Shark that mysteriously vanished from Gulf of Mexico in March reappears off Delaware

A large great white shark that vanished four months ago from satellite tracking in the Gulf of Mexico has mysteriously resurfaced more than 1,100 miles north, off Delaware.

The 8-foot, 9-inch shark, named Brunswick, disappeared March 20 off Bradenton Beach, according to the nonprofit OCEARCH.

He reappeared July 3, near the Delaware-New Jersey state line and is now 190 miles off Cape May, New Jersey, tracking shows.

It’s not the first time OCEARCH has had a large shark vanish for months at a time, proving the apex predators are far from predictable, even when fitted with a satellite tag.

To stay off the OCEARCH Global Shark Tracker, SPOT-tagged sharks must travel largely below the surface. It’s only when their dorsal fin breaches the surface for at least 90 seconds that they “ping” off tracking, OCEARCH says.

The nonprofit has been following Brunswick since February 2019, and has learned this trek up the East Coast is part of an annual summer/fall migration, according to a Facebook post.

Brunswick has traveled nearly 17,000 miles since being tagged of Hilton Head, South Carolina, according to OCEARCH. Tracking shows he has been as far north as the Gulf of St. Lawrence off Newfoundland and as far south as Key West, Florida.

Among the largest sharks to vanish off OCEARCH SPOT tracking is a 17-foot, 2-inch white shark (named Nukumi) that disappeared April 11, just after crossing the mid-Atlantic Ridge.

The SPOT tag continued to remain silent, but a secondary satellite tag (called a PSAT) transmitted data six weeks later showing the 3,541-pound shark had moved 1,000 nautical miles toward Canada without detection, OCEARCH said.

This story was originally published July 6, 2021 at 11:03 AM with the headline "Shark that mysteriously vanished from Gulf of Mexico in March reappears off Delaware."