Great white sharks moving to Florida waters for the winter

Author: CBS Miami Writer: Derrick Shaw
Published: Updated:
In this Jan. 15, 2019 photo provided by Juan Oliphant, Ocean Ramsey, a shark researcher and advocate, swims with a large great white shark off the shore of Oahu. Ramsey told The Associated Press on Thursday, Jan. 17 that images of her swimming next to a huge great white shark prove that these top predators should be protected, not feared. (Juan Oliphant via AP)

Shark experts say the coast of Florida is starting to heat up with white shark activity.

OCSEARCH, a research group, says the annual migration to warmer waters off the Florida and Carolinas coasts is underway.

The Palm Beach Post reports that eight white sharks tagged by the Utah-based research group were spotted from New Jersey to Florida in the last week.

Three other sharks that had been tagged were detected Wednesday in waters on North Carolina beaches, and two more sharks —Helena and the 2,076-pound Unama’ki —made their presence known with toothy grins just west of Key West in September.

Unama’ki had been tagged off Nova Scotia in September. She’s a big girl —some 15-feet, 5-inches.

It’s not unusual for great whites to call southern waters home during winter and sightings are common near popular fishing and diving spots in Florida through spring.

To track more sharks that have been tagged near Southwest Florida and all over the world, visit Ocearch.org.

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