1200-Pound Shark Just Spotted Stalking the Florida Panhandle

A 1,200-pound great white shark was tracked very near the coast of the Florida Panhandle on March 6, 2023. 

Tracking Great White Sharks

The shark, affectionately known as Maple, is one of the great white sharks tracked by OCEARCH. This global non-profit’s mission is to help scientists collect previously unattainable data through its sophisticated system of tagging and tracking sharks. Through this research, they hope to accelerate the ocean’s return to balance by protecting and educating the public about the “balance keepers” of the ocean: the great white shark.

Maple was originally tagged by OCEARCH researchers on September 14, 2021, off Ironbound Island, Nova Scotia. The shark was named in honor of Canada’s national symbol, the maple leaf.

Each tag that OCEARCH places on a shark is equipped with a transmitter. Researchers use the transmitter data to track the shark’s movement and behavior. When a shark surfaces, the transmitter sends a ping that helps OCEARCH locate the shark. A shark must cruise at the water’s surface for 90 seconds in order to be accurately located. If the shark dives before that minute and a half is up, researchers record a Z-ping. The Z-ping tells researchers that the shark surfaced but didn’t provide enough data for geolocation.

Maple’s Travels

Since her tagging in Nova Scotia, Maple has traveled a bit further north. Her northernmost ping was on October 17, 2022, when she showed up right off the coast of Quebec’s Magdalen Islands in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence. Maple’s most southern ping was only five months prior. Finally, on May 27, 2022, she surfaced between the Florida Keys and Cuba. Maple certainly gets around!

Her latest ping shows her willingness to swim the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Many of the sharks that OCEARCH tags along the eastern seaboard of Canada and the United States remain on the Atlantic coast. On the other hand, Maple has no problem rounding the southern tip of Florida and swimming into the Gulf. Her most westward sighting was on February 8, 2022, when she was spotted in the waters off of Louisiana. It is one of the most western pings OCEARCH has recorded from the sharks it has tagged on the Atlantic Coast.

Maple’s current location shows she is patrolling the waters of Apalachee Bay off the Florida Panhandle. It has been close to a month since Maple’s last ping, but the data shows she is moving closer to the beaches of the Panhandle. How long she’ll stay in those waters is anyone’s guess, though. If Maple has proven anything, it’s that she likes to travel.

Where is Florida Panhandle Located on a Map?

The northwestern region of the state of Florida is known as the Florida Panhandle, characterized by its rural landscapes and distinctive southern culture in comparison to the rest of the state, with major cities including Pensacola, Destin, Panama City Beach, and Tallahassee.

Here is Florida Panhandle on a map:

The photo featured at the top of this post is © iStock.com/DigtialStorm