Southwest Florida waters had a visit from a "snowbird" of the seas Sunday.
A great white shark, tagged by the research group OCEARCH, pinged far off the Cape Coral coast at 12:33 p.m.
The 10-foot 5-inch shark, nicknamed Rose, has a satellite tag attached to her dorsal fin which emits a ping when it breaks the water's surface and sends her location to trackers.
Rose was previously tracked off the Treasure Coast Feb. 17 and 18 and Boynton Beach Feb. 19. Her tracker shows Rose has spent her winters around Florida since 2021, including the Gulf of Mexico in 2022 and 2023. She has traveled 15,405 miles since she was tagged by scientists in 2020.
Here's what to know about Rose, other sharks around Southwest Florida, OCEARCH and white sharks in Florida:
What to know about OCEARCH great white shark Rose
White shark Rose was tagged by OCEARCH scientists on Oct. 4, 2020 off Lunenburg, Nova Scotia.
At the time, she measured 10 feet 5 inches, weighed 600 pounds and was classified as a juvenile shark.
Great white sharks can grow up to 20 feet long, but most are smaller with adult females averaging 15-16 feet long and males reaching 11-13 feet.
According to OCEARCH, she was named after Rose Bay near where she was tagged.
White shark Keji visits off Marco Island twice
An OCEARCH great white shark nicknamed Keji pinged off Marco Island on Feb. 4 and Feb 16.
Keji's tracked pings also show himnear the Florida Keys on Dec. 13, andsoutheast of St. Augustine on Nov. 30.
According to his tracker, Keji swam to the Panhandle in early 2023 and also wintered around Florida in 2021 and 2022.
Keji was tagged by OCEARCH near Ironbound Island Nova Scotia on Sep. 22, 2021. At the time, the male juvenile white shark measured 9 feet 7 inches and weighed 578 pounds.
Keji was named after the Kejimkujik National Park and National Historic Site in the region where he was tagged, according to OCEARCH.
White shark Penny tracked off Marco Island, Cape Coral, Sarasota in January
A 10-foot great white shark named Penny was tracked off Marco Island Jan. 6, off Sarasota on Jan. 11 and Cape Coral Jan. 15.
This is Penny's first trip to Florida since she was tagged. Once she was tagged, Penny traveled north to Nova Scotia before starting her migration south in late October.
Penny measured 10 feet 3 inches and weighed 522 pounds when she was tagged on April 23, 2023, off Ocraco*ke, North Carolina.
Great white shark Andromache pinged often in Southwest Florida waters
White shark Andromache hung around the Southwest Florida coast in November and December.
The shark pinged off Marco Island onNov. 16andNov. 21, off Naples onDec. 15and Dec. 20, 21 and 23 and off Venice Dec. 30.
She was 10 feet 8 inches long, weighed 341 pounds and was classified as a juvenile when OCEARCH tagged her on Aug. 9, 2020, off Cape Cod.
Andromache also wintered in the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico in 2022. She pinged off Southwest Florida in November of 2022 and traveled to the Panhandle in early December before heading back north.
Great white shark facts
Things to know about white sharks, according toNOAA Fisheries:
- White sharks grow slowly. Males mature at around 26 years old and females at around 33 years old. Life expectancy is difficult to determine but is estimated to be between 30 and 70 years.
- White sharks are about 4 feet long at birth but can grow up to about 20 feet long and weigh over 4,000 pounds.
- White shark eat an opportunistic diet of fish, invertebrates and marine mammals.
- White sharks are partially warm-blooded and can maintain their internal body temperature above that of the surrounding water. This allows them to be more active in cooler waters than cold-blooded species.
Why are great white sharks in Florida?
White sharks migrate south when the water gets cold and food sources become scarce up north, according toOCEARCH chief scientist Dr. Bob Hueter.
Think of them as the snowbirds of sharks.
Most of them tend to stay away from the beaches in continental shelf waters, Hueter said.
What is OCEARCH?
OCEARCH is a nonprofit research organization studying the ocean's giants.
The group studies great white sharks and other keystone species essential for the health of the oceans.
OCEARCH recently finished up its 46th expedition, dubbed Expedition Southeast. It departed from Jacksonville on Nov. 17 and made its final docking in Morehead City, North Carolina on Dec. 15.
During the expeditions, researchers collected previously unattainable data on the animals' migrations, reproductive cycle, genetic status, diet, abundance, and more.
"If we lose the apex predator (sharks) then we lose all our fish and then there are no fish sandwiches for our grandchildren," OCEARCH founder Chris Fischer told the Courier Journal. "That's oversimplified, of course, but the idea is important because many shark species are threatened by overfishing and a demand for shark fins in Asia. Their dwindling numbers jeopardize ocean habitats."
Most shark attacks happen in Florida
There were 69 documented unprovokedshark attacksaround the globe in 2023. The U.S. led the world with 36 attacks and Florida again was the state with the most bites at 16.
Florida shark attacks by county:
- Volusia County:8
- Brevard County: 2
- St. Lucie County: 2
- Miami-Dade County: 1
- Palm Beach County: 1
- Escambia County: 1
- Pinellas County: 1
While the U.S. has the most attacks, South Africa has the most shark-related fatalities.
Since 1992, there have been1,232 shark bitesworldwide, according to data from floridapanhandle.com, withwhite sharks credited as the top biters.
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