[ad_1]
One of the largest white sharks ever tagged was just spotted swimming south of Miami, Florida, according to NBC Miami.
Unama’ki “pinged” at 5:46 am ET off Key Largo, south of Miami on Thursday (Nov. 5), meaning its dorsal fin broke the surface of the water, sending a signal to a satellite , alerting researchers to its location, according to a previous Florida Today article.
Unama’ki was first tagged in Nova Scotia in September; in the indigenous language of the Mi’kmaq people, its name means “land of fog”. With a length of 15 feet 5 inches (4.7 meters) and a weight of 2,076 pounds (942 kilograms), it is the second largest white shark ever tagged by Ocearch, a nonprofit organization that tags and tracks large sea animals.
Related: Image gallery: great white sharks
But that’s not the only impressive beast out there. Great white sharks are the largest predatory fish on the planet and grow up to 15 feet (4.6m) on average, according to National Geographic. Some have been found to weigh up to 5,000 pounds. (2,268 kg) and grow to over 20 feet (6 m).
More than a month ago, Ocearch researchers also discovered and tagged a 5m (5m) long female great white shark, weighing 3,541 lbs. (1,606 kg) – off the coast of Nova Scotia which they called the “queen of the ocean,” according to an earlier Live Science report. She was officially named Nukumi, named after a legendary wise grandmother of the indigenous Mi’kmaq people.
Great whites are classified as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. As a major predator of the ocean, “great white sharks are critical to the functioning of ecosystems and the maintenance of biodiversity,” according to Ocearch.
The researchers hope that Unama’ki will lead them to a site where she gives birth and then reveal a previously unknown white shark nursery, according to Ocearch.
But it’s not always clear where the great white shark is. The majestic sea creatures can only be tracked once they break the surface, and each shark tends to spend a different amount of time on the surface, according to Ocearch.
You can track down Unama’ki’s whereabouts, or at least whenever he comes out to the surface, here.
Originally published in Live Science.
Source link
