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TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — It’s not uncommon to spot a dorsal fin in Florida’s water, but recently, several massive great white sharks have pinged near the Sunshine State’s coast.
According to OCEARCH, an organization that tracks sharks and other marine wildlife, four great whites have pinged near and around the Southwest Florida waters.
Most recently, Jekyll, an 8-foot, nearly 400-pound great white, pinged near the Florida Keys, close to another great white Scot on Monday. The juvenile shark has consistently stayed on the east coast and didn’t venture towards Florida until recently.
After Jekyll pinged near Miami last week, OCEARCH posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, that this is the furthest south he’s traveled since the organization started tracking his movements. Jekyll was first tagged on Dec. 9, 2022.
Scot, a 12-foot great white weighing over 1,600 pounds, pinged right off the Florida Keys Sunday.
The monstrous shark has been moving south since last month. He last pinged off the coast of South Carolina on Jan. 31 and has been working his way down to warmer waters since. The shark was first tagged by OCEARCH on Sept. 8, 2021.
Earlier this month, Simon, a 9-foot 6-inch great white shark, pinged south of Naples on the Gulf side of Florida. The 434-pound shark pinged on Feb. 4. Simon has been moving across the Sunshine State this month, starting on the east coast and pinging near the Keys before heading west.
Lastly, Keji, a 9-foot 7-inch great white weighing 578 pounds, was spotted off Florida’s Gulf coast earlier this month. The shark ventured around the Florida-Alabama state line coast on Jan. 31 before going to the Big Bend coastline and heading south past Tampa, North Port, and Fort Myers before ending up south of Naples on Feb. 9.
According to OCEARCH, the organization has tagged 437 different animals since 2007. To learn more about the organization’s mission and to continue tracking these great white sharks, visit here.
