Featured Image Credit: Ocearch
George, a 700 pound, 10 foot long great white shark that was tagged a year ago in Nantucket was tracked to be at Everglades National Park.
“George is also likely far bigger now, weighing closer to 1,000 pounds,” said Bob Hueter, a senior scientist at Mote Marine Lab and chief science advisor at OCEARCH.
“It’s outside their normal habitat [in deep waters] and it is very, very rare that they would occur in our waters or our vicinity,” said Denese Canedo, spokeswomen from the Everglades National Park “Our waters are very shallow and it’s just not conducive.”
George-along with 30 other great whites for a project with OCEARCH is being tracked to gain a better understand the habits of the fish. OCEARCH hopes to improve data for recreational and commercial fishing by eventually tagging 60 great whites off the U.S. east coast and Canada. Researchers are also trying to understand why some sharks can handle cold water but others swim south during the colder months.
“Obviously, the long-term purpose is so we can restore the ecological balance to the oceans and properly conserve these animals,” Hueter said. “But it’s not just scientists getting information and it comes out three or four or five years later. We’re all acting like scientists to unravel these mysteries together.”
Learn more from our source here.