9-foot great white shark continues Treasure Coast visit, pings off Stuart, Florida

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

A white shark, tracked by the research group OCEARCH, pinged off the Treasure Coast for the second time in less than a week.

After surfacing off Vero Beach on Jan. 17, the 9-foot 6-inch male shark nicknamed "Simon," made his way south and pinged near the Stuart coast at 12:03 a.m. on Saturday.

Simon traveled 21 miles since Jan. 17 and 6,933 miles since he was tagged off Georgia in 2022.

His travels are recorded via a satellite tag attached to his dorsal fin. When the tag breaks the water's surface, location information is transmitted to trackers.

In December, researchers with OCEARCH tagged two sharks named Simon and Jekyll on the southeastern coast of the U.S. who have since traveled together for thousands of miles. Pictured is Simon.
In December, researchers with OCEARCH tagged two sharks named Simon and Jekyll on the southeastern coast of the U.S. who have since traveled together for thousands of miles. Pictured is Simon.

Simon was known to travel with an 8-foot shark named Jekyll. Scientists were surprised to discover the tagged pair traveling together for 4,000 miles, even though white sharks were previously thought to prefer only their own company.

But they may have parted ways. Jekyll's tracker shows him last pinging off South Carolina, near Bull's Bay, on Jan. 19.

Here's what to know about Simon, an "artistic" shark named Breton, OCEARCH and white sharks in Florida:

In December, researchers with OCEARCH tagged two sharks named Simon and Jekyll on the southeastern coast of the U.S. who have since traveled together for thousands of miles. Pictured is Jekyll.
In December, researchers with OCEARCH tagged two sharks named Simon and Jekyll on the southeastern coast of the U.S. who have since traveled together for thousands of miles. Pictured is Jekyll.

More about OCEARCH-tagged great white shark Simon

Simon was caught and tagged off St. Simon's Island, Georgia on Dec. 4, 2022, during OCEARCH Expedition Southbound.

At the time he was considered a juvenile shark, measuring 9-foot 6 inches and weighing 434 pounds. White sharks can grow up to 20 feet long, though most are smaller with males averaging 11-13 feet.

Simon was named after St. Simon's Island, where OCEARCH met him.

Breton, shark known for 'drawing' own portrait, pings off Florida's East Coast

Breton, a 13-foot 3-inch, 1,437-pound male shite shark, was swimming off Flagler Beach on Jan. 1 and off Jacksonville's coast on Dec. 21 when trackers received pings of his location.

A closer look at Breton's tracker revealed something amazing. He created a "self-portrait." His pings between September 2020 and January 2022 connect to show what appears to be the outline of a huge shark, with the tail in Nova Scotia, the body along the east coast and head pointed at Florida's east coast.

Breton, a 1,400 pound OCEARCH-tagged white shark seemingly created a self-portrait with pings of his journey received by the research group's shark tracker.
Breton, a 1,400 pound OCEARCH-tagged white shark seemingly created a self-portrait with pings of his journey received by the research group's shark tracker.

"You can track Breton, the white shark that made this self-portrait on the OCEARCH Global Shark Tracker," the research group posted on X, formerly Twitter.

Are there great white sharks in 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 1,233 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: Great white sharks in Florida: 9-footer pings off Stuart, Vero Beach