How did that get there? Officials clueless how bull SHARK turned up in Alabama lake

A local fisherman was shocked to find the rotting carcass of a dead shark on the pier of Lake Guntersville in central, landlocked Alabama.



Flabbergasted, Michael Carter called police to suss out how the bull shark ended up in the freshwater lake.



Officials think that the animal may have been transported by someone local from the Gulf of Mexico, who then became disenchanted with the beast and dumped it on the pier, but they can't be sure.

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Sighted: A local fisherman was shocked to find the rotting carcass of a dead shark on the pier of Lake Guntersville in central, landlocked Alabama

Clue: Officials believe that the animal was transported by someone local from the Gulf of Mexico, who then became disenchanted with the beast and dumped it on the pier

Mr Carter said that after 50 years of fishing in the same lake, he's never seen anything like it.



'It was a very big surprise, especially when I realized what it was,' Mr Carter told WAFF .

'I could tell just by the way it was laying that it wasn't a catfish or anything like that.'



Animal Control, Marine police and wildlife conservation officers were called to the scene to investigate.

They believe the three-foot creature was a bull shark.

The bull shark is known for its aggressive nature and can survive in both saltwater and freshwater and has been known to swim far from the ocean and into inland rivers.



Some have even been found as far up as Indiana.

Flabbergasted: Michael Carter called police to suss out how the bull shark ended up in the freshwater lake

Investigation: Animal Control, Marine police and wildlife conservation officers were called to the scene to investigate

Mike Henderson of Animal Control thinks the shark is a prank.



While he knows the shark could have possibly swam the 300 plus miles from the Gulf, he thinks it's more likely that someone caught it on a fishing trip and drove it north.



When they got to the lake, the shark had either gone rotten or no longer interested the fisherman, so they dumped it on the dock.



He added that there have been strange species found in the lake before, however, as he's seen piranha swimming more than once.



Pranksters also caused chaos in 2008, when they put the body of a dead shark with a hook in its mouth by the shore.

