Expert says bull sharks are common sight this time of year in Caloosahatchee

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Expert says bull sharks are common sight this time of year in Caloosahatchee. WINK News

A bull shark reeled out of the Caloosahatchee River was not the only one caught by surprise over the weekend.

Cape Coral resident James Wheelas was shocked by his big catch on Saturday.

“When I sat him down in that water he flipped his head around like he was gonna bite me. I jumped back faster,” Wheelas said.

Darren Rumbold, a marine science professor at Florida Gulf Coast University, said it’s actually a common time of year for bull sharks to show up in brackish water like the Caloosahatchee River.

“Bull sharks are somewhat unique in all the sharks in they can reside in freshwater, I mean bull sharks will even go up the Mississippi, as far as Illinois,” Rumbold said.

According to Rumbold, female bull sharks give birth in May and April and have a better chance at survival in the Caloosahatchee River.

“They’ve got less predation and less competition,” Rumbold said. “Predation by other sharks and themselves, there is cannibalism in bull sharks.”

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