Great white sharks journeying through SWFL waters

Be on the lookout for a great white apex predator with more than 300 teeth swimming through the Southwest Florida waters.

According to Ocearch, an organization that tracks sharks and other sea life, four great white sharks have “pinged” near and around the Southwest Florida waters.

Scot, a 12-foot great white shark weighing more than 1,600 pounds, pinged just off the Florida Keys on Sunday.

Scot is in familiar territory. Back in March 2022, he pinged off the coast of Naples and as far north as North Port. Scot has been pretty busy lately. On Jan. 31, he pinged off the coast of South Carolina and has since made his way to the warmer waters in the Florida Keys.

Scot was tagged by Ocearch on Sept. 8, 2021, and has swam 13,510 miles since then. He’s traveled as far north as the Gulf of St. Lawrence. However, he has migrated to the warmer Florida waters each year and has even meandered into the Gulf of Mexico and a few hundred miles north of Cuba.

Jekyll, an 8-foot, nearly 400-pound great white shark, pinged near Scot off the Florida Keys on Monday.

Since getting tagged on Dec. 9, 2022, this is Jekyll’s first year he has pinged in Florida waters. Over the last month, Jekyll began swimming North from waters near Charleston, SC., but on Jan. 29, did a sudden U-Turn and began his trek toward the Florida Keys.

Hello from #WhiteShark Jekyll who pinged in last night near #Miami, Florida! This is the furthest south we’ve tracked his movements. Last year at this time Jekyll was off Myrtle Beach, SC.

Track Jekyll’s movements: https://t.co/P0d4dbIOnb#FactsOverFear #Sharks pic.twitter.com/dT6skRXOno

— OCEARCH (@OCEARCH) February 9, 2024

This is as far south as Jekyll has ever pinged. Jekyll is Ocearch’s 87th great white shark tagged in the Western North Atlantic.

Keji, a 9-foot-7-inch great white shark weighing 578 pounds, pinged off the Florida and Alabama state line coast on Jan. 13.

Since then, he has gone east, journeying into the waters of the Big Bend coastline. He then shifted south, going past Tampa, Sarasota, North Port, Fort Myers and eventually ending up in the waters South of Naples on Feb. 9.

Keji has pinged throughout the Florida waters ever since he was tagged back in September of 2021.

Keji has gone as far east as the waters off the coast of Mississippi and Louisiana.

Simon, a 9-foot-6-inch great white shark weighing 434 pounds, pinged a bit South of Naples on Feb. 4.

Over the last month, Simon has gone from the waters off the coast of Sebastian, Florida, venturing past Boca Raton and Miami through the Florida Keys before ending up off the SWFL coast.

Since Simon was tagged on Dec. 4, 2022, he has traveled more than 7,200 miles and been as far north as the St. Lawrence River off the Canadian coast.

Ocearch has tagged 437 different animals since the non-profit organization began its first expedition in 2007.

Click here to learn more about Ocearch and all the animals they track for research.