The phones at Idaho’s Fish and Game were ringing last week after multiple reports came in about the carcass of a salmon shark that had allegedly washed up along the Salmon River.
These sharks can grow up to about 10 feet in length, bear a striking resemblance to the Great White Shark and feed on, you guessed it, salmon and other fish. They inhabit the waters of the northern Pacific Ocean, which lies a good 650 river miles from the location in which the carcass was discovered.
As the calls from the public continued, wildlife officers decided to head down to the river and have a look for themselves.
“By the look of it, this does appear to be a Salmon shark,” the agency explained in a press release last week.
Following the positive ID of the shark, investigators worked to piece together why this shark ended up in their neighborhood, and more importantly, how.
They started at the point of origination and worked backwards. As stated, the Pacific Ocean is 650 river miles away from the site of the carcass. Meaning, this shark would have to had swam each one of those miles completely upriver in a freshwater environment.
Determined? Maybe.
Knowing full well that bull sharks are the only shark species capable of living in a freshwater environment, that counted as the second strike against the salmon-hunting shark. Thirdly, in addition to fighting the river, the shark would have had to navigate eight different dam locations, each of which being equipped with fish ladders that are manned by fisheries technicians.
Officials determined that this would have been one of the most sophisticated and slippery salmon sharks the world has ever seen to have avoided detection and made the incredible journey into Idaho. Given the findings, Idaho officials later said that the shark was likely planted along the river as a prank of sorts.
“This would have been a great April Fool’s Joke,” officials said. “So, if you were one of those people who saw this fish on the shore or maybe somebody shared photos with you, rest assured, we have no sharks swimming around in Idaho.”
