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White Shark Shows Up Off Virginia Eastern Shore

White Shark
creative commons
White Shark

ASSATEAGUE, Va. (AP) - A 16-foot-long, 3,456-pound great white shark named Mary Lee has emitted a signal, or "pinged" of the Virginia-Maryland coast.

Multiple news outlets report the shark, which is being tracked by OCEARCH, pinged off Assateague Island around 5:20 a.m. Tuesday and again in or near Chincoteague Bay at 8:12 a.m.

OCEARCH is a non-profit group that researches great white sharks and other large predators. The group has been tracking Mary Lee since September 2012.

According to her tracking device, Mary Lee has traveled 82.5 miles off the coast of the Delmarva peninsula in the past 24 hours. OCEARCH says it is not unusual for great whites to swim near the shore this time of year.

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.