Have sharks ever been sited in the Great Lakes?

“Every year or two I hear a story about someone finding a shark in the Great Lakes. To date, they have all been hoaxes,” says Dr. Phillip Willink, Shedd's senior fish biologist. Willink said there are fossil sharks from millions of years ago in this region, but the world was very different then. read more

There have been a few sightings but these have all been shown to be either errors in identification or hoaxes. So, no , there are no sharks in the Great Lakes. There are indeed some sharks that can live in freshwater for a period (bull sharks, I think) but getting all the way into the lakes would be difficult. read more

According to that Internet thing, there have not been any authenicated sightings of a Bull Shark or any other shark in Lake Michigan, other than a hoax. Great reporting from WGN. However, there have been sea monsters, yeah. read more

It could have made it up the St. Lawrence Seaway and into the Great Lakes system. How it made it through the locks and dams on the St. Lawrence is a very good question. Further, bull sharks have been found only as far north as Massachusetts. None have been reported in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, where they could enter the river and seaway. read more