What to Know
- Researchers are tracking a great white shark in the Long Island Sound for the first time ever, according to the group OCEARCH
- The 9 foot 8 inch sea creature, which has been dubbed Great White Shark Cabot, pinged Monday afternoon off the coast of Greenwich
- The shark weighs more than 530 pounds
UPDATE: 1st Great White in Long Island Sound Is So Popular It Breaks the Tracking Website -- and Now It's Tweeting About It
Researchers are tracking a great white shark in the Long Island Sound for the first time ever, according to the group OCEARCH.
The 9 foot 8 inch, 533-pound sea creature, which has been dubbed Great White Shark Cabot (and does have a corresponding Twitter account), pinged late Monday morning just off the shore near Greenwich, Connecticut, OCEARCH said.
The "shark" responded with a message on Twitter: "I heard sending a ping from the Long Island Sound had never been done before by a white shark...so naturally I had to visit and send one off. Hello Greenwich how are you today?!"
Great whites live in nearly all coastal and offshore waters where the temperature is between 54 and 75 degrees.
Last summer, a spate of shark attacks -- not involving great whites -- prompted beach closures on Fire Island. Two children were bitten by sharks the same day. A tooth recovered from a boy's leg was confirmed to be a sand tiger shark.
