Mary Lee The Great White Shark Returns To New Jersey
Mary Lee, the massive great white shark that captivated the attention of beachgoers along the East Coast last month, has returned to the New Jersey coastline, weeks after turning away from Long Island.
The shark has followed a somewhat erratic course over the last month, traveling as far north as Long Island, and as far south as Virginia. Mary Lee caused a media frenzy when she moved steadily northward early in May, swimming along the Delaware and Maryland coastlines before eventually reaching New Jersey. By May 8, Mary Lee was located some 10 miles off the coast of Wildwood, catching the attention of beachgoers along the Jersey coastline and local media outlets.
?We’re sure you’ll get along with this Twitter account, just swimmingly. Right,.@MaryLeeShark?http://t.co/h0ETnCJY30 pic.twitter.com/H6wPjzhlvE
— HuffPost Canada (@HuffPostCanada) May 21, 2015
As the Inquisitr previously reported, Mary Lee then journeyed to Long Island before eventually turning south again. Some observers speculated that she could have been spotted near New York City, while others asserted at the time that the 3,456-pound great white could be headed for Cape Cod, where she was originally tagged by Ocearch, in order to give birth. The last time Mary Lee ventured so close to the cape coincided with the most recent birth of her offspring.
A little freaky in your travel choices @MaryLeeShark #ohmy! pic.twitter.com/5F4YtmlmXX
— Maralee Thompson (@MaraleeThompson) May 31, 2015
After leaving Long Island, Mary Lee ventured as far south as Hog Island, Virginia, where the shark was detected at a great distance off the coast, as CBS DC notes. Though Ocearch’s website shows that Mary lee was even briefly located within the confines of the Chesapeake Bay, “pinging” off the coast of Chesapeake Beach, the veracity of that data was quickly called into question as just a half hour later, the shark signaled from the New Jersey coastline (Ocearch itself has noted as much on Twitter, and have previously stated that satellite data can sometimes be erroneous).
.@Jilliebeanzz @MaryLeeShark Bad ping in the Chesapeake. Mary Lee pinged 4x’s by #Avalon, #NJ. pic.twitter.com/icWt7pHDXW
— OCEARCH (@OCEARCH) May 31, 2015
As Lancaster Online reports, Mary Lee has now returned to the Jersey shore. After remaining silent for roughly four days, Mary Lee confirmed her location off Avalon with several more pings the evening of May 29. The shark’s fin last broke the surface at 2:25 a.m. on May 30, charting a course to within just a few miles of Townsends Inlet. Since then, Mary Lee hasn’t surfaced, leaving it as anyone’s guess in which direction the shark will go, and where along the East Coast she will next turn up.
[Photo by Ryan Pierse / Getty Images]
