Expert catches two bull sharks in area where Lake Pontchartrain attack occurred

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An update from our earlier report from NOLA.com, “A Lake Pontchartrain shark expert quickly and easily caught two bull sharks Tuesday evening in the same area where a young boy was attacked on Friday.  Mitchell Chevalier, who tags sharks for the University of New Orleans and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, caught a 3-foot and 4-foot bull shark with very little effort. However, he said the pace of the action was not unusual.

‘I went out there because I was curious if there were more sharks than normal, and there’s not,’ he said. ‘It’s just the usual amount of bull sharks.  There’s no more or no less than what they typically have out there at this time of year.’

On Friday, Trent Trentacosta, 7, was attacked by a shark while swimming with his family out of South Shore Harbor. He sustained deep puncture wounds on his heel and big toe.  After viewing photos of Trentacosta’s injuries, Chevalier surmised the attack was from a 5-foot bull shark, a species that is common in Lake Pontchartrain.  The size of the fish Chevalier caught Tuesday was not unusual for August, he said. The larger, sexually mature sharks have already moved out of the lake by the late summer.  He said the 3- and 4-footers he caught Tuesday were likely 2 years old.”

Read the full article on NOLA.com

Royce Christyn

Royce Christyn

Journalist at News Punch
Documentarian, Writer, Producer, Director, Author.
Royce Christyn

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