Many people are packing up and headed to the coast of Virginia and the Outer Banks to spend time at the ocean for a summer vacation.
People aren’t the only ones trekking to Virginia Beach and OBX, a few sharks have also pinged near the coast.
A juvenile white shark has traveled to Kitty Hawk, N.C. this week with the latest ping on Tuesday morning near the coast.
The male shark named Keji weighs 578 pounds and measures 9 feet, 7 inches in length. It appears that the shark travelled from Florida and the Gulf of Mexico up the coast to the Outer Banks in about one month’s time. It appears he’ll likely continue up the coast toward Virginia.
The shark was tagged in 2021 in Nova Scotia. According to Ocearch, the shark is named after the Kejimkujik National Park and Historic site located in the region where he was tagged. He is part of Ocearch’s Northwest Atlantic White Search Study.
Two additional sharks have also pinged off the Virginia coast this spring:
- Anne Bonny, a female white shark, pinged near Norfolk on the morning of May 27. She was previously tagged off Ocracoke, N.C. in 2023. It appears this shark prefers the North Atlantic waters near the coast. She weighs 425 pounds and measured 9 feet, 3 inches in length when tagged.
- Simon, a juvenile white shark pinged May 6 near Norfolk. The male shark was tagged near St. Simon’s Island in Georgia in 2022. The shark weighs 434 pounds and measures 9 feet, 6 inches in length. Like Anne Bonny, this shark’s trajectory shows a path from the Gulf of Mexico up the coast to the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
Tracking of sharks is available online at www.ocearch.org
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Crystal Graham
