1200-Pound Shark Just Spotted Stalking the Florida Panhandle

Tracking Great White Sharks

Affectionately known as Maple, this shark is one of the great white sharks tracked by OCEARCH. The mission of this global non-profit organization is to use sophisticated shark tagging and tracking systems to help scientists collect previously unattainable data.

Through this research, they hope to accelerate the restoration of ocean balance by protecting and educating the public about the ocean’s ‘guardian of balance’, the great white shark. Maple was first tagged by his OCEARCH researchers on September 14, 2021 off Ironbound Island, Nova Scotia.

This shark is named after the maple leaf, the national symbol of Canada. Each tag that OCEARCH attaches to a shark is equipped with a transmitter. Researchers use the transmitter data to track the shark’s movement and behavior. When a shark appears, the transmitter sends out a ping to help her OCEARCH locate the shark.

To pinpoint the shark’s location, he would have to hover for 90 seconds at the surface of the water. If the shark dives before that minute and a half has passed, the researchers record a Z-ping. Z-ping tells researchers that the shark surfaced but didn’t get enough data to geolocate it.

Maple’s Travels

Since her days in Nova Scotia, Maple has traveled a little further north. The northernmost sighting was on October 17, 2022, when she surfaced just off the coast of Quebec’s Magdalen Islands in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Maple’s southernmost ping was only five months old. Finally, on May 27, 2022, it surfaced between the Florida Keys and Cuba. Maple is definitely active!

Her recent ping shows her willingness to swim through the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Many of the sharks that OCEARCH studies along the eastern coasts of Canada and the United States remain on the Atlantic coast. Maple, on the other hand, has no trouble swimming around the southern tip of Florida to the Gulf Coast.

Her last sighting in the West was on February 8, 2022 in waters off the coast of Louisiana. This is her one of the westernmost pings OCEARCH has recorded from a shark tagged on the Atlantic coast. Maple’s current position shows it patrolling the waters of Apalachee Bay off the Florida Panhandle.

It’s been almost a month since Maple’s last ping of her, but data shows she’s approaching a beach in the Panhandle. However, how long she will remain in this area can only be guessed. If Maple has proven anything, it’s that she loves her travels.

Where is Florida Panhandle Located on a Map?

Northwest Florida, known as the Florida Panhandle, is characterized by rural landscapes and a unique Southern culture compared to the rest of the state. Major cities include Pensacola, Destin, Panama City Beach and Tallahassee.