Data Shows 12-Foot Great White Sharks Lingering Off Carolinas Amid Winter Migration

In search of warmer waters as winter approaches, the annual great white shark migration has started, with tracking tags showing an increasing number of apex predators around the Carolinas.

According to OCEARCH, a nonprofit shark research agency, two great white sharks around 12 feet are a part of a group of four that is appearing on satellite. Their exact location is between Kitty Hawk, North Carolina and Charleston, South Carolina.

Per experts via The News & Observer, they’re only a portion of the predators that are in the region’s waters. (RELATED: ‘What The Heck Is Making Them All Jump?’: Wild Monkeys Fly Into Water At Florida State Park In Crazy Scene)

“As autumn sets in, white sharks of the western North Atlantic population are beginning their incredible southward migration,” reported OCEARCH in a social media post Oct. 21.

“These apex predators are leaving their summer hangouts up in Atlantic Canada and around Cape Cod and are heading toward the warmer waters of the Carolinas, Georgia and southeast Florida. This migration happens every single year. As the water cools and daylight shortens, it’s nature’s cue for the sharks to move where food and warmer temperatures await.”

OCEARCH reports that a few of the sharks off the coast of the Carolinas were around Nova Scotia, Canada, earlier in October.

In the Northwest Atlantic Ocean, over 70 great white sharks have been tagged by OCEARCH, doing so to track movement and get insight on where they reside.

While making the move down south, a few of the sharks will head west towards the coast of Veracruz, Mexico, according to tracking. It’s still unknown to scientists why some sharks travel farther than others.