1,500-lb great white shark pinged off Hatteras on Saturday

An image of Breton receiving his tracking device in September 2020. [Courtesy OCEARCH]

One of the largest sharks currently tracked by OCEARCH, a global nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation of these feared creatures, was pinged off the coast of Cape Hatteras over the weekend.

On March 25, 2023, a Great White by the name of Breton—named in honor of the people of Cape Breton in Nova Scotia where it was originally tagged on September 12, 2020—made his way to local Carolina waters. Breton is over 13 feet long and weighs nearly 1,500 pounds, making him one of the largest sharks currently tracked by OCEARCH.

While data shows that Breton is currently heading north along the coast of the Outer Banks, researchers have also learned that this particular shark has ventured further into the waters of the open Atlantic than most other sharks, having also been spotted in Newfoundland and Florida.

According to the non-profit’s tracking data, however, Breton always seems to end up back in North Carolina waters in February and March.

How might those at OCEARCH keep track of these giants, you might ask? Affixed to a shark’s dorsal fin, transmitters send out “pings” to researchers whenever a shark’s fin breaks the water’s surface. OCEARCH tags sharks off the Atlantic coast of the United States and Canada.

To track Breton, or any of the other sharks currently being monitored, click here.

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