Find a New Tomorrow
During a holiday party I made small talk with a boat captain. Quite innocently I asked him if sharks ever visited the waters around Chincoteague and Assateague Islands. Well! Forty-five minutes later I was the beneficiary of a college-level lecture on sharks. He said that at least eleven different species of sharks can be found in these waters at some point during the year.
A few months after that party, my neighbor was testing a new finishing rod and reel. Casting out into Chincoteague Bay along the shore line of our property, the bait was taken immediately. Wiggling on the hook was a young bull shark. About 18-inches long.
This experience confirmed what the boat captain told me. Chincoteague Bay is a birthing ground for Bull Sharks.
A few months after that party, my neighbor was testing a new finishing rod and reel. Casting out into Chincoteague Bay along the shore line of our property, the bait was taken immediately. Wiggling on the hook was a young bull shark. About 18-inches long.
This experience confirmed what the boat captain told me. Chincoteague Bay is a birthing ground for Bull Sharks.
Bull sharks frequent very shallow waters – like the surf zone of beaches where they feed. This shark has no tolerance for provocation. It is highly territorial and aggressive. The bull shark is probably more dangerous to humans than any other species of shark. Three shark species - tiger shark, great white shark and bull shark – are the most likely to bite humans.
Bull sharks thrive in both salt and fresh water. These sharks live mainly in warm, shallow brackish and freshwater systems including estuaries and lower reaches of rivers. However, Bull Sharks have been observed to travel up the Mississippi River as far as Alton, Illinois – that’s 700 miles from the ocean.
Bull sharks thrive in both salt and fresh water. These sharks live mainly in warm, shallow brackish and freshwater systems including estuaries and lower reaches of rivers. However, Bull Sharks have been observed to travel up the Mississippi River as far as Alton, Illinois – that’s 700 miles from the ocean.
Bull Sharks hunt mainly in murky waters. The low visibility of murky water hides the attacker. The prey fish simply cannot see the shark coming. This is a major, contributing factor to why the Bull Shark hunts in the surf-zone and why this shark is a potential threat to human activity at the beach.
Peter Benchley’s novel Jaws, (and the movie it spawned) was based on a series of shark attacks in 1916 that happened along the New Jersey Shore. The bite marks on two of the fatalities led scientists speculate that bull sharks were the likely attackers.
Peter Benchley’s novel Jaws, (and the movie it spawned) was based on a series of shark attacks in 1916 that happened along the New Jersey Shore. The bite marks on two of the fatalities led scientists speculate that bull sharks were the likely attackers.
All that said, the chances of being bitten by a shark are extremely low. To lower the risk even further
stay clear of any schooling fish – especially bluefish. Don’t swim at night, dusk or dawn. And certainly do go into the water if you are bleeding. A blood trail is a dinner bell for sharks.
Find a New Tomorrow is a fictional thought about how a young waterman might respond to his disability after suffering a bad bite from a bull shark.
stay clear of any schooling fish – especially bluefish. Don’t swim at night, dusk or dawn. And certainly do go into the water if you are bleeding. A blood trail is a dinner bell for sharks.
Find a New Tomorrow is a fictional thought about how a young waterman might respond to his disability after suffering a bad bite from a bull shark.
More about local sharks………..
Shark species that visit Virginia waters in the bays and surf-zone include Bull, Sand Tiger, Dogfish, Nurse, Dusky, Hammerhead, Bonnethead, Finetooth, Sharpnose, Nurse. Near shore Thresher, Sandbar, Hornshark, and Blacktip sharks can be found. Offshore there are Tiger, Mako and Blue sharks, and of course the famous Great Whites.
The Annual Shark Calendar of Virginia Waters
Late May through Summer
- In the bays and estuaries of Virginia waters, during late summer and early fall, Bull Sharks mate. The gestation period is 12 months. A mother bull shark gives birth to between one and thirteen live young. Babies range from 18-inches to 30-inches in length at birth.
- Female Sand Tigers and Duskys come into the bays behind the barrier Island of Virginia to spawn. The females can grow to more than 400 pounds. Some of these sharks remain in the bays throughout the summer to feed.
- Hammerheads are spawning in the near shore ocean throughout the summer. Newborn Hammerheads remain in and around the inlets throughout the summer months.
- Threshers migrate through Virginia. These sharks tend to stay 1 to 5 miles off the beach.
- Cutter sharks arrive in June and remain in the back bays well into fall. Cutters average 4 to 5 feet in length. They are aggressive feeders and ferocious fighters. That makes this species an excellent game fish.
- Makos arrive in mid May, off shore around the 20 fathom line. These sharks come for the schools of bluefish. Makos are considered by many to be among the best game fish in East Coast waters. Once the hook is set, Makos can leap 10-feet in the air and do double back flips. Makos are one of the most powerful fish in the ocean. Even with proper tackle, experience and stamina, it can take hours to land a Mako. A Mako shark is more aggressive and faster than a Great White.
- Tigers are a warmer water shark. They show up in Virginia waters about the same time as their favorite food - sea turtles. Tiger sharks can grow up to 20 feet long.
- Blacktips show up in late June. These sharks are after croaker fish. Much to the delight of sport fishermen, Blacktip Sharks chase the croakers into the Chesapeake. Blacktips remain in the near shore ocean waters throughout the summer.
- Sand Sharks arrive in summer. The proper name of this shark is “dogfish” The dogfish is one of the few sharks that does not have teeth. Highly prized by chefs and diners, the dogfish usually appears on the menu as “steak fish”.
- Sand Tigers are another summer shark. Their appearance is terrifying, but their behavior is not as aggressive as that of other large sharks. Sand Tiger sharks have long, straggly, protruding teeth. They reach 400 pounds and remain in the bay, surf and near shore ocean waters all summer. The Sand Tigers diet consists mostly of skates, rays and schooling bait fish.