She's Ba-aack! 16-Foot Great White Shark Mary Lee Returns to Virginia Coastal Waters

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PHOTO: A large white shark (NOT Mary Lee) encountered off Massachusetts. Photo credit: Greg Skomal, Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries. Photo courtesy of NOAA; maps courtesy of Ocearch

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Heading to the beach this Memorial Day weekend? You might have a little company —somewhere out there in the waves—from a social media sensation: Mary Lee, the Great White shark.

Mary Lee, a 16-foot, nearly 3,500 pound shark, has her own Twitter account and Facebook page.

On Monday, her friends at Ocearch noted a ping from Mary Lee off the coast of Virginia. “So nice I had to visit twice!” she told her Facebook friends. Mary Lee visited the same area back on May 5 but then headed north.

Ocearch is researching sharks by following their whereabouts thanks to a device attached to their dorsal fins. When the sharks surface, the device sends a message to a satellite.

Now it appears Mary Lee has returned to the waters off the coast of Virginia.

On Tuesday, just before 5 p.m., Mary Lee surfaced in the waters off of Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge in Virginia. The area is well-known for its annual pony swim, which takes place in April.

Also read:

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• Great White Shark ‘Mary Lee’ Hanging Out Off Coast of Virginia

Chincoteague is about a three to four-hour drive from Northern Virginia.

Sharks will be front and center this summer, with “Shark Week” returning to the Discovery Channel in July and movie-goers celebrating the 40th anniversary of Steven Spielberg’s “Jaws.”

Sharks primarily feed on smaller fish but some species prey upon seals, sea lions, and other marine mammals, according to the National Ocean Service. Sharks have been known to attack humans when they are confused or curious, according to the service. If a shark sees a human splashing in the water, it may try to investigate, leading to an accidental attack.

Water temperatures in the Chincoteague area today is 59 degrees. The weather is supposed to be sunny with temperatures in the 60s and 70s for Memorial Day weekend in the area.