A great white shark seen in Florida has been identified as the one dubbed "Katharine" that was tagged in Massachusetts, around 4,000 miles away, conservationists say.
The name was given to the shark by the nonprofit research organization OCEARCH, which has been tracking the 14-foot-long shark since tagging it 9 months ago off Cape Cod.
Since the tagging the 2,300-pound great white has racked up 3,685 miles, and was located Sunday by a satellite in waters off Biscayne National Park 25 miles from Fort Lauderdale.
She is being tracked by means of a GPS device that has been attached to her dorsal fin, which "pings" a satellite each time Katharine breaks the surface.
On Monday she was off Key Largo, continuing south between the Florida Keys and waters around The Bahamas, the researchers said.
The public can keep up with Katharine's location on OCEARCH's website.
Great white sharks are occasionally seen off the coast of Florida, as the marine predators follow one of their prey, right whales, during the whales' migration from North Atlantic water to warmer southern climes.
OCEARCH researchers, who've tagged around 150 sharks in the last 7 years, say Katharine is the perfect subject shark for tracking to gather information about the species.
"She's in her prime," OCEARCH founder Chis Fischer says. "She's probably in her late teens, early 20s.
"It'll be really interesting to see if Katharine returns to Cape Cod later this summer. If she does, then she probably didn't get pregnant. If she does not return to Cape Cod by July, then she's likely pregnant," he says.
Although great white sharks are not unknown in Florida waters, it is more common to see blacktip, bull and spinner sharks, experts said.
"Definitely not a common inhabitant to our local environment," Jonathan Shenker, Florida Tech professor of biological sciences says of sharks like Katharine. "We've got a lot of toothy guys out there -- but great whites aren't one of them."
Despite their fearsome reputation as man-eaters, there have been no confirmed attacks by great whites on humans in Florida waters.
Found in the coastal waters of every major ocean on Earth, great whites can reach 21 feet in length and weigh more than 7,000 pounds.
Worldwide, shark attacks kill about five people each year.
