1,400-Pound Shark Swims Off The Jersey Shore

OFF THE JERSEY SHORE, NJ — A 1,400-pound great white shark is paying a visit to the New Jersey coast, just in time for Shark Week.

The shark, a 13-foot, 3-inch male named Breton, pinged off Cape May shortly before 7 p.m. on Monday, according to the OCEARCH shark tracker. It's the latest in a number of sharks tagged by OCEARCH researchers to take a cruise along the Jersey Shore.

The ping was roughly 25 miles northeast of Cape May Inlet.

Breton was tagged Sept. 12, 2020 in Nova Scotia, the first shark tagged during OCEARCH's 2020 expedition in Nova Scotia 2020. He is named for Cape Breton, where he was tagged. He is the fifth shark OCEARCH has tagged at Scatarie Island in two years of working in the area, the organization says on its website.

OCEARCH, a non-profit organization dedicated to shark research, has been tagging sharks of various species for nearly a decade. One of its most famous tagged sharks was Mary Lee, a 3,400-pound female great white shark that pinged off the Jersey Shore repeatedly from 2012 to 2017. Mary Lee gained notoriety in part because of a clever Twitter user who tweeted snarky comments and interacted with other Twitter users.

You can follow Breton's track here.

Breton isn't the first OCEARCH-tagged shark to visit the Jersey Shore this summer. In June there was an 880-pound female named Freya that showed up in Delaware Bay and cruised on up the coast. Read more: 880-Pound Shark Detected Off New Jersey Coast

Though sharks have generated fear for decades, OCEARCH has been trying to demystify them, and recently published a list of reasons they shouldn't be feared. Read more: Shark Week: Top 10 Reasons Not To Be Afraid Of Mighty Predators

It may seem like there are more sharks at the Jersey Shore, but OCEARCH founding chairman and expedition leader Chris Fischer says the perception is because people are hearing about them more. Read more: Why It Seems Like There Are More Sharks Around The Jersey Shore

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