Great white shark may be first to cross Atlantic

JACKSONVILLE, Fla., March 10 (UPI) -- Scientists tracking a great white shark headed for Britain said it is set to become the first of her species to cross the Atlantic.

U.S. researchers with the Ocearch scientific project said Lydia, a 15-foot great white shark tagged off the coast of Jacksonville, Fla., last March, was 1,000 miles from the Cornish coast Friday and near to becoming the first known great white to cross the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, the Daily Telegraph reported Monday.

"No white sharks have crossed from west to east or east to west," said Dr. Gregory Skomal, senior fisheries biologist with Massachusetts Marine Fisheries. "Although Lydia is closer to Europe than North America, she technically does not cross the Atlantic until she crosses the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, which she has yet to do."

"We have no idea how far she will go, but Europe, the Med[iterranean] and the coast of Africa are all feasible," Skomal said. "She would be the first documented white shark to cross into the eastern Atlantic."