Killer whales hunt, kill great white shark
Shark Week’s Alison Towner, a marine biologist based in South Africa, secured drone footage of three killer whales hunting a nine-foot great white shark. Courtesy of Discovery’s Shark Week
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A 1,400-pound great white shark was tracked just off the shore of Myrtle Beach earlier this week, causing anxiety for some residents.
The non-profit shark locator OCSearch pinged the share, named Breton, approximately 60 miles offshore and is measured at 13 feet long. The shark was originally tagged near Nova Scotia on Sept. 12, 2020.
The shark appears capable of traveling far despite its heavy weight and large stature because data from two months ago pinged him near Florida.
“Breton is somewhat of an anomaly. While the rest of our actively pinging white sharks are off the Northeast United States or Atlantic Canada, Breton remains in the warm waters off the Southeast US,” OCEARCH said on its Twitter account. “This is the latest we’ve seen one of our white sharks stay this far south in the Western North Atlantic. Typically we notice our white sharks start their migration north from mid-May to June.”
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The ocean tracker notes the ocean region of Myrtle Beach sees approximately 20 different types of shaker throughout the course of the year. Although he is large, Breton is not the biggest shark to be pinged in that area.
Nearly a decade ago, a local Myrtle Beach resident spotted a 3,400-pound great white shark that was measured at 16 feet long. The sea creature was tracked 2,500 feet off the coast of Myrtle Beach, according to WPDE.
OCSearch said great whites typically are not seen in this region during this time of year because many of them migrate north between May and June.
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“How Breton is dealing with the warm water temperatures or if he’s finally started his migratory trip [north] are some of the questions our science team is currently asking,” OCsearch said. “We’ll be watching Breton’s movements closely over the next few weeks.”
You can track Breton’s movements across the seas on their website.
