A great white shark, dubbed Katherine, was tagged near Cape Cod in Massachusetts in August last year and has since been monitored by researchers with the nonprofit group, OCEARCH. On Sunday, the 2,300-pound great white named Katherine appeared to be swimming in the waters of Space Coast in Florida.
Researchers have been capturing, tagging and releasing great whites back to the waters to learn more about them. Researchers following Katherine say that tracking her allowed them to learn things about great white sharks such as how they swim south much faster than previously believed. Besides Katherine, researchers have also so far tagged great whites they have named Mary Lee and Lydia.
Tracking great whites is apparently intensifying as well. The University of North Florida's (UNF) shark-research program looks forward to setting up as many as ten sensors in the Atlantic by the end of January. The sensors will let scientists know if a great white shark with a tracking device swims within a few hundred yards of the sensor.
The tracking project isn't intended for shark warnings though. The sensors can only store information but can't transmit it instantly so researchers still have to go to the device so they can download and retrieve data. The project is expected to reveal where great white sharks go and why.
Chris Fischer, founder of OCEARCH, called the new sensors as a crucial link in understanding great whites. Fischer also said that placing the sensors close to the beach is a good idea because some great whites spend much more of their time in inlets and along beaches than what was once thought. "What's really surprised us is the coastal portion of their life, which particularly seems significant in the Southeast," he told the Associated Press.
Scientists also used to believe that great whites spent summer off Cape Cod and the winter in the Southeast but it appears that some of them are off the Southeast coast even during warmer months. "We're seeing good evidence to show that the animals are not just winter residents," Jim Gelsleichter, an assistant professor of biology and shark expert at UNF, said.
