RIGGINS, Idaho, Aug. 17, 2023 (Gephardt Daily) — Idaho wildlife officials are arguing about whether they have sharks.
“SALMON SHARKS! When are our salmon and steelhead going to catch a break?” the Idaho Fish and Game Department reported on social media Wednesday morning. “That’s right, you read correctly, Salmon Sharks!”
Calls and e-mail came pouring in Tuesday, according to the department, claiming a shark had washed up on the shores of the Salmon River near Riggins.
“With so many calls coming in, we felt the need to investigate, and this is what we found. Judge for yourself,” said the IDFG response, sharing photos.
“By the look of it, this does appear to be a Salmon shark. Salmon sharks can grow up to 10 ft long and weigh up to almost 1,000 lbs. As indicated by its name, Salmon sharks like to feed on salmon. So, should we be concerned with this shocking discovery and potential impacts to our salmon and steelhead populations?”
Well, no, the department said.
“Seeing no sharks have been observed swimming up our fish ladders lately, and the only known shark that can live in freshwater is the Bull shark,” IDFG said, it’s safe to assume the salmon shark was dropped on the shore near Riggins for a laugh.
“So if you were one of those people who saw this fish on the shore or maybe somebody shared the photos with you, rest assured, we have no sharks swimming around in Idaho.”
Some are not convinced it’s a prank shark. Since the IDFG post appeared on Facebook shortly before noon Wednesday, it had drawn 964 hits, 440 comments and more than 1,500 shares by 8:30 p.m.
While in the minority, plenty of commentators are arguing pro-shark.
“Fyi Idaho Fish and Game, salmon sharks can live in fresh water and they do enjoy cold water. You guys saying hey can’t is baffling,” reads one.
“Seems to be a pretty big prank to catch the shark on the coast put it on ice, haul it to Riggins and drop it off on the bank just for laughs, hmmm,” asks another.
“Salmon shark can live in fresh water too, just saying,” says another.
And: “I don’t trust anything that Fish and Game says. Period. They can’t explain it so it must be a prank. Meanwhile they waste millions in unfounded investigations every year.”
“I snagged one a year or so back,” says a fisherman. “They are coming. Not much we can do.”
“I agree with your assessment that this was a prank. However I disagree with your statement that the only known shark that can live in freshwater is the Bull shark,” according to one of the longer posters, who listed four other species, including their genus names, he claimed can and do live in fresh water: the Speartooth shark, the Ganges shark, the Borneo shark and the Northern River shark.
Riggins, a town of roughly 500 population, is located in west central Idaho, 150 miles north of Boise at the confluence of the Salmon and Little Salmon rivers.
Encyclopedia Britannica says the Salmon shark can grow to 10 feet in length and near 400 pounds, and inhabits the northern Pacific Ocean, including the Sea of Japan, Sea of Okhotsk and the Bering and Yellow seas.
Britannica and OceanInfo.com note it gets its name since Pacific salmon are its primary food source. The Salmon shark is cousin the Great White Shark and is sometimes, they say, mistaken for one because of similar body shape and coloring.
