{"id":14028,"date":"2013-09-03T18:33:48","date_gmt":"2013-09-03T23:33:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.howderfamily.com\/blog\/?p=14028"},"modified":"2022-03-10T07:22:01","modified_gmt":"2022-03-10T12:22:01","slug":"bull-shark","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.howderfamily.com\/blog\/bull-shark\/","title":{"rendered":"I Call Bull Shark"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

What a glorious day for boating on the tidal Potomac River around Mason Neck<\/a>, south of Fort Belvior. A friend asked it we’d like to join him and his family for a day on the water and of course I couldn’t turn down such a generous offer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Boating<\/a>
Boating on the Potomac River<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We spent most of the afternoon on the river until nearly sunset. This became a perfect way to end meteorological summer in the Northern Hemisphere. The kids got one final opportunity for outdoor fun, a little swimming and a some tubing to end their summer break from school. Parents got time to relax on Labor Day weekend even if we didn’t get the whole summer off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I didn’t let the possibility of Bull Sharks ruin my day either, even if Bull Sharks travel into freshwater. As Shark Savers explained<\/a>,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Bull sharks are unusual because they can adapt readily to fresh water because they can adapt their process of osmogregulation. The kidneys of bull sharks, (and to a lesser extent several other types of sharks) can be gradually adjusted to suit the salinity of the water they are in… This adaptation allows bull sharks to live entirely in estuaries or freshwater.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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What, Me Worry?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

They also have a fearsome reputation as unpredictable predators that are particularly aggressive towards humans. Still, one shouldn’t have to worry about a Bull Shark swimming from the Atlantic Ocean into the Chesapeake Bay. Then heading up the Potomac River, almost all the way to Washington, DC, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n