<P> One of the most surprising aspects of the Matawan Creek attacks was the distance from the open sea . Elsewhere in the book are accounts of well - documented shark - human interactions at Ahwaz, Iran, which is 90 miles (140 km) upriver from the sea . It may also be of interest to note that sharks live in Lake Nicaragua, a fresh - water body, and in 1944 there was a bounty offered for dead freshwater sharks, as they had "killed and severely injured lake bathers recently ." </P> <P> Ellis points out that the great white "is an oceanic species, and Schleisser's shark was caught in the ocean . To find it swimming in a tidal creek is, to say the least, unusual, and may even be impossible . The bull shark, however, is infamous for its freshwater meanderings, as well as for its pugnacious and aggressive nature ." He admits that "the bull shark is not a common species in New Jersey waters, but it does occur more frequently than the white ." </P> <P> In an interview with Michael Capuzzo, ichthyologist George H. Burgess surmises, "The species involved has always been doubtful and likely will continue to generate spirited debate ." Burgess, however, does not discount the great white: </P> <P> The bull draws a lot of votes because the location, Matawan Creek, suggests brackish or fresh waters, a habitat that bulls frequent and whites avoid . However, our examination of the site reveals that the size of the "creek," its depth, and salinity regime were closer to a marine embayment and that a smallish white clearly could have wandered into the area . Since an appropriate sized white shark with human remains in its stomach was captured nearby shortly after the attacks (and no further incidents occurred), it seems likely that this was the shark involved in at least the Matawan fatalities . The temporal and geographical sequence of the incidents also suggests that earlier attacks may have involved the same shark . </P>

What kind of sharks are off the coast of new jersey