12-Foot Great White Shark Visits Off Pinellas Coast

SARASOTA, FL - A 12-foot female great white shark named Miss Costa was visiting off the Pinellas coast in the Gulf on New Year’s Day. After spending several weeks around the Florida Keys, the 1,668-pound shark moved north to the Pinellas area, according to a Facebook post by the Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium in Sarasota.

OCEARCH researchers tagged Miss Costa with a GPS tracking system in September 2016 near Nantucket, Mass., according to the shark’s profile on the OCEARCH website. Researchers track a shark’s “ping” when its dorsal fin breaks the surface of the water and transmits a signal to a satellite. The transmission then sends back an estimated location, the OCEARCH website said.

Miss Costa had been in the waters of the east coast in November. On Dec. 13, she pinged off the coast of Key West, according to the OCEARCH website shark tracker map. Miss Costa pinged at 9:05 p.m. on Jan. 1 off the Pinellas coast.

Other great white sharks such as Katherine and Betsy have been tracked in this area in the past.

You can follow Miss Costa’s path here.
Or follow her on Twitter.

Image via Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium Facebook page