A great white shark is in Florida’s Gulf. Here’s how close it is to Manatee beaches
Florida spring breakers are usually dotting the numerous white, sandy beaches in the state.
And while red tide could affect the number of beachgoers, there’s another type of spring break visitor in the Gulf of Mexico.
Keji, a juvenile great white shark, has spent 2023 in the Gulf of Mexico, according to OCEARCH’s tracker. The 9-foot-7-inch, 578-pound male shark’s latest known location pinged off Longboat Key in late February.
However, a z-ping for Keji occurred Thursday. OCEARCH scientists determine a ping when the shark breaks the surface of the water and a z-ping is a ping with no location data.
The organization first tagged Keji in 2021 near Nova Scotia, Canada. Since then, Keji has migrated down the east coast of the United States, circling the Florida Keys and reaching as far north as the waters off the Florida Panhandle.
OCEARCH, a global nonprofit shark tracker, named the shark after Kejimkujik National Park and National Historic Site, located in southwest Nova Scotia, according to their site.
He’s the ninth shark the organization sampled, tagged and released during their Nova Scotia expedition and became the 82nd shark of their Northwest Atlantic White Shark study.
Two other white sharks on OCEARCH’s tracker have pinged off the Florida gulf coast this winter. Maple, a 1,200-pound sub-adult female last pinged near the panhandle, while Rose, a 600-pound juvenile female, recently pinged in Southwest Florida off Sanibel Island.
Florida’s gulf waters in the Tampa Bay region have experienced red tide, a naturally occurring algae bloom caused by the Karenia brevis organism, for months.
Beachgoers have reported respiratory irritation and 3.5 tons of dead fish were collected from local beaches in the last two weeks in Manatee County, the Herald reported in the latest red tide update.
This story was originally published March 10, 2023 at 3:08 PM.
