VERO BEACH, Fla., May 12 (UPI) -- In several Florida coastal communities, among marine biologists, and in some circles of the media, there's a new Catherine the Great. And she's not an 18th century Russian empress.
She just goes by Katherine -- with a "K" -- and she's a massive great white shark who for the last year has been tracked by OCEARCH, a non-profit research organization.
This morning, Katherine's tracking device pinged off of OCEARCH's GPS location signals, putting her just off the coast -- not far from Sebastian Inlet. The 14-foot female predator has been bouncing along Florida's Atlantic coast, her appearance raising alarm among locals in Daytona Beach, Palm Bay and Vero Beach.
But this morning's update puts Katherine as close as she's ever been to the shore.
Since Katherine was tagged by biologists last August in Cape Cod, she's slowly been making her way south along the coast, logging more than 3,622 miles.
Katherine is one of 47 sharks that have been tagged and are currently being tracked by OCEARCH. One of Katherine's fellow female great whites, Lydia, earlier this year became the first shark to be tracked crossing the Atlantic.
