A great white shark that is stalking the US coast ‘is one of the biggest in the world’.
The creature is over 12 feet long and has been spotted close the US coast.
Known as Ironbound, named after West Ironbound Island near Lunenburg – the shark reportedly weighs roughly 452kg (71st) and reaches 12ft 4in.
The animal was tagged by marine research group Ocearch in October 2019 in waters near Nova Scotia, Canada and has traveled roughly 13,000 miles since.
See Ironbound below:
"When we tagged him, he was impressive," Hueter said of the shark.https://t.co/ZHQnVgHX5P#FactsOverFear
— OCEARCH (@OCEARCH) May 8, 2022
The shark has recently been located on the US coast, the tracker last pinged off the coast of New Jersey on 28 April at roughly 10.30pm. (The tracker pings every time the dorsal fin breaks the surface of the water)
Three days prior, the tracker pinged off the North Carolina coast, a sign that he is moving north.
Chief scientist at Ocearch, Bob Hueter, said:
“They’re moving north to the very rich feeding grounds off of Canada and the northeastern US,”
“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.”
“Sharks have been around for about 400 million years. 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.”
As a species, shark populations have fallen drastically over the last 40 years.
