News Costa Rica:
Researchers Spot Giant Bull Sharks in Costa Rica

Researchers with the ocean conservation organization PRETOMA caught more than they bargained for. A massive bull shark measuring approximately four meters (13 feet) in length was caught in their fishing line.

“It was very close to the surface. We were pulling it in when the line broke,” said Allan Bolaños, a researcher who was aboard a boat about two kilometers off the coast of the southern Pacific Osa Peninsula when the shark was spotted.

Bolaños and a group of researchers were in the Costa Rica area on a mission. Catch bull sharks and attache them with tracking devices in order to study their movements. The fishing lines however, were no match for the largest of these sharks, PRETOMA said in a statement released last week.

“Many of the hooks and steel leaders were mangled, destroyed, or simply bitten off by the large fish. Only one came close enough to our fishing vessel for us to take a glimpse of its amazing size, before it too broke free,” said Randall Arauz, the expedition's scientific director.

Bull sharks, particularly juveniles, are known to swim up freshwater rivers in search of food and protection. According to National Geographic, bull sharks have been seen far up the San Juan River. They  inhabit Lake Nicaragua, on Costa Rica's northern border with Nicaraqua.

The average bull sharks measures between 2.1 and 3.4 meters, and are classified as “near threatened” by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

As part of the Bull Shark Tagging Project, researchers captured and tagged four juvenile bull sharks measuring approximately one meter each. The were spotted in the brackish waters where the Sirena River meets the ocean, at the edge of Corcovado National Park. Bolaños and others are studying the movement patterns of the sharks in the hopes of expanding the national park's sea boundaries.

Currently, Bolaños said, Corcovado's National park is extends 500 meters into the Pacific ocean This area prohibits fishing. The four-meter bull shark was spotted two kilometers from shore.

The research project is funded by the Whitley Fund for Nature (WFN), the BBC Wildlife Fund, and corporate sponsors through PRETOMA's Corporate Membership program.

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