Massive 10ft great white shark spotted off New York for first time swimming ‘very close’ to Long Island beach
A GREAT white shark has been spotted off Long Island for the first time, swimming “very close” to the beach.
The fearsome 10ft, 500lb predator was located near Greenwich, Connecticut, according to researchers who’ve been tracking its movements.
“Be advised! For the first time ever, we are tracking a white shark in the Long Island Sound,” shark tracking organisation OCEARCH tweeted.
Chris Fischer, founder of the research group, told ABC News: “He was right up on the beach, very close.”
But he said there was no immediate threat to swimmers though people should use “common sense” when going in the water.
The male shark was tagged by OCEARCH in Nova Scotia, Canada last autumn and its movement monitored as it swam up and down the east coast of the United States, including as far south as Florida.
Fischer suspects the shark was making a stop to feed in the area, before heading back out to deep water and continuing north.
“Now he’s making his way back north, probably back to the Nova Scotia region,” Fischer said.
“Something got his attention and brought him into the Sound to have a look.”
The shark has been named Cabot after John Cabot, who was sent to explore North America in 1497 by Henry VII of England.
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It also has his own Twitter account and it tweeted: “I just wanted to give a big thank you to all of you amazing humans.
“Today has been a spectacular day for me and @OCEARCH and I couldn’t be more grateful for the support many of you have shown!”
Fischer said the presence of the shark in Long Island Sound is a sign there is now an abundance of sea life in the area for the predator to feed on.
Last week OCEARCH revealed Cabot was among a group of great white sharks spotted off the coast of the US.
The longest is named Luna who measures 15-foot and weighs in at more than 2,100 lbs – half the weight of a hatchback.
Her tracker sent out an alert on Monday by the Charleston Bump, an underwater rock formation 90 miles southeast of Charleston.
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She is the largest great white ever caught and tagged by OCEARCH since the non-profit organisation was founded in 2007.
The marine monster was caught in October 2018 using a thick fishing line near Lunenburg, Nova Scotia.
The tags affixed by OCEARCH convey information on location, depth, temperature and light levels using satellite and acoustic signals sent to ocean-bottom receivers.
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