Sharks on an Australian golf course

The 14th hole at Carbrook Golf Course in Brisbane, Australia, borders a 20-hectare lake on its shores. Some time ago, you would have thought twice before hitting a stray ball there. . Because for nearly twenty years, the water obstacle has been inhabited by bull sharks, a species that can reach 3.50 meters in length and is known to be an aggressive species.

In 1996, violent floods in nearby rivers swept six young men into this lake, who found themselves trapped there after the water receded. We know that the bull shark is well adapted to freshwater, especially the young ones that can grow there protected from the jaws of other sharks.

But most choose to return to the sea as adults, which is more natural than watching golf from the bottom of their pond. Carbrook sharks have lived in these low-salinity waters for seventeen years, the longest continuous period ever observed in this animal. This is what we learn The study was published by the magazine last August Marine sciences and fisheries, I mentioned, among others, before The New York Times.

They can live indefinitely in fresh water, explains author Peter Gusman, from Ruhr University Bochum in Germany. Some of their organs, such as their kidneys and rectal glands, adapt to adapt to the level of salt necessary in their bodies for their survival.

However, they prefer a marine environment, as their observed sizes from passages indicate that they do not grow as much as their marine counterparts, and some can live for around thirty years.

One of the sharks was illegally captured, while the others disappeared during further floods. They ate fish and meat sometimes provided by golf course employees.

If the prospect of being eaten mid-game doesn’t dampen the enthusiasm of club members, it remains true that the study showed that as the phenomenon of large river floods increases, other groups of bull sharks may show contact with humans, and not just on golf courses.