2 massive great white sharks surface off Jacksonville, Florida within a minute of each other
Two massive, 13-foot-great white sharks, tracked by nonprofit research group OCEARCH, surfaced off the First Coast of Florida within one minute of each other Tuesday.
First, a 1,300-pound white shark nicknamed Bob, pinged at 12:45 a.m. in the waters northeast of Jacksonville, followed by a 1,400-pounder nicknamed Breton. Breton was located slightly northeast of Bob and pinged at 12:46 a.m.
A ping means the satellite tags attached by OCEARCH to the sharks' dorsal fins broke the water's surface long enough to transmit location information to trackers.
Interestingly, Breton’s pings between 2020 and 2022 connect to show what appears to be the outline of a colossal shark spanning the entire East Coast.
Here's what to know about the great white sharks Bob and Breton, the nonprofit research group OCEARCH and about great white sharks in Florida.
More about OCEARCH great white shark Bob
Bob, an adult male white shark, measured 13 feet 4 inches and weighed a whopping 1,308 pounds when he was tagged by OCEARCH off Nova Scotia in September 2021.
He was named for OCEARCH Chief Scientist Dr. Robert (Bob) Hueter, a pioneer in shark science for over 40 years.
"We’ll be following the journeys of both Bob the shark and Dr. Bob Hueter as they continue to help us grow in the world of science for the betterment of our sharks and our oceans," a note on Bob's OCEARCH tracker page reads.
Bob previously pinged off Palm Coast on Leap Day, Feb. 29, 2024, and in the waters off Jacksonville on Jan. 31. The shark has repeatedly spent his winters around the Sunshine State, and traveled as far south as St. Augustine in November 2021 and Flagler Beach in 2022.
Great white shark Breton made shark 'drawing' on OCEARCH tracker
Breton spent a little over two years making a "self-portrait." His pings between September 2020 and January 2022 connect to show what appears to be the outline of a colossal shark, with the tail in Nova Scotia, the body along the East Coast and the head pointed at Florida's east coast.
"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.
More about great white shark Breton
Breton was the first shark tagged during OCEARCH's 2020 expedition in Nova Scotia, the group reported.
At that time the adult male shark was 13 feet, 3 inches long and weighed in at an eye-popping 1,437 pounds.
Breton was named by SeaWorld, an OCEARCH partner, for the people of Cape Breton where it was tagged.
Breton previously pinged south of New Smyrna Beach on March 10 and off Jacksonville Dec. 21, 2023.
Great white shark facts
Here are some things to know about white sharks, according to NOAA Fisheries:
White sharks grow slowly. Males mature at around 26 years old and females at around 33 years old. Life expectancy is difficult to determine but is estimated to be between 30 and 70 years.
White sharks are about 4 feet long at birth but can grow up to about 20 feet long and weigh over 4,000 pounds.
White shark eat an opportunistic diet of fish, invertebrates and marine mammals.
White sharks are partially warm-blooded and can maintain their internal body temperature above that of the surrounding water. This allows them to be more active in cooler waters than cold-blooded species.
Great white sharks in Florida?
Yes. White sharks migrate south when the water gets cold and food sources become scarce up north, according to OCEARCH chief scientist Dr. Bob Hueter.
Think of them as the snowbirds of sharks.
Most of them tend to stay away from the beaches in continental shelf waters, Hueter said.
What is OCEARCH?
OCEARCH is a nonprofit research organization studying the ocean's giants.
The group studies great white sharks and other keystone species essential for the health of the oceans.
OCEARCH recently finished up its 46th expedition, dubbed Expedition Southeast. It departed from Jacksonville on Nov. 17 and made its final docking in Morehead City, North Carolina on Dec. 15.
During the expeditions, researchers collected previously unattainable data on the animals' migrations, reproductive cycle, genetic status, diet, abundance, and more.
"If we lose the apex predator (sharks) then we lose all our fish and then there are no fish sandwiches for our grandchildren," OCEARCH founder Chris Fischer told the Courier Journal. "That's oversimplified, of course, but the idea is important because many shark species are threatened by overfishing and a demand for shark fins in Asia. Their dwindling numbers jeopardize ocean habitats."
Most shark attacks happen in Florida
There were 69 documented unprovoked shark attacks around the globe in 2023. The U.S. led the world with 36 attacks and Florida again was the state with the most bites at 16.
Florida shark attacks by county:
Miami-Dade County: 1
Pinellas County: 1
While the U.S. has the most attacks, South Africa has the most shark-related fatalities.
Since 1992, there have been 1,231 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 Florida: Pair of 13-footers ping off Jacksonville
