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Who else didn't know Lake Pontchartrain was a top 5 U.S. destination for deadly sharks
Posted on 2/25/26 at 4:00 pm
Posted on 2/25/26 at 4:00 pm
I had no idea. Learned this today by accident. Now I'm more intrigued. I thought it was just a big boring lake with a long boring bridge.
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While visiting New Orleans, Louisiana, you might drive across America's largest bridge to reach it from the North Shore. But might you spot pointy dorsal fins sticking up out of the water as you drive? Lake Pontchartrain is an impressive 630-square-foot estuary, known for its unique landscape and the wildlife that thrives in its brackish waters. That includes bull sharks. This body of water is an extremely popular spot for locals to boat, and visitors often rent canoes and paddle boards, too. Many even swim in Lake Pontchartrain, though there are some serious concerns about the water quality, especially after heavy rains. It's not known exactly how many people enjoy the lake, but considering it is close to the state's largest city and tens of thousands of people drive across the causeway every single day, it's safe to say the number is high.
In the summers, it's common for juvenile bull sharks between four and five feet long to visit the lake — though older, larger sharks as long as 6 feet have been spotted, too. Some have even been tagged so that researchers can follow their journeys in and out of Lake Potchartrain. It's not unlikely for people, especially those around the North Shore, near the swimming beach and boat launch in the Seabrook area, or near Goose Point by Fontainebleau State Park, to see them in the water. In 2014, a young child swimming in Lake Pontchartrain was bitten by a shark, but suffered no lasting damage. Almost exactly a century earlier, a teenage swimmer was killed by a shark. Hopefully, you won't have to worry about another attack for another hundred years — but you should still proceed with caution.
Read More: LINK
--------------------------------------------------------------
While visiting New Orleans, Louisiana, you might drive across America's largest bridge to reach it from the North Shore. But might you spot pointy dorsal fins sticking up out of the water as you drive? Lake Pontchartrain is an impressive 630-square-foot estuary, known for its unique landscape and the wildlife that thrives in its brackish waters. That includes bull sharks. This body of water is an extremely popular spot for locals to boat, and visitors often rent canoes and paddle boards, too. Many even swim in Lake Pontchartrain, though there are some serious concerns about the water quality, especially after heavy rains. It's not known exactly how many people enjoy the lake, but considering it is close to the state's largest city and tens of thousands of people drive across the causeway every single day, it's safe to say the number is high.
In the summers, it's common for juvenile bull sharks between four and five feet long to visit the lake — though older, larger sharks as long as 6 feet have been spotted, too. Some have even been tagged so that researchers can follow their journeys in and out of Lake Potchartrain. It's not unlikely for people, especially those around the North Shore, near the swimming beach and boat launch in the Seabrook area, or near Goose Point by Fontainebleau State Park, to see them in the water. In 2014, a young child swimming in Lake Pontchartrain was bitten by a shark, but suffered no lasting damage. Almost exactly a century earlier, a teenage swimmer was killed by a shark. Hopefully, you won't have to worry about another attack for another hundred years — but you should still proceed with caution.
Read More: LINK
This post was edited on 2/25/26 at 4:04 pm
19
Posted on 2/25/26 at 4:03 pm to PelicanState87
quote:
Lake Pontchartrain is an impressive 630-square-foot estuary
I've seen more impressive estuaries in the quad.
Posted on 2/25/26 at 4:03 pm to PelicanState87
You must be from Nebraska?
Posted on 2/25/26 at 4:03 pm to PelicanState87
quote:
630-square-foot estuary
wut?
Posted on 2/25/26 at 4:04 pm to PelicanState87
quote:
Lake Pontchartrain is an impressive 630-square-foot estuary
I guess they meant mile.
Posted on 2/25/26 at 4:05 pm to PelicanState87
The person, or AI, responsible for writing that is a moron. Yes there are bull sharks in Lake P. but how many people actually swim in it?
Not a fraction of the potential human/shark interaction that is available at any TX, AL, or FL beach (whether bay or gulf front)
Not a fraction of the potential human/shark interaction that is available at any TX, AL, or FL beach (whether bay or gulf front)
Posted on 2/25/26 at 4:05 pm to Y.A. Tittle
quote:
I guess they meant mile.
Journalism is dead
Posted on 2/25/26 at 4:06 pm to PelicanState87
All we need now is a fat tornado across the lake.
Posted on 2/25/26 at 4:06 pm to PelicanState87
quote:
you spot pointy dorsal fins sticking up out of the water as you drive
I have driven across the Causeway over 2,000 times.
The only dorsal fins I have experienced were hanging off my chin after a Deanies in Bucktown seafood platter.
Posted on 2/25/26 at 4:07 pm to Cosmo
definitely would not swim in that lake especially when they open the Bonnet Carre
Posted on 2/25/26 at 4:09 pm to PelicanState87
More people have died by shark in Louisiana than by alligator.
Posted on 2/25/26 at 4:09 pm to PelicanState87
quote:
Many even swim in Lake Pontchartrain, though there are some serious concerns about the water quality, especially after heavy rains.
Might be more dangerous than the bull sharks.
Posted on 2/25/26 at 4:10 pm to PelicanState87
It seems like around the early 80's after Jaws had scared people senseless about sharks, someone claimed there were hammerheads in Lake Pontchartrain.
Posted on 2/25/26 at 4:10 pm to PelicanState87
Many many many fond memories in and around the lake! Spent most summers and countless weekends at the camp off Carr Dr. in Slidell. I’m 50yrs old now and have never seen a shark in the lake. As kids we swam, waded, and would ski literally all day! I’ve seen a few straggling gators from the bayou in the lake, but never a shark. Not saying there isn’t any in there, I just never saw them.
Posted on 2/25/26 at 4:17 pm to Saskwatch
quote:
Not a fraction of the potential human/shark interaction that is available at any TX, AL, or FL beach (whether bay or gulf front)
It does not say its top 5 for interactions or attacks. It says top 5 destination for deadly sharks. Some sharks aren't as deadly and dangerous as bull sharks. We have alot of bullsharks. That's it.
What's crazy about this? There are probably more bull sharks around you in lake Ponchatrain than in any small area of a beach at any given time.
Article is still stupid.
Posted on 2/25/26 at 4:19 pm to TigahTeeth
quote:
I’m 50yrs old now and have never seen a shark in the lake.
When I was a kid, about 55 years ago, me and my family were at West End and saw a flat boat with about 15 sharks in it. They were all about three or four feet long and caught in the Lake. But I’ve never seen a live one in the Lake.
Posted on 2/25/26 at 4:28 pm to PelicanState87
Trawled for shrimp in Lake Ponchartrain for years. Even jumped over the side and dove under the skiff several times to untangle the trawl from the propeller. All those hours puttering across the lake, we never even thought about sharks—much less saw one.
Posted on 2/25/26 at 4:33 pm to PelicanState87
My cousins would fish Chef Pass and the Rigolis for Bull Sharks since the 70’s.
Posted on 2/25/26 at 4:42 pm to PelicanState87
The thread title is misleading. Specific to Nola, the article only talks about adolescent Bull Sharks and notes there is little history of attacks on people in the Lake in 100+ years. I've always known there were Bull Sharks in the Nola area. This article is nothing ground breaking.
Posted on 2/25/26 at 4:43 pm to PelicanState87
There is a bunch of them. A kid was bit by a small one in the Pontchartrain years ago.
You get big ones in the diversion too and I've seen them in the Atchafalaya as well.
Every once in a while you will also hear of them in the Mississippi up by St. Louis.
You get big ones in the diversion too and I've seen them in the Atchafalaya as well.
Every once in a while you will also hear of them in the Mississippi up by St. Louis.
This post was edited on 2/25/26 at 4:44 pm
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