Great White Shark Becomes Attraction Off Long Island
BABYLON, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- A great white shark is causing a commotion off Long Island.
The 16-foot-long shark known as "Mary Lee" was last detected off Robert Moses State Park, WCBS 880's Long Island Bureau Chief Mike Xirinachs reported.
Researchers believe the 3,500-pound beast is headed to Cape Cod, Massachusetts, to give birth.
"People get a big thrill out of it, seeing a big great white like that," one fisherman told Xirinachs.
As CBS2's Jennifer McLogan reported, every season, boaters off Long Island radio in great white sightings.
"Every remembers that last scene in the movie Jaws. Captain Quint being eaten alive," Captain Rick Cohen, Freeport Water Tours, explained.
The shark has been tagged by a nonprofit research group.
"Waiting to see if she will actually spawn and give birth up there," Cohen said, "Want to see her prosper, which is great because they are endangered as a species."
Mary Lee, one of the most feared creatures in the world, has created a big beach buzz.
Freeport school children hoped to spot her as they took an educational trip aboard the Fish My Bonni.
Mary Lee is moving around. She has been pinging off Fire Island, Jones Beach, Robert Moses, and Montauk.
If she moves in closer for a meal, gawkers will be on the lookout.
"I don't think I'd be jumpin into the water," one said.
Officials don't have any plans in place to alert swimmers. There is no system for relaying Mary Lee's tracking information to private and public beaches.
Once lifeguards are on duty, Long Island beaches would likely close if a shark is spotted less than a quarter mile away.
It's hoped that Mary Lee will provide researchers with valuable information about shark migration, reproduction, and physiology.
Mary Lee has become quite the attraction off Long Island and even has a tens of thousands of Twitter and Facebook fans.