1,500-pound great white shark spotted off East Coast


Spring breakers — beware.

A gigantic great white shark has been tracked off the coast of North Carolina as spring breakers dive into the waters.

The 1,437-pound, 13-foot shark has been nicknamed Breton by OCEARCH, a nonprofit marine research group, for the area near Nova Scotia where he was first tagged in September 2020.

Breton is one of dozens of sharks being followed with an electronic tracker, which pings whenever the creature breaks the water’s surface.

On Saturday, his tracker alerted the organization as he got some fresh air off the coast near the Pamlico Sound on North Carolina’s Outer Banks.

The adult shark has been tracked all along the East Coast, traveling from Canada all the way down near Florida and Turks and Caicos Islands.

The 13-foot shark has been tracked by OCEARCH since it was first found in Nova Scotia in 2020.
Ocearch

Breton’s travel route is consistent with other great whites in the Atlantic that make their yearly migration between the Florida Keys and Canada.

OCEARCH, which collects research for scientists aiming “to accelerate the ocean’s return to balance and abundance,” has tagged 437 sharks since 2007.

Great white sharks, the world’s largest known predatory fish, are not endangered but considered a “vulnerable” species, according to the World Wildlife Fund.

However, experts warn that while they are not yet endangered, more than one-third of all sharks are at risk due to overfishing.

Earlier this month a family vacationing in Florida reeled in a great white shark.

In a cell phone video of the incident shared by WSVN, members of the family visiting the Fort Lauderdale area from North Dakota can be heard marveling as the shark bobs near the surface a few feet from the boat.


Breton swimming in a tank
Great white sharks are considered a “vulnerable” species, according to WWF.
Robert Snow

One of the family members, Shaun Jacobson, told the outlet that it took three men 40 minutes to reel in the great white.

Before tagging the shark and releasing it back into the water, the youngsters on board decided to bestow the creature with a name.

“We named it Cofax Crusher,” one of the boys said proudly.



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