Mature white shark caught, then tagged off Hilton Head
121/2-pounder biggest spot-tag in N. Atlantic, nonprofit claims.
OCEARCH, the nonprofit company known for tracking great white sharks and giving them Twitter handles, caught its first white shark Friday on its Low Country expedition off the coast of the Carolinas.
The 1 2 . 5 - f o o t male was caught and tagged about 8 miles off the coast of Hilton Head, so OCEARCH named it “Hilton.”
“T h i s i s a b i g , b i g , b i g deal,” said OCEARCH founder Chris Fischer. “It’s the biggest mature white shark male that’s been spot-tag ged in North Atlantic history.”
The Low Country Expedition set sail last Sunday with several shark researchers, including Robert Hueter from Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota.
The Utah-based OCEARCH, which operates the Global Shark Tracker website and app, often has tagged white sharks in northeastern waters. It also has a permit from the Fl or i da Fi sh a nd Wil dl i f e Conservation Commission to operate in waters off six Florida counties: Brevard, Duval, Flagler, Nassau, St. Johns and Volusia.
But Fischer said the water off North Florida is currently a little warm for white sharks and he believes they’ll have more luck if they stay off the Carolinas.
He said catching and tagging Hilton within five days of setting sail was a quick return on investment.
“Often times we’re out here 20 days to get one animal, so to get one on the fifth day is pretty good,” Fischer said. “We’re optimistic. Now we just need the weather to hold up.”
“We believe there is more density in North Carolina and Georgia this time of year,” Fischer said last month. “We are trying to find another place to work than Cape Cod during a different time of the year.”
According to Fish and Wildlife, OCEARCH has done work in Florida waters under a license granted to Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium, but this is the first time the group applied for a permit in its name.
L a s t month, OCEARCH announced a partnership with Jacksonville University, a private 4,000-student school with a marine science program on the St. Johns River.