Behavior
Bull sharks are typically solitary hunters, but occasionally hunt in pairs. They often cruise through shallow waters. They can accelerate rapidly and can be highly aggressive, even possibly attacking a racehorse in the Brisbane River in the Australian state of Queensland. They are extremely territorial and attack animals that enter their territory. Since bull sharks often dwell in very shallow waters, they may be more dangerous to humans than any other species of shark, and along with the tiger shark, oceanic whitetip and great white shark, are among the four shark species most likely to attack humans.
One or several bull sharks may have been responsible for the Jersey Shore shark attacks of 1916, which was the inspiration for Peter Benchley's novel Jaws. The speculation of bull sharks possibly being responsible is based on some attacks occurring in brackish and freshwater, as well as there being certain similarities in bite marks between bull and great white sharks.
The bull shark is responsible for attacks around the Sydney Harbour inlets. Most of these attacks were previously attributed to great whites. In India, bull sharks swim up the Ganges River and have attacked people. Many of these attacks have been attributed to the Ganges shark, Glyphis gangeticus, a critically endangered river shark species that is probably the only other shark in India able to survive in fresh water, although the grey nurse shark was also blamed during the sixties and seventies.
Read more about this topic: Bull Shark
Famous quotes containing the word behavior:
“School success is not predicted by a child’s fund of facts or a precocious ability to read as much as by emotional and social measures; being self-assured and interested: knowing what kind of behavior is expected and how to rein in the impulse to misbehave; being able to wait, to follow directions, and to turn to teachers for help; and expressing needs while getting along with other children.”
—Daniel Goleman (20th century)
“Understanding child development takes the emphasis away from the child’s character—looking at the child as good or bad. The emphasis is put on behavior as communication. Discipline is thus seen as problem-solving. The child is helped to learn a more acceptable manner of communication.”
—Ellen Galinsky (20th century)
“Temperament is the natural, inborn style of behavior of each individual. It’s the how of behavior, not the why.... The question is not, “Why does he behave a certain way if he doesn’t get a cookie?” but rather, “When he doesn’t get a cookie, how does he express his displeasure...?” The environment—and your behavior as a parent—can influence temperament and interplay with it, but it is not the cause of temperamental characteristics.”
—Stanley Turecki (20th century)