Massive 17-foot shark tagged last month off Canada is now patrolling the Outer Banks

The 17-foot great white shark that made headlines last month after being tagged off Canada has moved south and is now lingering off North Carolina’s Outer Banks.

OCEARCH, which tagged the shark Oct. 2, posted data showing the 3,541-pound apex predator had popped up Sunday off Wilmington, then turned around and headed north to Buxton on Hatteras Island.

The shark has spent the past two days off nearby Avon, with its latest satellite “ping” tracking at 5:55 a.m. Wednesday, according to OCEARCH. Tagged sharks show up on satellite only after their dorsal fin breaches the water surface for more than a few seconds.

OCEARCH named the shark Nukumi, and she has traveled a frantic 1,842 miles in 103 days, data show. Nukumi counts as the largest of seven white sharks currently tracking off North Carolina’s coast, including one 14 feet long and 2,300 pounds.

The nonprofit research organization has compiled data in recent years showing white sharks are prone to make seasonal treks down the East Coast, around Florida and into the Gulf of Mexico.

OCEARCH is hoping to find out where the sharks mate and give birth. The Outer Banks is among the places they linger, due to an abundance of food along the edges of the Gulf Stream, OCEARCH has said.

Nukumi is considered unique among the more than 60 sharks being tracked by OCEARCH in the Northwest Atlantic, because she is the biggest and likely the oldest. Researchers estimate she is more than 50 years old.

The shark is bigger than average for female white sharks, which are typically 15 to 16 feet, according to the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. “The biggest great white sharks can reach up to 20 feet long, but most are smaller,” the museum reports.

This story was originally published November 18, 2020 at 9:53 AM with the headline "Massive 17-foot shark tagged last month off Canada is now patrolling the Outer Banks."