Scientists track great white shark ‘Katharine’ off the coast of the US

SCIENTISTS and the public are eagerly following a great white shark named “Katharine” as she swims up the US coastline.

SharkNew_21May14

AN enormous great white shark that is being tracked during her swimming along the US coast has eager scientists and fans following her every move.

The 4.3-metre shark, named Katharine, surfaced near Key Largo, Florida on Monday night, announcing her presence with a ping from a tracking device placed on her dorsal fin last year.

Weighing one tonne, Katharine is being followed by the website Ocearch, which is run by a group that tracks a number of sharks to learn more about their habits.

Researchers follow Katharine’s migratory movements with the help of the tracking device Ocearch attached to her in August 2013, which “pings” the researchers whenever it comes to the surface.

In the past month, Katharine has appeared off the coast of Georgia before swimming south to Florida, coming within a few kilometres of Miami Beach on Saturday, according to the website.

Although the website is updated every half hour, Katharine doesn’t surface nearly so often.

Tagged...Katharine is captured and tagged last year before being released back into the wild. Picture: Supplied

With almost 4000 Twitter followers, the great white’s @Shark_Katharine account, managed by Ocearch, is dedicated to answering questions about the life of sharks and debunking myths.

Tagging their posts #GoKatGo, followers have cheered on the great white as “Katharine” weighs in on subjects like eating humans.

Scary sight...Katharine swims up the US coast near Florida. Picture: Supplied

“What makes anyone think we’d really want to eat them #notmyflavor”, she “tweeted” on Tuesday.

Through Katharine’s movements, scientists hope to gain much more information about sharks than just her whereabouts.