Unama’ki, a 15-foot, 2,076-pound adult female great white shark, is the latest “snowbird” visiting the Florida Keys. Early Thursday morning, she “pinged” off Key Largo, setting off excitement for environmentalists and shark enthusiasts.
Nonprofit shark research group Ocearch fitted Unama’ki with an electronic tracking device in September 2019. Scientists from the nonprofit confirmed that she was indeed visiting Florida. She was northeast of the Bahamas in the Atlantic Ocean last week and pinged off Vero Beach Sunday. In early August, Ocearch scientists tracked her off Nova Scotia, showing just how far the shark has migrated since.
Similar to what she did last year, scientists expect her to circle the Keys and move into the Gulf of Mexico.
Ocearch is tracking Unama’ki, whose name means “Land of the fog” in the language of the indigenous peoples of Nova Scotia, along with two other large great whites in hopes of learning where the massive predators give birth and exposing a new great white shark nursery.
Unama’ki is one of the largest sharks Ocearch has tagged in the North Atlantic Ocean, beaten only by a 16-foot female tagged in 2012.
