MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) – A 1,000 pound great white shark is hanging around Dauphin Island.
The tagged, apex predator pinged off the coast of Alabama.
Chris Fischer with OCEARCH said it means our ecosystem is thriving and there’s a lot of fish the shark can feed on as it finds warmer water.
The massive, 12-foot female shark was tagged in October of last year off the coast of Nova Scotia, Canada.
She’s been named “Ernst” after a ferry there in the Tancook Islands.
Sharks typically migrate down south during the cold months.
OCEARCH, which is a research and conservation group, has tags on more than 100 sharks.
Seeing a great white in the Gulf near our coast used to be rare. Fischer said not anymore and that’s a good thing.
“It means one thing. It’s a tip of the hat to your management in the region. These white sharks do not come where the ocean is not abundant and robust. So This is a great sign to see for the region. This means that your fish populations are thriving at multiple different levels across the system and the great Apex predator is coming in there to give it a little once over to make sure it’s tuned toward abundance. So, this is a great sign to see…if white sharks are not showing up in your area. That means we got a problem with the ocean,” Fisher said.
Fischer said, if you’re fishing near Dauphin Island, be on the lookout for the massive shark. Snap a picture if you see her.
If you want to track Ernst’s path, go to ocearch.org/tracker/ to see where she’s headed next.
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