Great white snowbird? OCEARCH shark Andromache off SW Florida coast for third time in a month

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

She's back! Again.

Andromache, a 10-foot 8-inch female great white shark tagged by the research group OCEARCH, pinged off the Southwest Florida coast for the third time in the past month.

The shark pinged off Marco Island on Nov. 16 and Nov. 21 and twice on Friday, Dec. 15 – at 1:10 a.m. and 5:34 a.m. This time she was far off the Naples coast in deeper waters.

These weren't her first visits to the warm waters of the Gulf. Andromache pinged off Southwest Florida in November of 2022 on her way to the Panhandle, where she was tracked in early December before making her way back north.

OCEARCH sharks are tracked via tags attached to the sharks' dorsal fins that transmit location information when the animals break the water's surface.

Here's what to know about white sharks, Andromache and OCEARCH:

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.

What we know about OCEARCH great white shark Andromache

Andromache was tagged by OCEARCH on Aug. 9, 2020 off Cape Cod during the group's Expedition Massachusetts. She weighed 341 pounds and was classified as a juvenile at the time.

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

She seems to like the waters off Southwest Florida. She left the Bay of Fundy in Canada in August before heading south to the Sunshine State and has pinged around the same area since mid-November and where she also spent time in the fall of 2022.

Just in time for Christmas: 2 large great white sharks ping off Florida Keys

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 currently finishing up its 46th expedition, dubbed Expedition Southeast. It departed from Jacksonville on Nov. 17 and is expected to make its final docking in Morehead City, North Carolina on Dec. 15.

Where do most shark attacks happen?

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: 10-foot OCEARCH tracked white shark pings off SW FL waters again