Two toothy visitors were tracked to the waters off the Southwest Florida coast over the weekend.
Keji , a 9-foot 7-inch great white shark, pinged far off Marco Island Friday at 1:59 p.m. On Sunday at 11:55 a.m., a 9-foot 6-inch white shark named Simon pinged near the same location.
Their travels are recorded via satellite tags attached to their dorsal fins by OCEARCH researchers. When a tag breaks the water’s surface, location information is transmitted to trackers.
Simon was known to travel 4,000 miles with an 8-foot shark “buddy” named Jekyll, surprising scientists who previously believed sharks preferred only solitude.
But it looks like they may have parted ways. Jekyll’s tracker shows him pinging off Jacksonville on Feb. 4. Jekyll also pinged off South Carolina less than a day before Simon was tracked off Florida’s Treasure Coast on Jan. 20.
Here’s what to know about Keji, Simon, OCEARCH and white sharks in Florida:
What we know about OCEARCH white shark Keji
Keji was tagged by OCEARCH near Ironbound Island Nova Scotia on Sep. 22, 2021. At the time, the male juvenile white shark measured 9 feet 7 inches and weighed in at 578 pounds. White sharks can grow up to 20 feet long, though most are smaller with males averaging 11-13 feet.