DARE COUNTY, N.C. (WAVY) — A juvenile great white shark is swimming around off the coast.
The 9-foot-7 inch, 578-pound Keji just recently pinged off the North Carolina coast, just east of Kitty Hawk, on Tuesday, per shark tracking organization OCEARCH. He appears to be moving north again through Virginia waters, after a trip down to Florida and the Gulf of Mexico.
Two other white sharks have also recently pinged off Virginia, female great white Anne Bonny on May 27 and male white shark Simon on April 15.
OCEARCH tags each of the sharks, more than 430 to date, with a tracking device. The device will share the shark’s location after it spends a minimum of 90 seconds above water, so some sharks ping fewer times due how much time they spend near the surface.
Other great whites tagged by OCEARCH have enjoyed hanging around our region’s waters, including the well-known “Mary Lee.” OCEARCH says Mary Lee’s likely still swimming around, but her tracking battery wore off after about 5 years.
You can learn more about OCEARCH’s work and great whites on their website.