Sharks Tagged Off Cape Cod Tracked To Florida
BOSTON (CBS) - There is new information about two Great White Sharks that spent part of the summer off Cape Cod.
OCEARCH researchers tagged Mary Lee and Genie in September. Scientists just tracked the Great Whites to Florida.
Mary Lee is a 16-foot 3,400 pound Great White shark and late Monday night she was 200 yards off Jacksonville Beach.
Police asked people to stay out of the water while the Great White is around.
Around lunchtime Tuesday, Mary Lee had turned east and popped up about 15 miles off Jacksonville's coast.
"The chances of encountering this one individual shark on our whole stretch of coastline are pretty minimal," says Mike McCallister of the University of North Florida. "But again there is that possibility."
Another Great White, Genie, is much farther away, about 30-to 60-miles off the Florida coast.
Researchers in Massachusetts first tagged the sharks in September.
The two sharks are wearing special GPS tracking devices on their dorsal fins that allow researchers to see their routes.
University of North Florida research biologists are studying the Great Whites track as part of a new research program on campus.
"It's a large collaborative multi-agency effort between UNF and researchers in Massachusetts and the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries," says McCallister. "It's a pretty unique opportunity for UNF and unique for Florida."
Over the past month, Mary Lee has stayed between 10 and 20 miles off the East Coast.
There's no telling where she'll turn up next, but this week, she was a little too close for comfort.
You can track the sharks on OCEARCH's website.
