Friday, April 17, 2015

Third Great White Shark, Mary Lee, Detected Off North Carolina Coast





Third Great White Shark, Mary Lee, Detected Off North Carolina Coast



A large adult female, Mary Lee has mover farther north than at any time in the past year.
A pair of great white sharks have been making waves off the North Carolina coast after they were recently tracked into the area around Pamlico Sound, and it now appears that a third member of their species has decided to join them in the region.
Katharine and Genie, two large white sharks that have both been tagged by research group Ocearch, were detected earlier this month in the area surrounding the Outer Banks, as the Inquisitr previously reported. Earlier this week, however, they were joined by another massive specimen, also sporting a tracking tag on her dorsal fin courtesy of Ocearch. Named Mary Lee, the white shark is 16 feet long, weighing in at 3,500 pounds.


As ABC 7 notes, Mary Lee’s tag signaled on the evening of Sunday, April 12, documenting that the great white was swimming off the coast of Wilmington. The data revealed that the shark was on a northward path, venturing farther in that direction than she has at any other time in over a year. Since then, the shark has been detected several more times, staying true to her course along the edge of the continental shelf. On April 16, Mary Lee pinged to the east of Roanoke, revealing her presence in the area to researchers.
One of the most popular sharks tracked by Ocearch, Mary Lee was named after the mother of its founder, Chris Fischer.
“My parents have done so much,” he noted. “I was waiting and waiting for a special shark to name after her and this is truly the most historic and legendary fish I have ever been a part of and it set the tone for Cape Cod.”


Though Mary Lee passed by the Outer Banks and continued north, both of the other white sharks have remained in the area far longer. Katharine has spent the better part of the last month in the region, confounding observers who thought she may head back into the Gulf of Mexico for the winter, as she did the previous year. This past December, she surprised researchers by remaining near Cape Cod far longer than other white sharks, before turning south on a dramatically direct course.
During that journey, the great white visited North Carolina for the first time this year, before traveling as far south as New Smyrna Beach. As CBS 6 reports, Katharine has not pinged since April 3, however, leaving her current whereabouts a mystery. Genie, meanwhile, was last detected within Pamlico Sound on April 9. With Katharine failing to surface for several weeks, it is unclear whether Genie is the only great white shark still swimming around the Outer Banks

No comments: