A 2,076-pound great white shark is about 50 miles off Pensacola Beach, Fla., and this is not the first time an adult white shark has been tracked to the Gulf of Mexico.
Unama’ki, a 15-foot-long shark, has been in the Florida waters since Oct. 25 after making her way down the United States eastern coast. The journey, which started after she was tagged off the coast of Scaterie Island, Nova Scotia, has taken her 2,842 miles and 103 days.
Her name comes from the Nova Scotia indigenous people of Mi’kmaq and their word for Cape Breton, which means “land of fog.” The group hopes the trail of the adult shark may lead researchers to a new white shark nursery and add more data to understanding of white shark travels.
Unama’ki may not be alone, as two other white sharks, Brunswick and Nova, are also in Florida waters. Brunswick, a subadult tagged off Hilton Head, S.C., is nearing Tampa. The adult Nova, who was also tagged in Nova Scotia, is just above Key West.
All three sharks were tagged by OCEARCH, a501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization. The group uses satellite tracking devices placed on the dorsal fins of sharks to track their movements on the group’s global shark tracker.
There have been two other sharks tracked off the Florida Panhandle by OCEARCH.
Great white Katharine made her way into the Panhandle in 2014. The 14-foot-long female was tagged off Cape Cod in 2013 and appeared to be heading toward Panama City.
Hilton, a mature male white shark, made his way into the Gulf off the Panhandle in 2018. At the time the 1,326-pound shark appeared to be 20 to 30 miles off the beach between Orange Beach, Ala., and Destin, Fla.
Related: Great white filmed off Pensacola, Florida
The sharks may be after tuna which are known to spawn in the Gulf. All the sharks seem to follow the West Florida Shelf as they make their way into the Gulf, which could indicate food sources also swim in the area.
Hopefully, as we see data on shark movements shared publicly, we can obtain a better understanding of where sharks go and form theories on why they may be there.
