Researchers track shark named after Jekyll Island off South Carolina coast

An 8-foot, 395-pound white shark named after Georgia’s Jekyll Island is visiting the waters off South Carolina this week.

Jekyll is a juvenile male white shark tracked by OCEARCH, a nonprofit organization that tracks sharks and provides the data to scientists.

He was tagged on Dec. 9, 2022, near Jekyll Island.

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As of Wednesday, Jan. 5 at 8:38 a.m., Jekyll was approaching the border of South Carolina and North Carolina.

You can track Jekyll here.

Jekyll was named through OCEARCH’s Facebook page, where people submitted names and voted on their favorite ones.

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OCEARCH posted the following about Jekyll and his name:

“After compiling all the names that were submitted by our community, we’ve decided to name this shark Jekyll. His name honors Jekyll Island, an island off the Georgia coast near where we met him. Jekyll Island is a Georgia State Park and is home to the popular Driftwood Beach. We’re excited to learn from Jekyll the shark and watch his movements for the next few years. Jekyll is our 87th white shark tagged in the Western North Atlantic and our 3rd during Expedition Southbound!”

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