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A Great White Shark Was Spotted off the Coast of Connecticut

It's the first time a great white shark has been tracked in the Long Island Sound.


great white shark

Photo via Getty Images

Just when you thought it was safe to go swimming in the ocean again, there has been an unusual ping off the coast of Connecticut.

Researchers spotted a great white shark in the Long Island Sound Monday, the first time one of these big guys has been tracked in those waters.

Great whites are rare, but not unheard of off the coast of the Cape, north of this sighting. In the fall of 2018, there were two separate attacks in Truro and Wellfleet. The second took the life of a surfer, the area’s first fatal shark attack since 1936. After years of Jaws jokes and faked sightings, beachgoers may now actually have a reason to be scared of what lurks beneath the surface.

This latest Connecticut sighting was picked up by researchers with OCEARCH off the shore of Greenwich. The big guy in question was first tagged in Nova Scotia and named after the explorer John Cabot. The shark is now living up to his name, exploring parts of the Atlantic seaboard where his kind doesn’t usually venture.

Cabot was spotted as far south as Florida earlier this year. He was recently detected off the coast of Delaware, heading north to pay a visit to New Englanders as summer rolls in.

Chris Fisher, the aptly named chairman and research leader at OCEARCH, told USA Today that this is the closest to shore they’ve seen a Great White in the Sound. But at a pace of 100-150 miles per day, Cabot should be moving along northward in no time. That is, of course, after he catches enough fish to last him the journey.

If he does wander into the Cape’s waters, you’ll know him when you see him. At nine feet, eight inches long and a slim 533 pounds, he’s not easy to miss.

Note: This story has been updated to indicate that this is the first great white tracked in Long Island Sound, not spotted there.