The second king-sized visitor in two days has surfaced in the waters off the Space Coast, coinciding with the eagerly awaited final launch of the Delta IV Heavy rocket from Cape Canaveral.
Scot, a 1,600-pound great white shark, was tracked by the nonprofit research group OCEARCH far off the coast of Palm Bay early Friday. Zebra Migration
The massive shark pinged southeast of Palm Bay at 1:23 a.m. A ping means the shark's dorsal fin, to which a satellite tag has been attached, broke the water's surface long enough to transmit location information.
Scot also pinged in the Florida Keys on Feb. 10 and Feb. 28. The shark's previous Florida trips took him into the Gulf of Mexico near Sarasota in March 2022 and it hung out around the Florida Keys from April through June of 2023.
Early on Thursday morning, a 13-foot 7-inch, 1,701-pound great white shark, named Mahone, pinged far off Cape Canaveral's coast, just hours before Delta IV Heavy was scheduled to launch. The Thursday launch was eventually delayed by weather and was still on hold Friday morning.
The sharks' locations should be prime viewing areas for the powerful rocket's launch. Depending on cloud cover, visibility is reportedly possible from most of Florida.
Here's what to know about white shark Scot, OCEARCH and sharks in Florida:
Scot was tagged by OCEARCH scientists off Nova Scotia near Ironbound Island on September 8, 2021.
At that time, the shark was classified as an adult male, measuring 12-feet 3-inches and weighing 1,644-pounds
Scot was the 74th great white shark tagged by OCEARCH in the Northwest Atlantic Ocean.
According to OCEARCH, Scot was named by its SeaWorld partners after the people of Nova Scotia, "who have always been so welcoming and committed to the science and health of our oceans."
OCEARCH is a nonprofit research organization studying the ocean's giants.
The group studies great white sharks and other keystone species essential for the health of the oceans.
OCEARCH is launching its 47th expedition on April 1. It departs from Jacksonville, Florida and is scheduled to make its final docking in Charleston, South Carolina on April 21.
During expeditions, researchers have collected previously unattainable data on the animals' migrations, reproductive cycle, genetic status, diet, abundance, and more.
During the expeditions, researchers collected previously unattainable data on the animals' migrations, reproductive cycle, genetic status, diet, abundance, and more.
"If we lose the apex predator (sharks) then we lose all our fish and then there are no fish sandwiches for our grandchildren," OCEARCH founder Chris Fischer told USA TODAY Network's The Courier-Journal. "That's oversimplified, of course, but the idea is important because many shark species are threatened by overfishing and a demand for shark fins in Asia. Their dwindling numbers jeopardize ocean habitats."
OCEARCH provides an online map tracking the tagged shark's travels.
Each animal has a Smart Position and Temperature Transmitting Tag (SPOT) tag attached to its dorsal fin which emits a ping when it breaks the water's surface for a short time and transmits location information to trackers.
The most notable tracker page belongs to a 13-foot 3-inch white shark nicknamed Breton. The 1,437-pound shark's pings from September 2020 to January 2022 connect to show what appears to be the outline of a colossal shark, with the tail in Nova Scotia, the body spanning the East Coast and the head pointing at Florida's east coast.
According to its tracker, OCEARCH has tagged 371 sharks, including 123 great white sharks.
The group has also tagged alligators, dolphins, seals, swordfish and turtles.
A dolphin's presence does not mean there are no sharks nearby. Both eat the same food items, meaning both can be present.
"If anything, it's the opposite," Stephen Kajiura, a shark expert at Florida Atlantic University, told Live Science, "If you see dolphins, more often than not, there might be sharks in that same area."
Great white sharks migrate south when the water gets cold and food sources become scarce up north, according to OCEARCH chief scientist Dr. Bob Hueter.
Think of them as the snowbirds of sharks.
Most of them tend to stay away from the beaches in continental shelf waters, Hueter said.
There were 69 documented unprovoked shark attacks around the globe in 2023. The U.S. led the world with 36 attacks and Florida again was the state with the most bites at 16.
Florida shark attacks by county:
While the U.S. has the most attacks, South Africa has the most shark-related fatalities.
In the past 47 years, there have been 1,230 shark bites worldwide, according to data from floridapanhandle.com, with great white sharks credited as the top biters. No white shark has been identified in a Florida shark bite from 1926 to present, according to Shark Attack File.
While the chances are slim, shark bites and attacks can happen. There are things you can do to reduce the risk:
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