of the bull shark diet. Their primary food is typically fish and other sea creatures. The most common prey of bull sharks is bony fish, including fish of their size and other bull sharks. They also eat sea turtles, oysters, and stingrays. Seabirds and dolphins can’t even escape from bull sharks’ mouths when they are hungry.
Bull sharks almost eat every single creature under the sea. They even feed on some crustaceans, such as crabs and shrimps. Starfish and sea urchins can’t also flee away from the hungry bull sharks. Hence, their body structure is so big because of their diet in eating almost everything in the ocean.
Digestion Mechanism
Bull sharks can control their digestive system. They can manage the amount of food to digest as a way to survive in certain situations. If the amount of food is low or there’s not enough prey to eat from their environment, bull sharks tend to digest their food slower than they usually do. They only digest food enough to survive at a particular length of time.
There’s one fascinating fact about bull sharks. If they encounter a predator, they throw up food from their body towards their enemy. By doing this, the predator will get busy eating the thrown up food as the bull sharks flee away from danger. It’s strange, but this is one of the interesting facts about bull sharks.
Bull Shark Predators
Bull sharks are gigantic animals in the ocean. You might think nothing can devour the whole shark. However, they also have their natural predators. The more giant bull sharks feed on smaller or younger ones. The great white sharks and the tiger sharks also prey on bull sharks. Besides, studies assert that crocodiles in both saltwater and freshwater also prey on them.
Takeaway
A bull shark is one of the gigantic animals in the ocean. They are so big and strong that they can have a body length up to 11 feet or 3.5m, and they can weigh approximately 315 kg or 700 lbs. These are aggressive predators under the sea, and they almost eat everything. Hence, people should be careful to visit any beach, especially in the areas where bull sharks usually frequented. If you’re fortunate to see a bull shark in your next beach travel, remember the interesting facts discussed above. Hence, you’ll have some ideas about their characteristics and behavior.
