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Great White Shark Off Virginia/North Carolina Coast

Great White Shark
creative commons
Great White Shark

NORFOLK, Va. (AP) - A 1,600 pound great white shark is lurking off of Virginia's coast.

The Virginian-Pilot reports that researchers tracked it early Monday in the Atlantic Ocean near the Virginia-North Carolina border.

The juvenile shark was first tagged by researchers off the coast of Nantucket, Massachusetts, on Sept. 22.

Researchers have named the shark Miss Costa. She's 12 feet, 5 inches long.

The shark is among hundreds being tracked via satellites by OCEARCH (pronounced Oh-Search).

OCEARCH's multi-year project uses GPS trackers affixed to the shark's dorsal fin to post real time data. The goal is to better understand the shark's life cycle and to encourage conservation of the endangered ocean predators.

Don Rush is the News Director and Senior Producer of News and Public Affairs at Delmarva Public Media. An award-winning journalist, Don reports major local issues of the day, from sea level rise, to urban development, to the changing demographics of Delmarva.