An 12-foot-long great white shark weighing more than 1,300 pounds has been pinged in the Gulf of Mexico, less than 50 miles from the coast of Florida.
The shark, which is being tracked by research group Ocearch, was located about 43 miles south of St. George’s Island at about 11am on March 6.
In the last two years the shark, named Maple, has spent time across the east coast of the US, traveling between the Gulf of Mexico and the Gulf of St. Lawrence just west of the island of Newfoundland in Canada.
The shark’s most recent arrival in the gulf roughly coincides with Spring Break, when thousands of students visit various coastal destinations throughout the US and Florida.
Maple, pictured, was first tagged by non-profit Ocearch in Nova Scotia in September 2021 and logged nearly 10,000 miles traveling between the Gulf of Mexico and the Gulf of St. Lawrence
The shark was recently located about 43 miles south of St. George’s Island at about 11am, less than 50 miles from the cost of Florida (Fort Lauderdale Beach pictured on March 4) where Spring Break is about to begin
Great whites are powerful swimmers that can move at speeds of up to 35 miles per hour.
Maple’s proximity to Florida is not particularly out of the ordinary.
‘It is not unusual for white sharks to be 43 miles or closer to shore, it all is dependent upon the region,’ Paige Finney, a spokesperson for Ocearch, told DailyMail.com.
‘Last April Maple was in this same region and a bit closer to the shore of St. George Island,’ she added.
Maple was tagged by the ocean research group in Nova Scotia in September 2021 and named after the Maple leaf, one of Canada’s national symbols.
Since then she has swum nearly 10,000 miles.
At the time of her tagging she was a sub-adult and 11 feet and 7 inches long, weighing around 1,264 pounds.
Finney said two years on she could well be larger than she was then. Female great whites are larger than males and tend to be an average of 15 to 16 feet long once fully grown.
When she was inspected in 2021, Maple had a wound on the left side of her body which was believed to have been inflicted by another larger white shark.
Maple had a wound on the left side of her body, which was believed to have been inflicted by another larger white shark
The shark’s proximity to Florida (beachgoers at Fort Lauderdale on March 4) is not particularly out of the ordinary
Just one day after Maple appeared in the gulf, another nearly 10-foot-long white shark tracked by Ocearch showed up on Florida’s other coast.
Juvenile shark Tancook, also initially tagged in Nova Scotia, showed up about 70 miles from Jacksonville Beach.
Ocearch has been been tagging sharks and other animals across the world for more than a decade.
The process involves lifting the shark out of the water and attaching a small satellite antenna to its dorsal fin.
Although the organization has helped to uncover mysteries surrounding the elusive white shark, it has also attracted plenty of controversy.
The non-profit is led by Chris Fischer and core to its operation is a 38-metre shark research vessel which tours the seas, Reader’s Digest in Canada reported in 2021.
The great white was recorded in the same region within the gulf, close to the shore of St. George Island
Tancook, a juvenile great white, was also tagged in Nova Scotia (pictured) and pinged about 70 miles from Jacksonville Beach on March 7
A 2,137 pound 15-foot great white is seen on the operating deck of Ocearch’s research vessel
Ocearch lures sharks onto a 38-metre ship equipped with a hydraulic lift allowing the shark to be raised out of the water
Many researchers embed tags under a shark’s skin with a harpoon while it’s swimming or while it’s restrained along the side of a boat, according to the publication.
Ocearch lures sharks towards its ship and onto an operating deck which can be raised via a hydraulic lift allowing the sharks to be worked on.
The researchers can then take samples of blood, muscle and even parasites.
In 2016, Ocearch came up against a research team led by the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries, which had been studying the behavior of great whites along the state’s beaches, according to the Scientific American.
When Ocearch arrived later the two groups of researchers came into conflict.
‘It is extremely egregious,’ biologist Greg Skomal who was leading the state study told the publication.
‘All we’ve done is respectfully ask them to wait. I don’t know why they can’t.’
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