A tagged juvenile female great white shark named Martha has reached the New Jersey coast.
The shark, which at 7 feet, 184 pounds is just a small version of the ocean’s apex predator, pinged Sunday at 11:31 p.m. far offshore of Long Branch, according to OCEARCH’s Global Shark Tracker.
OCEARCH, a nonprofit research group, tagged the shark on Aug. 13 while the animal was on the coast of Cape Cod. She was the fourth great white shark tagged by OCEARCH on its summer expedition to Massachusetts.
Martha was named after Martha’s Vineyard, according to OCEARCH’s profile of her.
A “ping” occurs when the shark’s dorsal fin is above the surface long enough for a satellite to pick up its location on the tag placed on the fin.
OCEARCH is using the information to study the life cycle of great white sharks. See the research group tag great white shark Ironbound in the above video.
Spring migration:Tagged great white shark ‘Ironbound’ arrives off New Jersey coast
Martha took a route that brought her offshore of Long Island before she reached New Jersey. She traveled about 379 miles since she was tagged, according to the Global Shark Tracker.
She could be migrating to southeastern waters for the winter, a path taken by many sharks that OCEARCH is keeping tabs on.
She is one of several tagged OCEARCH tagged great white sharks to visit the New Jersey coast this year.
Source: https://www.app.com/
