Scientists are tracking two massive, thousand-pound white sharks lurking in the open Atlantic off the Carolina coast.
OCEARCH, a data-driven oceanographic research group, is tracking 15-foot, 2,137-pound Luna and her slightly smaller, 12-foot cousin Caroline near South Carolina. Luna is roughly the length of a Volkswagen Passat.
In a Facebook post on May 9, OCEARCH said the two female sharks are among the biggest the organization is currently following in its shark-tagging program.
Luna is about 100 miles offshore over deep water, while Caroline is far closer — a signal from the shark’s tag pinned her just off Edisto Beach, South Carolina.
OCEARCH says Luna began her journey last October near the Canadian shoreline, following the East Coast down to Florida, roughly along the Gulf Stream, before turning back to the north.
The group also recently received a tracker ping from Miss May, a 10-foot white shark, not far off from Daytona Beach, Florida. The three sharks are likely feeding on fish in the warm waters of the coastal Gulf Stream, their researchers told The Charlotte Observer.
OCEARCH researchers are currently tracking eight white sharks in total, with several others recently reporting locations off the coast of the Carolinas.
By tagging sharks and other animals, OCEARCH’s scientists seek to collect real-time data “previously unattainabe,” according to the group’s website, on a mission to “accelerate the ocean’s return to balance and abundance.”
OCEARCH posts shark position updates on their Facebook page.
