Penny, a 10-foot long, 522-pound great white shark, recently appeared off the coast of Florida, marking the latest stop on her 5,000-mile journey across the ocean. She is one of nearly 400 sharks tagged by the non-profit organization Ocearch to track their movements and collect data for ocean conservation. The organization’s map also shows tagged seals, dolphins, and turtles traveling across the globe. Penny began her journey in North Carolina and has traveled up the East Coast, into Canadian waters, and then back south to Florida. Several other sharks have recently surfaced near the Florida coast as well. Great white sharks like Penny are known to migrate south when the water gets too cold for them and there is a lack of food sources up north. While Florida has the most shark attacks, most white sharks tend to stay away from beaches and instead swim in continental shelf waters. Conservation organizations have emphasized the importance of protecting shark species despite the widely held fear of them, as they play crucial roles in the ocean’s ecoystem.
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Penny, the Great White Shark, Completes Nearly 5,000-Mile Swim in Less Than a Year
