Published 2 days ago • loading... • Updated 2 days ago

12-foot great white shark ‘Ernst’ spotted off Florida coast

OCEARCH is tracking Ernst, a 12-foot, 1,000-pound juvenile female great white, which repeatedly visits Pulley Ridge about 150 miles off the Southwest Florida coast to forage.
When OCEARCH began its research a decade ago, Fischer said, "We thought that the Gulf was just a rare occurrence for the white shark, and a small percentage trickled over into the Gulf," as data now show many tagged white sharks travel into the Gulf, reaching the Florida panhandle.
Pulley Ridge, a deep-water hotspot, hosts abundant amberjack and serves as a key feeding stop where researchers say white sharks pause to balance the ecosystem.
The discovery has prompted researchers studying white shark migrations to reassess migration models and drivers, while conservation and management researchers use new tracking evidence from over 100 tagged white sharks to study Gulf hotspots.
Researchers will monitor whether Ernst's migratory loop shifts from one year to two years, signaling sexual maturity and potentially altering migration patterns for mature female white sharks.

Insights by Ground AI