Unlikely friends: 2 great white sharks seen traveling the Atlantic in tandem shock researchers

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.

Traveling long distances without a companion can get lonely − and apparently that goes even for solitary creatures like great white sharks.

Scientists at the nonprofit research organization OCEARCH were surprised when they discovered two sharks they had tagged with satellite trackers in December have since traveled side by side for thousands of miles.

The discovery sheds new light on everything scientists thought they knew about the apex predators, once believed to prefer only their own company, according to Bob Hueter, chief scientist at OCEARCH.

"This is potentially groundbreaking," Hueter said in a video posted Sunday on the Facebook page of the Museum of Science in Boston. "We've never seen anything quite like this before."

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'They seem to be buddies'

Researchers at OCEARCH first tagged the sharks, named Simon and Jekyll for the Georgia islands where they were found, in December on the southeastern coast of the United States. Since then, satellite data has shown the predators moving in tandem along the Atlantic coast for more than 4,000 miles, Hueter said.

These sharks are BFFs 🦈 Two White Sharks, Simon & Jekyll, Traveling Together

What happens when two white sharks become best friends?Meet Simon and Jekyll, the dynamic duo challenging everything we thought we knew about these solitary creatures. OCEARCH has tagged both of these apex predators and have noticed they’ve moved together up the Atlantic coast for over 4,000 miles! They are currently looking at blood samples to see if this pair of sharks are actually related! #Ocearch #GreatWhiteShark #SharkResearch

Posted by Museum of Science, Boston on Sunday, August 6, 2023

Simon, a 9-footer weighing 434 pounds, and 8-foot-long Jekyll, who weighs 395 pounds, eventually reached Canadian waters and have most recently been tracked to the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

Before the OCEARCH team tagged the sharks, Hueter said, they took samples of blood, tissue and muscle. A geneticist will analyze the samples to determine whether Simon and Jekyll are brothers or otherwise related, he said.

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.

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OCEARCH has tagged more than 400 animals since its first expedition in 2007. And while its research has yielded more than 75 published studies, team members never thought they'd discover that yes, sharks can be friendly.

"Simon and Jekyll," Hueter said. "They seem to be buddies."

Eric Lagatta covers breaking and trending news for USA TODAY. Reach him at elagatta@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Great white sharks travelling together along East Coast shock researchers