A huge 17-foot-long great white shark could be heading for the UK coast, according to scientists tracking its movements.
Experts are keeping a close eye on the huge shark that has made a detour to the US and Canadian coasts where it swims normally and is now heading for Mediterranean and UK waters.
Spotting devices show the 253 stone shark called Nukumi has now come halfway and is now closer to Britain than America.
They keep a close watch on Nukumi who is so large that she is the largest white shark tagged in the Northwest Atlantic by the scientific organization OCEARCH to date.
Experts installed a tracker on its dorsal fin so they could trace its movements along the coast of the United States and Canada.
But The Mirror reports that she is moving east and has crossed the Mid-Atlantic Barrier in the middle of the ocean.
Chief Scientist Dr Bob Hueter said: “At this point in its trajectory, Nukumi crossed from the West Atlantic to the East Atlantic via the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, the division between the West and ballast.
“She has been swimming east for about two months since leaving the US coast off the state of North Carolina.
“At her last known position, Nukumi was still around 1,700 nautical miles from the UK. Now it’s less than her distance from the US coast, so she is able to reach the UK coast.
But, he added: “We wouldn’t predict it will, as white sharks are rare off the UK.”
Large scars suggest she is over 50 and some believe she may be pregnant and is looking for a place to give birth away from her aggressive male counterparts.
But others suggest that global warming could mean more Great Whites are heading to our shores in the future.
In April 2014, a great white named Lydia took an epic trip to the Portuguese coast, some fishermen claimed to have seen the beasts of the ocean off the British coast.
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There is a documented population of Great Whites in the Mediterranean which has been accused of attacks off Italy.
In 1989, diver Luciano Costanzo, 47, was reportedly eaten alive near Tuscany. His body has never been found.
Experts also agree that the conditions off our coasts are so good for sharks that rising sea temperatures could attract Great Whites to the shores of the UK.
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Source: www.somersetlive.co.uk
This notice was published: 2021-04-24 11:36:15
