15-foot shark tagged off Canada shows up near Mississippi River 103 days later

A huge great white shark fitted last summer with a satellite tag off Nova Scotia has mesmerized researchers by showing up five months later near the mouth of the Mississippi River.

The nonprofit OCEARCH, which is tracking the shark, says it has never seen anything like it.

The shark, Unama’ki, traveled 3,120 miles in 103 days.

“Unama’ki could be showing us a whole new piece of the white shark puzzle,” OCEARCH posted on Facebook Monday.

“The more than 2,000-pound female has crossed west of the Mississippi River in the Gulf of Mexico and is pinging in an area we have never tracked a white shark to before. We will be watching her very closely.”

Unama’ki, at 15 feet, 5 inches, is the largest white shark currently being tracked by OCEARCH. She was tagged by the research group Sept. 20 off Scaterie Island, Nova Scotia, according to an OCEARCH shark tracker page.

Unama’ki’s tag last “pinged” on satellite tracking at 10:18 a.m. Tuesday, near Port Eads at the mouth of the Mississippi, according to OCEARCH. To show up on satellite, the tracker has to breach the surface of the water.

Where she’s headed remains a mystery — or why she’s going there, OCEARCH says.

But the tracking has revealed that Unama’ki is staying within a thin band of cooler water in the gulf that is around 70 degrees, the agency tweeted.

Researchers believe great white sharks follow the continental shelf as they migrate south from the North Atlantic to the Gulf of Mexico. However, tagged great white sharks typically stay near Florida, making Unama’ki’s westward trek important for data collection.

OCEARCH is tracking great white sharks to find out more about where they breed and give birth off the East Coast.

This story was originally published February 25, 2020 at 5:49 AM with the headline "15-foot shark tagged off Canada shows up near Mississippi River 103 days later."