A great white shark known as Percy has traveled nearly 3,000 miles in just nine months and was recently pinged off Florida’s Gulf Coast, where researchers recovered a tracking tag carrying months of migration data.
The sub-adult shark, often compared to a teenager, was tagged and released in Nova Scotia last July by OCEARCH, an organization that researches marine life. At the time, Percy weighed 432 pounds and measured 9 feet, 9 inches long.
On April 26, after traveling through the western North Atlantic, he was detected off the coast of Pensacola Beach, where researchers recovered his tag, collecting 270 days’ worth of data, including measurements of depth, temperature and light recorded every five seconds.
The devices provide “high-resolution insights into how white sharks use the ocean, far beyond what satellites provide” but have a 17% recovery rate, OCEARCH said. When recovered, the data helps researchers better understand the biology and movement of white sharks — information that ultimately supports conservation efforts.
Though tiger sharks are most commonly associated with the Gulf, great whites have been finding there way in the Gulf more and more over recent years. Researchers say sightings of great whites in areas not traditionally associated with the species may even signal a broader population recovery, after decades of decline due to factors like overfishing and habitat loss.
A recent study published in the journal Wildlife Research and conducted with Ocearch found that the Gulf serves as a regular winter habitat for white sharks. Researchers tracked 92 sharks tagged between Nova Scotia and Jacksonville, Florida, and found that 57 — male and female, across all life stages — spent significant time in the Gulf or the Straits of Florida between December and May. Some remained there for weeks or months.
Hotspots included the offshore areas near DeSoto Canyon and the Florida Panhandle — far from tourist-heavy beaches, the study found. While sharks occasionally swim closer to the shore, encounters with humans remain rare.