LeeBeth, a 30-year-old great white shark, has traveled from SC to Mexico. Where is she now?
Mississippi waters aren't exactly a hotspot for great white sharks, but a massive 14-footer has been recorded just 20 miles south of Biloxi and Gulfport.
LeeBeth is a great white shark that has been making headlines in recent months as her movements are tracked by a GPS tag. She's traveled from South Carolina to the western Gulf of Mexico and her last tracking signal came Sunday in Mississippi waters.
"I caught her on December 8 out of Hilton Head, South Carolina," said Outcast Sport Fishing charter guide Chip Michalove. "It's the fourth largest I've caught here, so she's up there.
"She's about 2,600 pounds and a little over 14 feet. She's definitely on the upper end of the totem pole as far as weight and size."
And she's also quite the traveler. Michalove, who estimated the shark to be about 30 years old, said she's covered well over 2,600 miles in the past three months.
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Because she covers so much ground, he said it's hard to tell where she is at any given time. Her location is only documented when the GPS unit attached to her dorsal fin breaches water. However, in her case, that's relatively often.
"She's a good pinging shark," Michalove said. "She's pinged the most out of all the one's we've tagged."
According to the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy, she gave locations twice on Saturday and another on Sunday. If she stays on track, she's even closer to the Mississippi coastline now.
"It looks like she's going to Gulfport," Michalove said.
As a charter fishing guide, Michalove said he puts clients on typical gamefish species in the warmer months. In winter he wears another hat. He targets great white sharks which are caught, tagged and released. LeeBeth, who was caught by client Ed Young of Texas, is one of them.
He said the work is done through a partnership with the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy. Megan Winton with the AWSC said LeeBeth is opening eyes into the world of white sharks as she swam all the way to Mexico just south of the Texas border.
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"She has been an individual that is breaking shark-record history," Winton said. "She is the first white shark to travel that far west in the Gulf of Mexico."
Once LeeBeth reached Mexico, she turned north and then east, which is what brought her to Mississippi.
"She's in close to shore," Winton said. "She was roughly 20 miles from Gulfport based on the last ping."
The Atlantic White Shark Conservancy studies the protected sharks. Winton said decades ago, the great white population was down about 80% from historic levels. Through protections, the population appears to be rebounding.
Winton said the group mainly focuses on the Cape Cod area. She said that's because rebounding seal populations in that area are attracting the sharks in summer to feed on them and place the sharks near people.
With Cape Cod becoming a hotspot for white shark activity, Winton said the data collected from tagged sharks helps the group with out reach and education on managing interactions between humans and sharks.
Where will LeeBeth go next? That's a big question, but you can follow her travels on the AWSC website or on their Sharktivity app along with other tagged great white sharks.
Do you have a story idea? Contact Brian Broom at 601-961-7225 or bbroom@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: LeeBeth, history-making great white shark, pings near Mississippi coast
