While most sharks are hauling north toward cooler waters and abundant food sources during the peak of summer, great white shark Breton is taking an entirely different route and piquing scientists’ curiosity.
Breton, an adult white shark weighing more than 1,400 pounds at the time of his tagging, has been tracked by OCEARCH since Sept. 2020, when he was tagged off Scatarie Island, Nova Scotia.
When looking at the OCEARCH Global Shark Tracker, most sharks are north around Cape Cod or into Atlantic Canada. Breton’s latest pings show him hanging out off the coast of eastern Florida, where not many sharks frequent at this point in the season.
This has scientists wondering why, as the shark continues heading south into much warmer waters.
During one of Breton’s most recent pings, scientists noted a sea surface temperature of 87 degrees, which is very warm for a white shark.
“Warm surface water doesn’t necessarily mean unsuitable habitat,” OCEARCH Senior Data Scientist John Tyminski said. “Breton likely has access to much cooler water at depth.”
Tyminski explained that white sharks like Breton make deep dives, sometimes hundreds of meters deep, into cooler waters.
As to why Breton is making these moves? There’s no way to know for sure, but scientists suggest that the shark is chasing pelagic fish that stay in large schools down off Florida’s coast.
“Sharks don’t always follow the rulebook,” Tyminski said. “Breton’s unexpected journey reminds us that the factors driving white shark movements are complex, and we’re still uncovering the secrets behind these remarkable migrations.”
OCEARCH is a global nonprofit organization dedicated to researching and protecting sharks, whales, sea turtles and other ocean life, tagging these animals to track and study their migration habits and behaviors from afar.
Keep up with Breton and more than 400 other ocean animals in real time using the free OCEARCH Global Shark Tracker app.
