SOUTH PADRE ISLAND, Texas (ValleyCentral) — A great white shark was pinged 200 yards off the shore of South Padre Island on Wednesday.
“LeeBeth” is a 14.1 foot, female great white shark, weighing 2,600 pounds. She was tagged on December 2023, according to Higher Calling Wildlife.
Her tracking is shown on an app called Sharktivity, which is supported by the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy.
The Atlantic White Shark Conservancy is a non-profit that supports scientific research, helps improve public safety and education to raise shark conservation.
“Here we get the hammerhead shark, we have tiger sharks, as well as bull sharks and now currently the Great White Shark,” said Victoria Salinas Guerra a UTRGV student at the Coastals Lab. “It’s been an interesting year for sure and very exciting for us.”
Guerra added that apex predators such as LeeBeth are critical to our ecosystem and usually eat older fish or sick fish. She said that by doing this it keeps the ocean ecosystem nice and healthy.
Sharktivity showed, LeeBeth first pinged in the Gulf of Mexico on Jan 1 near Florida, before traveling to South Carolina, and Louisiana.
She then pinged on Feb. 28 near the South Padre Island Beach shore. Her latest ping was on March 1, which showed she traveled south to the Coast of Mexico near Barra de Caballos.
While having a Great White Shark near South Padre has brought concern to some locals, Tony Reisinger with Cameron County Marine Resources says otherwise.
“You should not be afraid of a shark, odds of you being attacked are extremely low,” Reisinger said. “I’ve lived near and in the water and I’ve seen them and usually they are not looking for you to eat, they are looking for other fish.”
“You should not be afraid of a shark, odds of you being attacked are extremely low,” Reisinger said. “I’ve lived near and in the water and I’ve seen them and usually they are not looking for you to eat, they are looking for other fish.”
According to the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy, this is the furthest west a white shark has ever tracked into the Gulf of Mexico, making shark science history.
They added, that Leebeth had traveled over 2000 miles since she was tagged off in South Carolina.
Both Reisinger and Guerra believe LeeBeth will migrate back up when warmer weather comes.
Digital Executive Producer Steven Masso contributed to this report.
News Source: valleycentral.com
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