Photo: Facebook.
AN angler who made national headlines after hauling a bull shark more than 1.5m-long from the Logan River has sent locals into a spin – with some horrified to learn what lurks beneath the waters they remember swimming in as children.
But local fishermen say they’re not surprised, insisting the river holds a healthy population of the aggressive species that many fishers now treat as a trophy catch.
Shane Gallagher was the talk of social media last week after detailing his 45-minute reel to catch a bull shark.
He said that by the end of the fight, he had to hand his rod to a mate when his back gave out.
He said the big shark – estimated to be a brooding female at more than 1.5 metres – didn’t shock him.
“There’s big bull sharks in the Logan River,” he told Today, adding he believes there are likely bigger ones still cruising the system.
Mr Gallagher posed for photos with the catch before releasing the shark back into the river.
Local fisherman Nate Archer was also not surprised, saying he has personally seen “huge” bull sharks up to 2m long in the Logan.
“For fishermen, it’s not surprising at all. There’s heaps of life in there – barramundi, sharks, all sorts of stuff.”
But the sharks don’t just dwell in the saltier parts of the river closest to the ocean. Other fishermen have reported bull shark sightings in the Logan River as far up as Jimboomba and beyond.
Mr Gallagher said the species was remarkable, able to survive in fresh water for long periods despite being saltwater creatures.
Bull sharks’ ability to move into fresh water, he said, was part of what made them so adaptable.
“They can go right up into completely fresh water. They’ve adapted to that – they can regulate their salinity in their environment. I think they can live for years in fresh water.
“Those larger female sharks will come to the mouths of rivers and come up rivers to lay their young.
“The little sharks will get bigger in the rivers and creeks and then they’ll head back out.”
He said the Logan River was no “sharkier” than any other fishing hole he goes to.
Mr Archer said attitudes towards fishing – and to big predators like bull sharks – had shifted dramatically since he was a kid.
“There’s a lot more emphasis now on the value in a photo of a fish rather than just taking one.”
Dedicated shark anglers, he said, treated big bull sharks as powerful sport fish rather than something to destroy.
“The guys that are into shark fishing, they’re really into it,” he said.
“They’re using pretty impressive setups to catch them. The Logan’s somewhere the guys do shark fish.”
For Mr Archer, a thriving population of bull sharks in the Logan is less a horror story, and more of a reminder the river is very much alive.
“Sharks are the apex predator of the systems,” he said.
“They’re part of the food chain – everything works in conjunction with them.
“They’ll clean up any sort of sick, injured fish. They’re not like us where we target the biggest fish – they’ll target a fish that’s in distress or sick.
“That’s their job. They keep the sickness and the infected fish out of the system, so they do a good job of regulating that.”
Despite their crucial role in local waterways, Mr Archer admitted they were an aggressive species that you wouldn’t want taking a bite out of you.
“They bump and feed. Because they’re in a lot of dirty water, they’ll bump into something and grab hold of it… because they can’t always see it.
“That’s how they sort of suss things out and have adapted to murky waters.
“A bull shark’s teeth are for grabbing and holding on.”
