Updated
Updated · Fox Weather · Jul 24
1,400-Pound Great White Breton Pings Off Florida as 87-Degree Waters Puzzle Scientists
Updated
Updated · Fox Weather · Jul 24

1,400-Pound Great White Breton Pings Off Florida as 87-Degree Waters Puzzle Scientists

3 articles · Updated · Fox Weather · Jul 24

Summary

  • Breton, a 13-foot great white tagged in Nova Scotia in 2020, was last tracked July 20 off eastern Florida—an unusual midsummer location when most white sharks have already moved north.
  • 87-degree surface water at the ping site sharpened the mystery, though OCEARCH says Breton can still access much cooler habitat by diving hundreds of meters below the surface.
  • Scientists suspect the shark may be following schools of pelagic fish off Florida rather than adhering to the species' more typical seasonal migration pattern.
  • OCEARCH has tracked Breton since 2020 and says his southward route underscores how complex white shark movements remain, even with real-time monitoring of more than 400 tagged ocean animals.

Insights

How can a 1,400-pound great white linger near 87-degree Florida waters, and what are scientists missing about its underwater behavior?
Is Breton an outlier, or proof that white shark migration is far more flexible than scientists once believed?