JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A 13-foot great white shark was "pinged" off the First Coast Wednesday during his migration to the Gulf of Mexico for the winter, according to OCEARCH, a data-centric organization built to help scientists collect previously unattainable data in the ocean.
Breton, the 1,437-pound shark, OCEARCH says, was pinged on Wednesday at 9:38 a.m. The organization says a ping happens when an animal tag breaks the surface of the water, therefore sending data.
Breton is the first shark that was tagged during OCEARCH's Expedition Nova Scotia 2020 and is named after the people of Cape Breton where he was tagged, OCEARCH's website states. The great white is also the 5th shark OCEARCH has tagged at Scatarie Island in Nova Scotia, in two years of working in the area, "providing evidence that the region could offer predictable access to white sharks," according to OCEARCH's website.
"We tagged this shark in September 2020 and have been able to track his movements since," OCEARCH told First Coast News Thursday. "He takes a unique offshore track on his journey south every year. Right now the [great] white sharks are all migrating south to the southeast US from the Carolinas to Florida and into the Gulf of Mexico, for their winter residency."
To track Breton on his migration, click here.