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How far up the Mississippi river have sharks been found?

Bull sharks are euryhaline and can thrive in both salt and fresh water. They are known to travel far up rivers, and have been known to travel up the Mississippi River as far as Alton, Illinois, about 1,100 kilometres (700 mi) from the ocean, but few freshwater interactions with humans have been recorded.



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While there have been past “sightings,” most have turned out to be pranks or misidentifications. The reality is that the largest of the Great Lakes (Lake Superior and Michigan) are extremely deep lakes that are too cold for sharks.

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Lake Nicaragua is one of the largest freshwater lakes in the Americas and bull sharks travel up the San Juan River and through a series of eight rapids in a similar manner to salmon to reach the lake, where they may stay for several years.

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Two Coho fishermen pulled a 29-inch shark from Lake Michigan about two miles off the Milwaukee shore on April 25, 1969. The shark was dead, but for several days fishermen in the area were uneasy.

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Common Sharks in Mississippi Waters
  • Bull Shark. Carcharhinus leucas.
  • Blacktip Shark. Carcharhinus limbatus.
  • Spinner Shark. Carcharhinus brevipinna.
  • Atlantic Sharpnose Shark. Rhizoprionodon terraenovae.


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New Smyrna Beach, Florida New Smyrna is known as one of the foremost the shark attack capitals of the world. Be careful when surfing out in the Atlantic. Common sharks to see in New Smyrna beach include blacktip, spinner, and tiger sharks.

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Between where the Missouri River joins the Mississippi at Saint Louis, Missouri, and Cairo, Illinois, the depth averages 30 feet (9 m). Below Cairo, where the Ohio River joins, the depth averages 50–100 feet (15–30 m) deep. The deepest part of the river is in New Orleans, where it reaches 200 feet (61 m) deep.

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St. Paul — The Mississippi River remains a healthy, clean stream for much of the way down to about St. Cloud, the river's most pristine stretch on its 2,320-mile journey to the Gulf of Mexico.

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