Featured Image Credit: Elias Levy via Wikimedia Commons
Mary Lee, a 3,500 pound celebrity great white shark might be making her way to the Jersey Shore just in time for the holiday weekend.
Back in September 2012, Mary Lee became a celebrity when she was tagged after being found in the waters of Cape Cod, Massachusetts by the nonprofit research group, OCEARCH.
Apparently, she is currently traveling up north after being pinged near Assetegaue Island off the Maryland-Virginia coast. According to OCEARCH, Mary Lee is on a mission. She has traveled just over 41 miles during a recent 72-hour period.
“My gut feeling is Mary Lee is northbound and will end up in September in the Nantucket, Cape Cod area, and mate again,” said Chris Fisher, the founder of OCEARCH.
Fisher says that whenever water temperatures get into the upper 60s, great whites start leaving and heading elsewhere for cooler water.
Mary Lee is helping research groups figure out how these mysterious beasts operate on the East Coast. Her movements allow them to study a variety of things: where and when it mates, gives birth, and its full migratory range.
OCEARCH has placed satellite tags on 23 great white sharks in the western Atlantic Ocean. When the sharks surface, their satellite tags ping and their locations are picked up by satellite.
Mary Lee has traveled nearly 40,000 miles since she was tagged in 2012. She has gone up and down the Atlantic Coastline, reaching as far as Bermuda.
She has also become quite the social media sensation. She has over 66,000 Facebook likes and even has a twitter account, @MaryLeeShark, with over 106,000 follows. You can also track her movements as well as other sharks tagged by OCEARCH in real time.