But that doesn't mean all of the Potomac shark sightings were the result of overactive imaginations. The lower Chesapeake Bay is an important nursery ground for the sandbar shark. The smooth dogfish and the sand tiger shark have also been known to frequent the bay.
In times of drought, when salinity rises in the bay and in the Potomac, sharks can swim upriver. Said Musick: "There are records of sharks up in the Potomac River that have involved bull sharks, which are nasty creatures."
A bull shark is what the crew must have dragged up near Chapel Point. Bull sharks have been spotted 1,000 miles up the Amazon, and the marine science institute's specimen collection includes an 8-foot bull shark taken from the mouth of the Potomac.
Most attacks on humans by sharks are accidents, but bull sharks are one of the few species that attack humans simply because they want to eat them.
Perhaps one day we'll see another fin slicing through the water near Washington. That would be kind of cool, actually.
"Yeah, it would," Dr. Musick said. "It would be appropriate, with all the other sharks up there."
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