Urgent tourist warning as one world’s biggest great white sharks ‘Ironbound’ pings on tracker off holiday hotspot
AN URGENT tourist warning has been issued after a giant great white shark “pinged” on a tracker near a holiday hotspot.
The notorious colossal creature known as Ironbound was spotted on the radar off the coast of the Bahamas on Tuesday.
The tank-like beast measures up more than 12ft in length and weighs about 1,189lbs.
His movements have been tracked by research group OCEARCH since 2019, but the enormous great white shark was spotted on their radar at around midnight.
Ironbound’s electric tracker “pinged” near Andros Island at Little Bahama bank.
It is a large area of shallow water, off Mangrove Cay, one of the districts of the Bahamas.
Photos captured of the shark in 2019, showed the terrifying animal as it was pulled onto the deck of a research boat.
Ironbound’s ferocious jaws were locked on an metal bar as his impressive body was measured by scientists.
The fearsome predator had battle scars and was dripping with blood – an ominous warning to any tourist daring enough to get in the water.
According to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, Bahamian authorities issued advice urging the public to exercise extreme caution in and around the waters of New Providence, adjacent islands and cays.
The FCDO claimed the advice followed at fatal shark attack in June 2019.
A spokesman said: “Several incidences have been reported this year of non-fatal attacks occurring within wider Bahamian waters where tour operators have shark encounters, fish cleaning, and snorkelling activities in close proximity.”
According OCEARCH, the monstrous beast was not alone – another tagged great white shark known as Maple, also pinged not far from Ironbound’s location.
Maple is also huge, measuring more than 11ft long and weighing a massive 1,264lbs.
Prior to the ping, Ironbound was spotted off the coast of Florida, in January.
He belongs to a great white population that swims up and down the East Coast of the US and Canada.
Great white sharks prefer the waters of temperate regions, but they can be found all over the world.
They tend to make an annual migration, spending summers in northern waters and winters in the south.
In 2021, jaw-dropping pictures showed the world’s biggest great white shark that weighed in at a whopping 2.5 tons.
