Community Corner

ICYMI: How To Track The Shark Hanging Out Along The NC Coast

As if this week's near miss with a hurricane wasn't exciting enough, Hilton the shark is back and has been tracked close to Hatteras Island.

HATTERAS ISLAND, NC β€” From a near miss with a hurricane kicking up the surf to a great white shark hanging out along the shore, this was an interesting week for beachgoers in North Carolina.

Earlier in the week, Tropical Storm Chris churned more than 200 miles southeast of Cape Hatteras, with winds of about 70 miles per hour. While the storm didn't make direct landfall in the Tar Heel State, there was plenty of rough surf along the coast and the Outer Banks.

The rough weather, however, wasn't a deterrent for Hilton, a 1,326-pound great white shark that was tracked July 8 about five miles off the Hatteras Island beach near Avon, N.C.

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SEE ALSO: How Tropical Storm Chris Will Impact North Carolina

The 12-foot-long shark, that was caught and tagged by OCEARCH in March 2017 off the coast of Hilton Head, S.C., was named after the community. He is tagged with a fin transmitter that, when he breaks the surface, relays his location, the AP reported.

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Since his tagging, Hilton has logged nearly 12,000 miles.

SEE ALSO: Tourists, Bears Head To NC Beach. Yes, Bears.

This isn’t the first time Hilton has made a summertime appearance along North Carolina's shoreline. Almost one year ago exactly, he was tracked about 30 miles east of Nags Head, N.C.

Want to track him? Hilton has his own Twitter account, and already has more than 36,000 followers. You can follow his path along the Carolina coast via the Global Shark Tracker here.

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Photos via Jamen Percy/Shutterstock

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