Could a Great White end up in British or Irish waters
Lydia the Great White is heading east. Travelling the rate of 380 miles in 72 hours she “could” be in Cork or Cornwall in seven days. *Note – all the papers are picking this up reporting the shark will be here in three. This is due to my bad maths at 7am this morning
Lydia the Great White is 4.4meters long weighs 2000lbs and is now 1,000 miles away and heading towards the British Isles. Tracked by the scientists at shark research organisation Oceach since the shark has travelled more than 19,000 miles since she was tagged.
Currently Lydia is closer to Europe than North America and is just above the North Atlantic ridge. If she swims over that then technically she will be the first recorded great white to cross the Atlantic.
“Meet Lydia. She’s 4.4 metres long, 2000lbs and could be coming on a European vacation!”
Although there has been much conjecture about great whites, who travel thousands of miles in their lifetime, appearing in British and Irish waters there has been no confirmed evidence. So Lydia is providing scientists with invaluable data.
Dr Gregory Skomal, senior fisheries biologist with Massachusetts Marine Fisheries, told BBC News: “No white sharks have crossed from west to east or east to west.
“Although Lydia is closer to Europe than North America, she technically does not cross the Atlantic until she crosses the mid-Atlantic ridge, which she has yet to do.
“She would be the first documented white shark to cross into the eastern Atlantic.””
The shark first tagged in Jacksonville, Florida and named after the founder of Bradley University, has travelled 380 miles in the last 72 hours. IF she continued at that rate she COULD be in the water off Cork or Cornwall less than three days.
You can track Lydia and other sharks world-wide on the fantastic Ocearch tracker here www.ocearch.org/#SharkTracker
Lets just hope mainstream media don’t blow this out of proportion, and she survives the factory trawlers.
Lydia being caught and tagged