A 14-foot, 2,600-pound great white shark named Leebeth, who swam through Mississippi waters earlier this year, continues to be on the move, embarking on a record-breaking journey that has provided scientists with valuable insights into the lives of these giant fish. “It’s over 6,000 miles at this point, and that’s straight-line distance,” said Megan Winton, a research scientist at the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy. “She’s swum further than that. She’s been a really great illustration of how far they travel and the different habitats they use.”
Leebeth’s story began in December 2023 when she was caught by Ed Young, pastor of the Dallas-Fort Worth mega-church Fellowship Church. Young was fishing with Chip Michalove of Outcast Sport Fishing based in South Carolina. Young named the shark after his daughter, who died in 2021. The shark was outfitted with data collection devices and a GPS transmitter that sends location signals whenever her dorsal fin breaches the water.
Michalove described the catch as a home run because not only is she the biggest shark caught from his boat in several years, but she also surfaces the most of any great white shark he’s helped tag, leaving a clear picture of her travels — something he follows closely. “The first thing I do when I wake up is check to see where she’s chimed in,” Michalove said. “This shark is the most fascinating we’ve ever had in the Atlantic.”
On June 14, Leebeth’s transmitter pinged off the shores of Nantucket Island, Massachusetts. This is the latest location in a journey that has taken her from where she was tagged in South Carolina down to the Key West area, then along the Gulf Coast to Mexico. At that point, she followed the same basic path back and then on to Massachusetts. “What I find probably most interesting is she knew exactly where she was going,” Michalove said. “I think it’s wild. You can tell because she doesn’t go a day or two and then throw it in reverse. She continues on the same track.”
In March, that track took her into Mississippi waters, 20 miles south of Biloxi and Gulfport. The Atlantic White Shark Conservancy gathers scientific data on great white sharks. Winton said their numbers were reduced by about 70% until the species was given protections in the 1990s. Their numbers appear to be rebounding. The data gathered by the organization is used to minimize conflicts between humans and the sharks, especially in the Cape Cod area where a rebounding seal population attracts sharks, including great whites, that feed on them.
The data also exposes how Northwest Atlantic great white sharks live and travel, something that Winton said little is known about. “We’ve learned they travel deep into the Gulf of Mexico,” Winton said. “She’s the first (tracked great white shark) to travel into Mexico. We’ll do an in-depth analysis of where she went and why we think she did it. The tagging work we’ve done in the Northwest Atlantic is laying the groundwork for research.”
While there’s no way to be sure, Michalove feels Leebeth traveled through South Carolina waters last winter after spending the summer on the Northeast coast and said she’s probably duplicating an annual pattern. Part of that belief comes from scratches and scars on the shark’s face that appeared to come from eating seals. “She was covered in scratches from those seals,” Michalove said. The fact that she arrived in the vicinity of Cape Cod earlier than most other great white sharks, Michalove said he thinks she may continue north. “I would suspect she’ll go all the way to Canada and Nova Scotia,” Michalove said.
Her movements can be tracked through the AWSC Sharktivity map at www.atlanticwhiteshark.org/sharktivity-app or through the Sharktivity app.
Source: Mississippi Clarion Ledger
