There are several great whites being tracked in the waters surrounding Florida right now, according to Ocearch, a world-wide non-profit that aims to provide brand new research on aquatic animals through the use of tracking devices. Ocearch’s tracker shows that white sharks named Simon, Penny, Jekyll, Keji and Bob have recently pinged in different areas around Florida. Keji, a 9 foot 7 inch male pinged as recently as today. The smallest of the five, Jekyll, measures 8 feet 8 inches in length and weighs in at 395 pounds, and the largest, Bob, measures 13 feet 4 inches long and weighs in at 1,308 pounds. Simon is 9 feet and 6 inches long and weighs 434 pounds, and Penny is 10 feet 3 inches long and weighs 522 pounds. Around the United States, white sharks typically patrol the Atlantic between Maine and the Caribbean, including the Gulf of Mexico, and the Pacific between Alaska, California, and Hawaii both in on-shore and off-shore waters. Their usual diet includes a variety of fish, seals, other sharks, dolphins, squid, turtles, and even whale carcasses. However, they have been known to bite people unprovoked too. Great white sharks, referred to as “man eaters”, have 43 to 56 razor sharp, serrated teeth that can grow up to 6.6 inches tall in addition to five or six replacement rows of teeth behind them. They have the ability to sense a single drop of blood within 25 gallons of water, weigh in at up to 2.5 tons, grow up to about 21 feet long, and can live for 70 years. The white shark is considered to be the most massive predatory fish on the planet. In fact, they are among the top three most common shark species known to bite people. The Florida Museum reports that between 1580 to present, white sharks are responsible for 292 out of 807 non-fatal attacks and 59 out of 142 fatal attacks. Yet, it is important to note that white sharks probably do not hunt people on purpose. White sharks are opportunistic predators, so it is considered that most shark attacks on people occur because the sharks mistake them for seals or because they are attracted by people splashing in the water and go to investigate. Sharks are known to investigate with their mouths. The fact that the vast majority of shark bite cases are non-fatal and result in considerably minor injuries supports both points. Actually, humans are a greater threat to sharks than they are to us. On average, sharks kill around 10 people per year, but per year, humans kill thousands of these fish. In addition, a study that took place from 1959-2010, the Florida Museum went state by state and found that a person is significantly more likely to be killed by a lighting strike than killed by a shark with a total annual average lightning strike fatality of 1,970 per year to a total annual average shark bite fatality of 26 per year in the United States as a whole. According to the Florida Museum, if by the off chance you do come face to face with a great white (or any other shark), stay calm and exit the water as quickly and smoothly as possible without losing sight of the shark. If you are unable to safely leave the water immediately, fend off the shark by pushing it away at the nose, preferably with an object other than your hand, or hit it in its sensitive eyes and gills if the shark shows aggression, as described here. The next time you think about sharks, try remembering them as a neutral part of nature and less as a monster that is out to get you when you spend the day at the beach. You can see these shark's movement patterns and additional info here. Article by Ema Tibbetts
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