Tagged great white shark Breton heads south to Florida, puzzling researchers
The adult great white shark known as Breton, tagged off Nova Scotia in 2020, has been recorded off eastern Florida in unusually warm water, prompting scientists to investigate the reasons for its atypical migration.
The adult great white shark Breton, weighing over 1,400 pounds when tagged off Scatarie Island, Nova Scotia in September 2020, has recently been detected off the coast of eastern Florida. While most tracked white sharks move northward toward cooler waters during the summer, Breton’s latest location pings show it traveling south into much warmer surface temperatures, with one reading at 87 °F.
"Warm surface water doesn't necessarily mean unsuitable habitat," said OCEARCH senior data scientist John Tyminski. He added that white sharks often dive hundreds of meters to reach cooler depths, which may allow Breton to remain in the area despite high surface temperatures.
Researchers suggest the shark could be following schools of pelagic fish that congregate off Florida’s coast. Tyminski noted that the movement underscores the complexity of factors influencing white-shark migrations, many of which remain under study.
OCEARCH, a nonprofit organization that tags and monitors marine species, continues to track Breton’s movements through its Global Shark Tracker platform.