The most eye-catching guest yet to Florida’s wild spring break celebrations has arrived: Scot, a gigantic great white shark.
Scot, who weighs 1,600 pounds and is 12-feet tall, is presently relaxing in the warm waters in the Florida Keys and the Gulf of Mexico, both of which attract spring breakers.
Last Thursday, he was traced by the marine conservation group OCEARCH, and was seen being hoisted aboard a boat for a few minutes so researchers could tag him.
The large fish is the 74th of its sort to be discovered and monitored by the marine organization off the coast of North America, according to OCEARCH. The non-profit attaches a geo-tracker on each of the more than 200 sharks it has tagged throughout the world, allowing it to know when one rises to the surface.
Each shark’s voyage is also recorded by the tracker, including Scot’s, who traveled from Nova Scotia to the Gulf of Mexico. The great white was originally tagged in September of last year, and Sea World, one of OCEARCH’s partners, named it after the province’s “welcoming and ocean first committed people.”
Scot then swam his way along the coast of North America in just 119 days, covering almost 3,900 miles.
According to OCEARCH data, he was between 155 and 215 miles (250-350 kilometers) off the western coast of Florida as of Sunday afternoon. The enormous fish, on the other hand, has been prowling about the Florida Keys since Valentine’s Day.
Sharks come to the coast during the hottest months of the year, which are usually spring and summer, and move around most often at dawn and night to hunt.
According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, there are more than 13 distinct shark species that visit Florida’s beaches.
Blacktip and spinner sharks, both lower in size and weight than great whites, are the most prevalent, arriving in large numbers near the beaches in Pal Beach County from January to March.
