(WAFB) - The Gulf of Mexico is home to a new great white shark. An endangered whale shark was spotted in the Gulf of Mexico during a boating trip near Siesta Key, southeast Florida, earlier this week. Several large tagged white sharks have "pinged" off the Sunshine State coast in recent weeks, with a handful popping up in the Atlantic Ocean and more recently in the Gulf of Mexico. The trackers fitted to the sharks "ping" when the dorsal fins of the animals break the surface of the water, transmitting a signal to a satellite overhead. That fear is well-placed in that white sharks are incredibly capable predators with massive mouths and giant teeth. To continue reading login or create an account. Its website tracks the sharks and shows the locations where they've surfaced. The OCEARCH sharks that have recently pinged in Florida waters range from the 11 foot, 6-inch male known as Nova to the smaller 8-foot, 9-inch male called Brunswick. Scientists don't yet know specific areas where white sharks gather and mate or when it happens, although it's possible a nursery exists just off the east coast. It is currently not clear why. More: Texas man recovering after shark bite in Boca Grande Pass. A great white shark known as Hilton is currently being tracked in the Gulf of Mexico, and it’s not the first time a great white has been tracked in the Florida Panhandle. Tracking company Ocearch said Unama’ki, a 15-foot-long 2,076-pound adult female shark, has been tracked to the Gulf. ", More: 15-foot great white shark 'Unama'ki' pings off Key West. pic.twitter.com/IxX5Fz49pD. It’s a whole different ballgame.". Shark expert helps debunk common misconceptions, 15-foot great white shark 'Unama'ki' pings off Key West, Texas man recovering after shark bite in Boca Grande Pass, YETI the great white shark surfaces off Southwest Florida's coast, Hilton close, Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. They've also frustrated scientists, who can only speculate as to where and when this species gathers to reproduce. Grubbs specializes in smalltooth sawfish sharks, hammerheads and other species but is well-versed in the white shark world. On the ocean it’s like it’s night all the time.". Mexico’s shark cage diving jewel is located on a small volcanic island, located in the Pacific 240 kilometres (150 miles) off the west coast of Mexico’s Baja California peninsula. The newest shark is named Unama'ki, a 15 foot female. Hilton is a mature great white that weighed 1,326 pounds when tagged on March 3, 2017 off the coast of Hilton Head, South Carolina. "Gear for that size animal is not common practice here," Bowling said. OCEARCH tagged Katharine the Great White shark Aug 19, 2013 in Cape Cod. Post by Dark Side Sharkers . The Naples Daily News reports that OCEARCH tracked the female shark, named Unama'ki, swimming just south of Key West on Saturday. Great white sharks are making their way from the cold waters of Canada’s Nova Scotia to the relatively mild Gulf of Mexico … A team of specialty anglers pulled a rare find from the Gulf of Mexico: a Great White Shark, the largest predatory fish on Earth. Whale shark sightings in the Gulf are recorded and tracked by the Gulf Coast Research Laboratory at the University of Southern Mississippi.According to their data set, 85 percent of sightings in the Gulf since 2002 have occurred from June to October and peaked in July. "We take a variety of samples including, but not limited to, blood samples, semen samples, muscles samples, bacteria samples, fecal samples and much more," Fischer said. Since then, the 998-pound male has traveled more than 2,700 miles along the North American coast. There’s an odd grouping of great white sharks at the border of North and South Carolina. OCEARCH's research has revealed that great whites living off the coast of North America often migrate thousands of miles from more northerly regions of the Atlantic to the warmer waters around Georgia, the Carolinas and Florida in the winter months. The evidence is overwhelming: some great white sharks spend their winter off the coast of Florida. In the Gulf of Mexico, declines of both oceanic and coastal shark populations have been reported. Hilton is a mature great white that weighed 1,326 pounds when tagged on March 3, 2017 off the coast of Hilton Head, South Carolina. This massive great white shark was most recently spotted 100 miles off the Florida coast in the Gulf of Mexico, headed toward Texas. "I hear from people all the time who are excited because Florida now has white sharks," said Tyler Bowling, program manager for the University of Florida's International Shark Attack File, "but they've always been here.". (4m) long and weighed in at 2,300 lb. A colossal great white shark has been documented swimming far up the Gulf of Mexico, unusually close to the shores of northwestern Florida. They range in length fro 4-7 feet and adults average 100-200 pounds. The bull, nurse, whale, tiger and blacktip shark can all be found in Southwest Florida waters. February 22, 2020. 2018: YETI the great white shark surfaces off Southwest Florida's coast, Hilton close. The OCEARCH team say that Ironbound was a particularly challenging shark to catch and haul onto the research vessel. Both pinged well offshore of Southwest Florida this month. Ironbound, for example, was first tagged by OCEARCH researchers last fall in the waters off West Ironbound Island, Nova Scotia, Canada. It is thought that great white sharks give birth somewhere in this region. While many people fear sharks, shark attacks on humans are extremely rare. It’s not unusual to find great white sharks lurking around the East Coast, but a massive 1,600 pound female great white has been spotted in the Gulf of Mexico. "There’s decades of data points showing that they’ve always been along the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts in the winter and spring," Grubbs said. These tagged sharks don't ping as often in Florida waters, mostly because their feeding habits are different here than in the colder waters off New England and Canada. BATON ROUGE, La. Grubbs said he too has found that Floridians in general and even people in the Bahamas believe that white sharks don't live in Florida water. Several large tagged white sharks have "pinged" off the Florida coast in recent weeks, with a handful popping up in the Atlantic Ocean and more recently in the Gulf of Mexico. Connect with this reporter: @ChadGillisNP on Twitter. Craven County — there ’ s an odd grouping of great white shark at! Was 14 ft. 2 in be in deep water hunting for fish of 36 miles day! 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