CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Posts about a great white shark being spotted along the South Texas coast are making the rounds on social media.
The 14-foot great white shark named 'LeeBeth' made a rare visit to the gulf waters off the South Texas Coast.
It's apparently been on a tour from the Carolinas, over 2,000 miles away before its visit to the gulf coast!
It first pinged near the southern tip of the Padre Island National Seashore before showing up again closer to South Padre Island.
The news made Padre Island visitor Al Moen, who's from Wisconsin, a little uneasy.
"I like to body surf, it's making me a little nervous, but the fact it has a tracker saying that it's close to Mexico by now should be pretty safe," he said.
You can actually follow the shark's every move on the app called 'Sharktivity' through the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy.
"This one is satellite tagged, and there's been a couple of pings in the area, that confirm this is not just an error these tags can give, but this is a true location, she is here," said Dr. Kesley Banks.
Banks is an associate research scientist for the Sport Fish Center at the Harte Research Institute on the campus of Texas A&M University- Corpus Christi.
"This will be the second I've ever confirmed in the Western Gulf of Mexico since I got here, and I got here almost a decade ago," she said.
While seeing a great white shark is rare, many other types of sharks are known to call our warm waters home.
In fact, the Harte Research Institute has it's own shark tagging program.
"This is called a satellite tag, once it's deployed, these are called wet dry sensors, when a sharks fin reaches the surface of the water it talks to the satellite and gives us a location," Banks explained as she showed a model of the tag.
"Our specialty lately has been shortfin mako sharks, which is a close cousin of white sharks," she said.
To date, they've tagged about 18 mako sharks along with tiger and hammer head sharks all off our local coast.
You can track them for yourself at meetoursharks.org
"Sharks play a vital role in the ecosystem they are apex predators exhibit a top down control, you want them in your environment, in shark science it's pretty new in infancy," she said.
Banks said the satellite tracking gives researchers more insight into their lives as there's a lot still unknown about their habits.
"We don't know if they pup here, or in the Atlantic, exciting to track these sharks see where they are in real time, or hope they swim past a listening station," she said.
If the shark sighting has you thinking twice about dipping your toe in the water, let this bring you some comfort. You are more likely to get struck by lightening, then by getting bitten by a shark.
"You are entering their home, yes, so you should be aware, but you should not be scared," Banks said. "Sharks are actually closer to you down the beach then you know. You are more likely to be bitten by a person who thinks they are a shark, than an actual shark."
She said her team will be going back out into the gulf soon in an attempt to tag even more sharks in our local waters.
By the way, if you are visiting us, here's a few other tips from our shark experts: don't wear flashy jewelry in the water and if you have a cut, don't get in the water.
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