Chincoteague Island, Virginia and it’s sister, uninhabited island, Assateague, are both favorite summer beach spots for hundreds of thousands of tourists from all over the East Coast of America each year.
Assateague is famed for it’s wild horses that roam along the beaches, and Chincoteague (the islands are connected by a small bridge, or two minute car ride) for it’s quaint pre-1950’s America feel that it has retained.
Many begin flocking to the islands this time of year as the weather begins to get warmer and the fishing more plentiful. What they do not come to Chincoteague for, however, is a Great White Shark!
ABC News local 13 Virginia has reported that “Mary Lee”, a massive 16 foot Great White Shark tagged in September of 2012, has been tracked near Chincoteage Island.
They report:
According to the OCEARCH site, Mary Lee has been off the southern tip of Assateague, near Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge, since Sunday morning. Mary Lee also pinged off Ocean City April 30.
Here are a few quick facts about Mary Lee from OCEARCH, a non-profit group that researches great white sharks and other large apex predators.
- Mary Lee was tagged with a tracker off Cape Cod Sept. 17, 2012.
- She is 16 feet long.
- In the past 24 hours, she has traveled 82.5 miles off the coast of Delmarva.
- In the past 72 hours, she has traveled 165.5 miles.
- Since she was tagged in 2012, she has traveled 19,365 miles from Florida to Nova Scotia.
- She was named after a researcher’s mother, after he described the shark as “Truly the most historic and legendary fish I have ever been a part of.”
Click here to track Mary Lee!