Home Sharknado! Sharks spotted near Outer Banks, Virginia Beach coastlines
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Sharknado! Sharks spotted near Outer Banks, Virginia Beach coastlines

Crystal Graham
outer banks
(Outer Banks © sauseyphotos – stock.adobe.com)

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

Crystal Graham

Crystal Graham

Crystal Abbe Graham is the regional editor of Augusta Free Press. A 1999 graduate of Virginia Tech, she has worked for 25 years as a reporter and editor for several Virginia publications, written a book, and garnered more than a dozen Virginia Press Association awards for writing and graphic design. She was the co-host of "Viewpoints," a weekly TV news show, and co-host of Virginia Tonight, a nightly TV news show on PBS. Her work on "Virginia Tonight" earned her a national Telly award for excellence in television.