North Florida researchers tracking great white sharks with sensors

Great white shark (Credit: Terry Gross, via Wikimedia Commons)

University of North Florida researchers are tracking great white shark travel patterns near some northeastern Florida beaches, according the Florida Times Union.

Many great white sharks have been tagged by scientific groups over the years. The researchers are monitoring the sharks with sensors that detect signals emitted from the tracking tags. Each sensor has a distinct signal which can be paired to a shark on record.

Sensors will be deployed off buoys in three areas near Jacksonville, Fla. and one area off the shore of St. Augustine, Fla.  All the sensors will be placed within a half mile of the shore as many great white sharks pass near the shore during travel.

Last year Ocearch, a non-profit research group, detected a 16  foot great white shark traveling through the Jacksonville Beach surf zone.

Image: Great white shark (Credit: Terry Gross, via Wikimedia Commons)