Large Great White Shark Spotted Circling the Islands off Maine’s Coast

Andromache, a large female great white shark, has recently pinged off the coast of Maine.

A month prior, Andromache had spent much of her time circling the waters of the Bay of Fundy outside of Canada. However, on August 26th, her tag showed her location off the coast of Maine. The following day, her tag showed her moving closer to the shore. The tag sends what is known as a “ping” every time the shark breaks the water’s surface, although location data is not always available. 

Within the past year, Andromache has been seen as far south as the Gulf of Mexico.

About Andromache

Andromache is a large female shark first tagged on August 8th, 2020, in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. She is named after Andromache, the Greek character of the Iliad, wife to Hector and mother to Astyanax, who represents strength, courage, and maternity. At the time of tagging, Andromache had only reached the juvenile stage. Despite this, however, she measured in at 10 feet 8 inches in length, and she weighed 341 pounds. 

As is common with the species, Andromache is a highly migratory individual. A month ago, she spent most of her time in the Bay of Fundy. In March 2023, her tag notified researchers that she was near North Carolina. In the weeks between December 2022 and January 2023, however, Andromache spent time around Florida and the Gulf of Mexico. 

Species Profile: Great White Shark

The great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) is also known as the white shark or white pointer. They are one of the most well-known species of sharks. It is the only surviving member of the genus Carcharodon, which contains extinct species such as Hubbell’s white shark.

Great white sharks are a large species of mackerel shark, with females often growing larger than males. The largest preserved female measured in at 19.1 feet and weighed around 4,410 pounds. One of the largest living individuals is a female known as Deep Blue. Estimated to be around sixty years old at the time of her last sighting, Deep Blue was estimated to be at least 20 feet long and weighed over 4,400 pounds. 

These sharks can be found in the coastal waters of the globe. Winters are spent in the warmer waters closer to the equator, while summer may draw sharks closer north, as seen with Andromache’s activity off of the coast of Maine.

The photo featured at the top of this post is © Elias Levy / CC BY 2.0 – License / Original