‘Today’ Show Searches For Katharine The Great White Shark Off Florida Coast
The Today show has set off in search of one of the world’s most famous great white sharks, Katharine, dispatching anchor Kerry Sanders to descend into the ocean off the Florida coastline in an attempt to spot her or one of her brethren.
Sanders headed to a known white shark hotspot off the coast of Jupiter, Florida, according to the Palm Beach Post, entering a shark cage in a particular area where two great whites have been sighted in the last two and a half weeks. Instead of a great white, however, Sanders and his camerawoman, Becky Kagan Schott, encountered roughly 20 bull sharks, which were lured close to their boat by a chum slick deployed in the water.
Report: The Today Show is looking for Katharine the Shark http://t.co/j6kDDLogeJ pic.twitter.com/YkxadDtBKL
— The Palm Beach Post (@pbpost) May 29, 2015
Unfortunately for the Today show correspondent, Katharine was a no-show while he was in the water. One of the world’s most famous great whites, Katharine was first tagged by Ocearch in Cape Cod in 2012 before swimming to Florida shortly thereafter. In the ensuing years, the shark has gained a massive online following as she travels along the East Coast, as TC Palm relates.
According to Ocearch founder Chris Fischer, it is Katharine’s coastal habits that routinely set her apart from other white sharks tracked by the organization.
“Katharine stands out because she constantly comes up finning, which means she likes to spend a lot of time on or near the surface. She is so coastal, almost living on the beaches, as well. It makes her somewhat of a media darling as she passes by. At the same time, she is giving us the most comprehensive look at her life.”
Missing shark: @Shark_Katharine hasn’t pinged since May 8 (east of #Brevard) @OCEARCH @ChrisOCEARCH @Florida_Today pic.twitter.com/0uQY4YSG9Y
— Rick Neale (@RickNeale1) May 27, 2015
Recently, however, Katharine’s activities have proven harder to track as the shark has remained submerged. Her satellite tag only signals researchers when the great white’s fin breaks the surface, and when Katharine stays underwater, her whereabouts remain a mystery. For most of the last month, the shark has done just that, as the Inquisitr previously reported, with her last recorded ping taking place on May 8 at roughly 5:16 p.m. Since then, according to the Ocearch website, Katharine hasn’t broken the surface.
Where the great white will appear again remains anyone’s guess, since she has traveled as far afield as the Gulf of Mexico and Cape Cod. With warming waters, it would be little surprise if she followed her fellow white shark Mary Lee on a northward course, but only time will tell where Katharine the great white will turn up.
[Photo by Ocearch via USA Today]
