10-foot great white shark pings off Florida near Sarasota

Kim Luciani, USA TODAY NETWORK - Florida
·4 min read

A 10-foot great white shark was tracked off the Sarasota coast Thursday.

Research group OCEARCH placed a tag on white shark Penny's dorsal fin last April during an expedition off North Carolina. The satellite tag transmits a ping with location information when it breaks the water's surface.

At 11:18 p.m., Penny pinged off Sarasota's coast near the edge of the West Florida Escarpment, a 560-mile-long cliff in the Gulf of Mexico where the seafloor plunges from just over 300 feet to nearly 10,000 feet deep. The escarpment is between 155 to 215 miles off the coast.

This is Penny's first trip to Florida since she was tagged. Once she was tagged, Penny traveled north to Nova Scotia before starting her migration south in late October.

Penny previously pinged in Southwest Florida, off Marco Island, on Jan. 6.

Here's what to know about Penny, other shark pings in SWFL, OCEARCH and white sharks in Florida:

More about OCEARCH white shark Penny

Penny, a female white shark, was 10 feet, 3 inches long and weighed 522 pounds when she was tagged off Ocracoke, North Carolina, in April 2023.
Penny, a female white shark, was 10 feet, 3 inches long and weighed 522 pounds when she was tagged off Ocracoke, North Carolina, in April 2023.

More: 40,000 pounds of raw chicken spills along Interstate 75 in Fort Myers

Penny measured 10 feet 3 inches and weighed 522 pounds when she was tagged on April 23, 2023, off Ocracoke, North Carolina.

The shark has traveled 4,806 miles since then – from North Carolina north to Nova Scotia, then south for the winter in the Gulf of Mexico.

Penny was the 92nd white shark tagged by OCEARCH in the Western North Atlantic and named after the group's friends at Salty Penny Canvas in Morehead City, North Carolina.

9-foot white shark Keji pinged off Sarasota in December

Sarasota waters had a visit from a white shark named Keji last month. Keji pinged there on Dec. 21 at 10:26 p.m.

The male juvenile white shark was tagged by OCEARCH near Ironbound Island Nova Scotia on Sep. 22, 2021. At the time, he measured 9 feet 7 inches and weighed in at 578 pounds. Keji was named after the Kejimkujik National Park and National Historic Site in the region where he was tagged, according to OCEARCH.

Keji is no stranger to Florida. According to his tracked pings, he pinged southeast of St. Augustine on Nov. 30 and spent time around Florida earlier this year, making his way around and up to the Panhandle. He also paid visits during the winters of 2021 and 2022.

Great white shark Andromache also likes Southwest Florida

White shark Andromache has been hanging around the Southwest Florida coast since November.

The shark pinged off Marco Island on Nov. 16 and Nov. 21, off Naples on Dec. 15 and Dec. 20, 21 and 23 and off Venice Dec. 30.

She was 10 feet 8 inches long, weighed 341 pounds and was classified as a juvenile when OCEARCH tagged her on Aug. 9, 2020, off Cape Cod.

Andromache also wintered in warm Gulf of Mexico waters in 2022. She pinged off Southwest Florida in November of 2022 and traveled to the Panhandle in early December before heading back north.

Andromache was named after a character in Greek mythology who was a symbol of maternity, strength and courage.

This image of a great white shark was taken by OCEARCH on Aug. 9 while the non-profit research group said the shark was circling the group's boat. OCEARCH placed a satellite tag on the shark and named her Andromache after a character in Greek mythology.
This image of a great white shark was taken by OCEARCH on Aug. 9 while the non-profit research group said the shark was circling the group's boat. OCEARCH placed a satellite tag on the shark and named her Andromache after a character in Greek mythology.

Why do great white sharks come to Florida?

White sharks swim south when the water gets too cold for them and they lack food sources up north, according to OCEARCH chief scientist Dr. Bob Hueter.

Think of them as the snowbirds of sharks.

Most of them tend to hang out away from the beaches in the continental shelf waters, Hueter said.

What is OCEARCH?

OCEARCH is a nonprofit organization researching the ocean's giants.

The group is recently finished up its 46th expedition, dubbed Expedition Southeast. It departed from Jacksonville on Nov. 17 and is made its final docking in Morehead City, North Carolina on Dec. 15.

Most shark attacks happen in Florida

There are about 100 documented shark attacks around the globe each year and Florida is home to most of those.

While Florida has the most attacks, South Africa has the most shark-related fatalities.

Since 1992, there have been 1,234 shark bites worldwide, according to data from floridapanhandle.com, with white sharks credited as the top biters.

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This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Florida great white sharks: 10-footer 'Penny' pings off Sarasota