Great white shark named George stalks Everglade waters

Shark-tracking organization OCEARCH tagged beast in Massachusetts in 2016
Since then, he’s travelled more than 4,500 miles up and down the Atlantic coast
Now, he has been spotted right on the coastline of the Everglades National Park

By Gareth Davies For Mailonline

Published: 09:07 GMT, 6 February 2018 | Updated: 13:16 GMT, 7 February 2018

A monster great white shark named George has been spotted lingering in the shallows off the Florida coast near the Everglades and Gulf of Mexico.

Shark-tracking organization OCEARCH have reported George – a 10 foot, 1,000lb beast – was spotted Sunday near the edge of Everglades National Park.

He was tagged in October 2016 in Massachusetts, and has travelled more than 4,500 miles having been tracked all the way up the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia.

Shark-tracking organization OCEARCH have reported George - a 10 foot, 1,000lb beast - was spotted Sunday near the edge of Everglades National Park

Shark-tracking organization OCEARCH have reported George – a 10 foot, 1,000lb beast – was spotted Sunday near the edge of Everglades National Park

A monster great white shark named George has been spotted lingering in the shallows off the Florida coast near the Everglades and Gulf of Mexico (file image)

A monster great white shark named George has been spotted lingering in the shallows off the Florida coast near the Everglades and Gulf of Mexico (file image)

George was last recorded as 702 pounds (320 kilograms) and around 10 feet (3 meters) long.

OCEARCH chief science adviser Bob Hueter told The Miami Herald the shark now probably weighs closer to 1,000 pounds (450 kilograms).

As of late Sunday, George appeared to be making his way up Florida’s western coast toward Everglades City having been picked up right near the coastline.

It was the first time since he was tagged 2016 the shark had made its way around the south-eastern peninsula and into the Gulf of Mexico.

The tracking system works by sending what OCEARCH calls pings back to its mainframe.

Pings are recorded when sharks’ dorsal fins break the surface of the water, sending a signal to a satellite.

George is not the only shark looming in the Gulf.

A huge 12-and-a-half foot female shark called Miss Costa was just south of the Keys in January, and a younger eight-and-a-half foot called Savannah was spotted off the Crystal River in Tampa at the end of the month.