10-foot great white shark hanging out in SWFL waters

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shark
Penny, a great white shark tagged for research. CREDIT: OCEARCH

Southwest Florida’s newest resident may be a 10-foot great white shark OCEARCH is tracking.

According to OCEARCH, for the last four months, Penny, a 10-foot great white shark weighing more than 500 pounds, has become very comfortable in the Florida waters but seems to want to call the SWFL waters home.

On Sunday, Penny pinged a few miles off the coast of Sanibel.

Back on Dec. 23, 2023, Penny pinged off the coast of Boynton Beach. Since then, Penny has enjoyed the warm waters in the Keys and the Gulf.

By Dec. 28, the shark made it to Key Largo. Then on Jan. 11, pinged in the Gulf of Mexico, off the coast of Sarasota County.

Navigating through the waters, Penny could have started going back north when she pinged off the coast of Plantation Key on Feb. 4. However, the great white shark made an abrupt change in course and went west.

A few days later, the great white shark pinged off the coast of Big Pine Key.

Penny didn’t ping between Feb. 9 and March 15. In that time, she went right back into the waters off the coast of SWFL.

In total, Penny has pinged more than 20 times in and around Florida ever since Dec. 23, 2023. More than half of those pings have been in SWFL waters.

Penny was tagged by OCEARCH on April 23, 2023, and in that time she has swam almost 5,400 miles.

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