Katharine The Great White Shark Heads For Deep Water, Avoids Cape Cod


Katharine, one of the world’s most famous sharks, has turned away from the North Carolina coast and headed for the middle of the Atlantic as she continues to be notably absent from Cape Cod, where a number of other great whites have begun congregating for the summer.

Over the course of the last month, Katharine has repeatedly signaled from the Carolinas, spending much of her time along the edge of the continental shelf, east of the Outer Banks. The region has seen a fair amount of shark activity this summer, with an unusual number of attacks taking place along a coastline that typically sees only one or two such incidents each year, as National Geographic reports.

On July 14, Katharine broke the surface beyond the edge of the continental shelf, appearing to be moving east into the deeper waters of the Atlantic. A day later, the white shark was detected again, having moved well out to sea, as Ocearch’s shark tracker reports. Such a direction is unusual for Katharine, as the shark has been noted for her coastal migratory pattern, which generally keeps her in relatively shallow water. It is not completely unprecedented, however, as the white shark traveled into the Gulf of Mexico during the first winter after she was tagged.

Researchers first encountered Katharine off the coast of Cape Cod, where she was fitted with a satellite tag in August of 2013. Since then, the shark has gained a devoted worldwide following that closely watches her every move online, as the Inquisitr has previously reported. In the intervening years, Katharine has been a reliable presence off Cape Cod, returning there each summer with a multitude of other white sharks that are drawn by warming waters and a local seal population, as the Boston Globe reports. This year, however, Katharine has been notably absent, despite sightings of a number of other sharks in the region, which prove that the great whites have returned to the cape.

Last year, Katharine surprised researchers by lingering late into the season off Cape Cod, remaining in the area until early December, at which time she charted a decisive course southward, eventually arriving in the Outer Banks. While it remains to be seen where she heads next, researchers on Cape Cod will be waiting to see how long it takes Katharine to join her fellow white sharks off Massachusetts.

[Photo by Dan Kitwood / Getty Images]

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