- SYDNEY (Reuters) - Hungry
sharks are venturing tens of miles up Australian rivers as drought reduces
fresh water levels, forcing schools to warn children not to cool off in
the local river.
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- "Once we were told of the shark sightings we informed
our four schools. We warned children not to swim in the river," Ian
Northam, principal of Wingham High School, on the Manning River in northern
New South Wales state, told Reuters on Wednesday.
-
- Australia is in the grips of one of its worst droughts
in 100 years. Fresh water levels in rivers have fallen and salt water is
extending further inland, with declining stocks of river and estuary fish
forcing sharks further upstream. Wingham is about 25 miles upstream on
the Manning River, but a local fishermen recently spotted a bull shark
swimming near a small dam, a popular swimming hole for locals.
-
- Another fisherman last week hauled in a 2.5-meter (7.5-feet)
bronze whaler a few kilometers (miles) downstream from Wingham.
-
- The summer issue of The New South Wales Sea Kayaker magazine
warned of the risk of bull sharks in Australian rivers, saying they had
been found in most Australian water systems.
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- "This shark is very, very dangerous. Some experts
consider this shark to be the most dangerous in the world, even surpassing
the Great White Shark," the magazine said.
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- It said the bull shark, which measures up to 3.5 meters
(10 feet) in length and weighs around 230 kg (104 pounds), can survive
in fresh or saltwater and will eat almost anything.
-
- Bull sharks have been blamed for several attacks on rowers
and kayakers on the upper reaches of Sydney harbor in recent years.
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