As the weather gets warmer, the number of shark sightings around New Jersey increase. A couple of weeks ago, it was Simon, a 9-foot juvenile who was “pinged” off the coast of Long Branch.

This most recent visitor is Penny, a 10-foot, 522-pound female. According to OCEARCH, the organization that tags and tracks sharks,

Penny is our 92nd white shark tagged in the Western North Atlantic and our 4th during Expedition Northbound. She is named after our friends at Salty Penny Canvas in Morehead City, NC. They have helped our team with custom marine canvas projects that provide a more comfortable experience on the water and allow us to operate in tougher conditions. We’re grateful for the Penny family for their support of our research and can’t wait to see what Penny the shark teaches us.

OCEARCH has tagged over 437 animals over the past 16 years.

Penny pinged off the coast of Ocean City; a ping occurs when the tagged animal comes near the surface allowing the transponder that’s been placed on it to communicate with the receiver.

Along with Simon and Penny, a third Great White pinged off the Jersey coast earlier this month, Jekyll, an 8-foot 8-inch juvenile.

Jekyll is our 87th white shark tagged in the Western North Atlantic and our 3rd during Expedition Southbound! He was named by OCEARCH’s community in honor of Jekyll Island, Georgia near where we met him.

According to OCEARCH, the sharks are in their northern migration to the fertile feeding grounds off the coast of the Northeast; in the winter, they head back to warmer water.

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