A 1,000-Pound Great White Shark Spotted Swimming Along the U.S. Coast

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A great white shark named Ironbound was recorded swimming off the coast of the Jersey Shore.

The shark was first tagged in the waters near Nova Scotia on October 3, 2019. It was originally spotted near the West Ironbound Island near Luneburg, Nova Scotia. This is how it got its name.

Reports say Ironbound is 12 feet and 4 inches long. It’s believed to weigh roughly 1,000 pounds, or possibly just under.

Experts say Ironbound is around 20 years old.

OCEARCH provided this information, which is a nonprofit marine research group providing open-source data about the migration pattern of sharks.

Although Ironbound is massive, it’s not the largest shark that OCEARCH has found.

Another great white shark discovered is 17.5 feet and weighs 4,000 pounds. Sharks are among the top predators in the ocean as they have been around for about 400 million years.

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As part of its data collection process, OCEARCH goes through the elaborate process of capturing sharks and fitting them with electronic trackers that alert the organization to the shark’s whereabouts whenever they break the ocean surface.

Believed to be migrating north, Ironbound broke the surface of the waters off the New Jersey coast at about 10:30 p.m. on April 28…

Hueter said, “When we tagged him, he was impressive.”

Ironbound has traveled an estimated 13,000 miles since the nonprofit began tracking his movements.

Hueter said, “He’s gone back and forth from where we found him in Nova Scotia and the Florida Keys several times.”

The scientist explained that this is par for the course for great white sharks, as they tend to make this migration in the Atlantic Ocean each year. The sharks spend their summers in the northern waters near Canada and then make their way down south in the eastern Gulf of Mexico during the winter.

Hueter said that the migration “is an adaptation, of course, to seasonal temperature fluxes, to where the food is.” He also said that while marine scientists are not entirely sure where great white sharks mate, they have theorized that one place it happens is off the coast of the Carolinas during their migratory journeys.

“Mating season is over, we think, and Ironbound is on his way north to get into some good feeding ground and bulk up again for the next year,” Hueter said.

“They in many cases occupy what’s called the apex predator position, in marine food webs. Just like on land, that is an important role in terms of keeping the lower parts of the food web healthy and balanced.”