Candygram?

I'll just leave this here.

/travel over the creek where it happened every day

Not as "landlocked" as some would believe.

Somebody caught it on the Redneck Riviera and dumped it there.

Bull sharks are routinely found in fresh water.

From Wikki

Freshwater tolerance

"The bull shark is the best known of 43 species of elasmobranch in ten genera and four families to have been reported in fresh water."

Looks pretty small. Probably some one's aquarium pet that got too big, or simply died and got dumped on the dock as a prank.

Ghastly: Looks pretty small. Probably some one's aquarium pet sex toy that got too big, or simply died and got dumped on the dock as a prank.

doglover: Ghastly: Looks pretty small. Probably some one's aquarium pet sex toy that got too big, or simply died and got dumped on the dock as a prank.

I believe you're thinking of a mudshark

/you go out, so far out...

Some idiot dumped it there. Any more easy questions?

"Officials think that the animal may have been transported by someone local from the Gulf of Mexico, who then became disenchanted with the beast and dumped it on the pier, but they can't be sure."

I'd just go with that and head over to Dunkin Donuts, Lou.

Since the shark was never found in the water, I don't think there's much mystery here.

I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess that a rusty truck and a couple cases of Keystone were involved.

4 w/d

They could cut the shark open like in Jaws to see what it has eaten recently. If it has salt water fish in it's gut then it is a prank. Stomach full of blue gills and it might be a bit scarier.

A long time ago, I used to know this writer in Lake Arrowhead who had a grudge against some of the dock owners on the lake. They did him wrong and he wanted to get back at them in a big way. He wanted to release a pregnant shark into Lake Arrowhead. According to his 'research', the mother shark would die, but the baby sharks would adapt to the freshwater, and after a few years would start feeding on swimmers.

*Facepalm* right?

jesus, the Daily Fail (and Fark) is just getting this story now? on Tues or Wed. the 'mystery' was already solved and people have moved on.

A Bull in Alabama?



More likely than you think.

Sad really, the shark managed to travel overland halfway across the state of Alabama, then couldn't make those last few feet off the dock to safety.

Still, an inspiring effort

It evolved from a mudcat.

Gashunk!

/Very obscure

wrong turn at Alberquerque. duh.

That's nothing. There are rivers in northern Australia, hundreds of kilometers inland, where bullsharks, freshwater stingrays and giant crocodiles all live together, just waiting for you to come along and take along look at the cool, refreshing water that would *so* take the edge off the tropical heat...

Approves

So the theory is that someone drove it up from the Gulf and left it on the pier?

I suppose that makes more sense than it catching a bus. Not much more, but hey, whatever.

Hypothetical Imperative: So the theory is that someone drove it up from the Gulf and left it on the pier?

I suppose that makes more sense than it catching a bus. Not much more, but hey, whatever.

That does sound like the most probable scenario. I would guess it died in transit and once they found it dead, they just dumped it.

He got lost?

And since he was a male, he refused to ask for directions?

TheGogmagog: Hypothetical Imperative: So the theory is that someone drove it up from the Gulf and left it on the pier?

I suppose that makes more sense than it catching a bus. Not much more, but hey, whatever.

That does sound like the most probable scenario. I would guess it died in transit and once they found it dead, they just dumped it.

It's hard to tell what size the shark is from the picture and I'm too lazy to research the lake in question but I wouldn't think it outside the realm of possibility that it simply lived there? They can and do tolerate fresh water.

Of course that still doesn't explain why it was just left on the dock but again, hey, whatever.

Alabama officials clueless? No story here.

/Maybe the shark FLEW into the lake.
//Barring that, I'd guess a human put it there.
///Or it's a miracle and Jesus is responsible.

What the hell is "suss" and why don't they speak English over there?

Ghastly: Looks pretty small. Probably some one's aquarium pet that got too big, or simply died and got dumped on the dock as a prank.

'Fellows, let's be reasonable, huh? This is not the time or the place to perform some kind of a half-assed autopsy on a fish... And I'm not going to stand here and see that thing cut open and see that little Kintner boy spill out all over the dock.'

I bet that any minute now John Mariska, a biologist with the state's Marine Resources Division on Dauphin Island, who I bet has already looked at the photo on WAFF-TV's web site will say it was probably a finetooth shark caught during a fishing rodeo on the Gulf Coast last weekend and dumped on the dock. Finetooth sharks are relatively small sharks that don't get any bigger than 6 feet.

Mark my words.

Louisiana_Sitar_Club: Finetooth sharks are relatively small sharks that don't get any bigger than 6 feet.

I'm not all that knowledgeable about sharks, but morphologically that shark does look more like a finetooth due to the shape of the mouth, snout, and tail. Or it could be a similar species, but it doesn't look like a bull shark.

Either way, the article is wrong about bull sharks not making it upriver through the dams and such. Live bull sharks have been found much further north than Alabama (all the way to Iowa, iirc, but definitely into Illinois). I think this time of year with the drought and the water so low they'd probably have a tough time, but they could easily make it through during the spring when it's rainy and the waterways are elevated or flooded. An adult would have an issue, but they can begin to travel northward while a small juvenile and of course continue growing along the way.
And there are many species such as the American Eel that will travel far inland and live there for years before they go back out to see to breed. They do have a tougher time at it now due to the dams, but many still make it.

Also, I know there are fish elevators being built along many waterways so that species such as the American Eel can complete their journey. I wouldn't be surprised if they have put some in throughout whichever waterways lead from the Gulf Coast inland to this lake.

Ihaveanevilparrot: out to see sea

ftfm

Ihaveanevilparrot: Louisiana_Sitar_Club: Finetooth sharks are relatively small sharks that don't get any bigger than 6 feet.

I'm not all that knowledgeable about sharks, but morphologically that shark does look more like a finetooth due to the shape of the mouth, snout, and tail. Or it could be a similar species, but it doesn't look like a bull shark.

Either way, the article is wrong about bull sharks not making it upriver through the dams and such. Live bull sharks have been found much further north than Alabama (all the way to Iowa, iirc, but definitely into Illinois). I think this time of year with the drought and the water so low they'd probably have a tough time, but they could easily make it through during the spring when it's rainy and the waterways are elevated or flooded. An adult would have an issue, but they can begin to travel northward while a small juvenile and of course continue growing along the way.
And there are many species such as the American Eel that will travel far inland and live there for years before they go back out to see to breed. They do have a tougher time at it now due to the dams, but many still make it.

Also, I know there are fish elevators being built along many waterways so that species such as the American Eel can complete their journey. I wouldn't be surprised if they have put some in throughout whichever waterways lead from the Gulf Coast inland to this lake.

Please see the "follow up" article and thread to get the joke. (not a good joke but a joke none the less)

Louisiana_Sitar_Club: Please see the "follow up" article and thread to get the joke. (not a good joke but a joke none the less)

I got the joke.

I was just elaborating on what the biologist implied and refuting the information in this particular article.

And it actually was a decent joke, I just have a very dry/serious way of responding to things online, especially things related to my "field" of expertise :p

The British tabloids seem to cover our weird shiat more than we do. I'm beginning to think there is a Fark-like web site over there and when there's yet another bizarre story they tag us like we do Florida.

What a load of bullshark.

Bull sharks have been found as far up the Mississippi river as farking Illinois, so if the lake is a dam on a river, I'd say it probably just came up stream and got through the lock with a boat.

Onkel Buck: [i88.photobucket.com image 300x189]
Approves

I have the weirdest crush on him.

Ivo Shandor: [t2.gstatic.com image 259x195]

F... B... I.