2,000-pound great white shark spotted off the coast of Florida

Alex Lasker
Updated ·1 min read

A 2,076-pound, 15-foot-5-inch-long great white shark making its way down the eastern coast of the U.S. over the last few weeks was spotted near South Carolina and Florida amid its migration.

The behemoth creature, named Unama'ki, was registered off the coast of Myrtle Beach, S.C., on Oct. 12 and again near the Florida Keys on Oct. 25, according to OCEARCH, a data-centric organization built to help researchers collect previously unattainable data in the ocean.

Unama'ki was first tagged by the research group near Nova Scotia in the Northwest Atlantic on Sept. 20. The shark, whose name means "land of the fog" in the language of the Mi'kmaq people of Nova Scotia, has been pinging down the eastern coast of the U.S. ever since.

It is a common practice for great white sharks to migrate south toward warmer waters for winter, WSO-TV reports. Researchers believe Unama'ki might lead them to a previously undiscovered great white shark nursery.

Earlier this month, OCEARCH captured a 12-foot-9-inch great white shark off the northeastern coast of the U.S.

The shark, dubbed "Vimy," had two big bite marks on his head and body which may have been made an even larger shark, researchers say.

OCEARCH Founding Chairman Chris Fischer estimated that the creature that bit Vimy was significantly larger than him — perhaps by more than 2 feet, which suggests the animal would have to have been around 15 feet long, similar in size to Unama'ki.

Although great white sharks can reach up to 20 feet long, most are much smaller, according to The Smithsonian. The average female is between 15 and 16 feet long, while males reach around 11-13 feet.