Related video above: 10-year-old speaks after fending off shark at Florida beach
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — A massive 1,437-pound great white shark appears to have plans to ring in the New Year in Florida’s waters, joining two other great whites that have been spotted along the coasts recently.
Early Saturday morning, Breton, a 13.5-foot, 1,437-pound great white, pinged along the coast of St. Augustine. He surfaced around 5:17 a.m., according to OCEARCH. The shark was first tagged back in September 2020 in Nova Scotia.
While Breton is the most recent great white to ping near the Sunshine State, two other great whites have been active in the water despite the recently cooler temperatures.
On Dec. 28, a 10-foot, 522-pound great white named Penny pinged off the coast of Key Largo around 7:50 p.m. The juvenile shark was first tagged off Ocracoke in North Carolina this year.
Then, back in early November, OCEARCH reported that a 10-foot, 460-pound great white, Crystal, was off the coast of Daytona Beach near St. Augustine. The shark was named for North Carolina’s Crystal Coast and was first tagged off the Outer Banks in March 2022.
“It’s kind of like winter snowbirds, the sharks start heading south in the fall as the temperatures drop up north. We have probably about a dozen species that are on the move right now,” OCEARCH Senior Advisor for Science & Academics Dr. Bob Hueter told News 6.
Hueter said annual migration typically begins in mid-October and runs through early December, with the sharks usually staying about 100 miles offshore.
“By early December, they are typically off the southeast coast, off the Florida East Coast, and then a great number of them go all the way around the Keys and into the Gulf of Mexico, the eastern Gulf of Mexico primarily,” he said.
Great whites are top-of-the-food chain apex predators, meaning they have no natural predators or enemies, and can grow up to about 20 feet long and weigh over 4,500 pounds, according to the NOAA.
